Fate of HANDSOME guys in the Harry Potter series

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 84390

> Now what about Snape?  In the books he is definitly ugly and very 
> unattractive.  JKR takes every opportunity to describe him as such, 
> but in the movie...Alan Rickman, although not a handsome man in the 
> conventional sense, is very attractive and damned sexy.  Does he 
> qualify?  
> 
> Handsome is in the eye of the beholder right?  So just who qualifies 
> as handsome?  And how do men and women differ in who qualifies? All I 
> can do is speak for myself and for me it's always the bad guys. Hey I 
> even find Lord Voldemort attractive
..trust me it's the power 
> thing
.it is really
.OK
.I'm leaving now.
> 

But Snape has attractions other than handsomeness, the biggest of
which (to me) is the aura of mystery that surrounds him. There's also
his intelligence, his many gifts as a wizard, his silky voice and
sinuous movements. Yes, I know he can be cruel, but you can't imagine
him making a student write lines in his own blood as Umbridge did. (I
confess, though, my mental image of him has been influenced by Alan
Rickman, who, as you say, is a very sexy man. It's interesting to me
that JKR approved him for the role. I know she didn't originally
intend him as an attractive character, but maybe she's beginning to
understand his appeal. There's more to a work of literature than the
author's intention, after all, or we would be stuck with the author's
comments as the only authority and our own interpretations would be
pointless. To return to what Mandy is saying, the power element may
even play a role in some readers attraction to Snape--he can control
his classes without raising his voice and cow a student with a look.
That's not the center of his appeal, but it may be a part. If his fate
bears any relation to his looks, then the uglier JKR thinks he is, the
better!

Carol