Blame, blame, blame....

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 100644

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at y...> 
wrote:
snips throughout
> Anne:  
> > > What bothers me about these Harry-Snape-Sirius debates is that 
> > everyone is so quick to condemn the character they don't like and 
> > defend the one they do...and yeah, we all do that, but some of the 
> > sheer *venom* that gets thrown at the other character taht is 
> > painted as 'the Bad Guy' bugs me. 
 
> Alla: 
>  The only thing which bothers me about those debates, because for 
>  the  most part I LOVE them is when as a fan of a certain character or 
>  characters :) I am asked question like that:
> "How dare I (well, not I, but fans of certain character or 
>  characters; but since I a fan also, I take it as a question is asked 
>  of me too) defend certain character or characters , because what 
>  he/she did is indefensible.
>  My only responce to such questions is "Huh?" That is what I am here 
>  for.
>  I am NOT quick to defend or condemn the character. I do so, because 
>  I believe in it or I do so simply for the sake of arguing.
> > 
> Anne: 
> > But Snape, Dumbledore, Pettigrew, Sirius--do you *really KNOW 
> > what's going on...or just what Rowling chooses to show you? Most 
> > everyone thought of Snape as 'just' a bastard...until we saw some 
> > of those memories, heard some of his story...now we're not so sure, 
> > are we? (Well, some are, but...well...that just means that it wouldn't 
> > matter what Snaoe did--he'd still be the 'Bad Guy' to some...).
> > 
> > Please please please try and consider the 'other side' before you 
> > jump on the 'Well this one is right, and that one is just plain 
> > wrong', especially since we *don't* know the whole story....and we 
> > also all have different views on how things "should" be.
> > 
> Alla: 
> > No, we don't know the whole story yet, but it is fun to jump to the 
> > conclusions and be proven wrong afterwards.

That's the spirit!
Sorry, Anne, but just for once I have to agree with Alla. I may be wrong
(many thousands nod enthusiastically) but I don't consider that a valid
reason for being uncertain. We're at the roulette table placing our bets
and the ball is still bouncing around the wheel. Some of the bets will
be made by 'rational' methods - analysis of the plot, JKR's track record,
clues, etc., some are based on personal prejudices (I don't like *him*.)

Over the past year (Yes! It's one year exactly since Kneasy crawled out
of the woodwork) there are very few of the major characters that haven't
been on the receiving end of my boot. I consider myself an equal
opportunity character assassin. The glorious thing is that it's possible
to dig out canon justification for rubbishing almost *anyone* in the
Potterverse. The reverse is also true, but where's the fun  in that?
Quite a lot, actually. Without posters leaping to the defence of their
favourites it would make for very short threads. Boring.

This current thread (Snape, DD, Harry, with Sirius as a side order) is
just the sort of thing I relish. All of them have featured in theory after
theory, analysis after analysis, by poster after poster, proving - what? 
Not much, actually, or rather, nothing definite. The ball is still bouncing.
But that doesn't stop the verbal gymnastics, the quoting of references 
or the partiality. It seems that some posters feel that this sometimes
goes a little too far and that more consideration and understanding
would be helpful. I find this a bit puzzling.

I strongly uphold the convention that posters should not indulge in
personal insults or rudeness directed at other posters, but fictional
characters are fair game (even the sitting ducks) and if someone wants
to go for DD's throat like a rabid ferret, then good luck, well done, we've
got a lively thread here lads, might keep us entertained for, ooh, at
least a week. Then it'll be someone else's turn.

As an insensitive brute I have no empathy for any of the characters
whatsoever - they are artificial constructs placed in an artificial
environment and their validity depends solely on their entertainment
value. JKR's puppets paraded for our delectation, disgust or delight.
Take your pick. 

Of course, what constitutes entertainment varies according to individual
tastes, be it SHIPper or FEATHERBOA fanatic; the former tending to
show more involvement with members of the cast than the latter. (Having
a taste for exploding inner organs and  corpse-strewn landscapes being
rarely  found among the romantically inclined. I wonder why?) This 
dichotomy is usually expressed by one group generally thinking the
best of any character  that might be thought of as 'sympathetic' while the
other group thinks the worst of anyone who has even the vaguest question
mark  against them. Which is everybody in the books, more or less.

Which brings me back to the current thread. What to make of this lot?

JKR once admitted to a member of HPfGU (face to face in the middle of
a press scrum) that Sirius is intended to be 'sexy'. Oh, no he isn't. The
only character with any sexual potential that I can see is Madam Rosmerta,
though for those with certain, proclivities, shall we say, Bella might hit
the spot (probably quite literally). No doubt there will be posters
pounding their keyboards to tell me how wrong I am even before I finish
this sentence - hold off a minute; I said that to make a point. To me
Sirius *cannot* be sexy. A heterosexual male doesn't think of other men
as sexy, he judges them by male standards, and sexiness is not on the 
check list. So a male reader will judge Sirius by a very different yard-
stick to that employed by a female. And by male standards Sirius is
not particularly admirable.

Similar distinctions can be made in the way that the others are perceived,
too: 
DD - caring, concerned / devious, manipulative.
Snape - abusive, hateful / driven by demons, doing what is necessary
Harry - misunderstood, vulnerable / unreasonable, selfish

OK, which is right? Who knows with any certainty?
Guess what? It doesn't matter. 
The final resolution will not be determined by majority vote; it doesn't
count that I think Sirius is a creep, or that Snape is deliciously nasty,
or that I wouldn't trust DD as far as I could throw Hogwarts, or that
Harry is a selfish little toe-rag. Trying to apportion blame fairly when
holding those views would be like trying to knit spaghetti. 
Better to trust your instincts, with maybe a little logic thrown in and
hope somebody will disagree and get a good discussion going.

What caused the debacle resulting in Sirius's demise?

Causes:
Harry's inability to put his hatred of Snape in perspective.
It poisons all interactions between the two. No compromise was possible
in his view even when instructed that it was necessary.
DD being too clever by half.
Snape not admitting that it wasn't going to work. He's the one in a
position to judge progress  or lack of it. He should have insisted that
DD take over long before it blew up.
Sirius being Sirius, especially when he intimated to Harry that Harry
would have his support if *in Harry's opinion* Snape was being nasty.
In Harry's opinion Snape is *always* nasty. And here's Sirius, his role
model, bolstering his prejudices.

Split 'em how you like. Half full or half empty? None is blameless,
but it's Harry's total intransigence that sets the avalanche in motion.

Kneasy