Snape's capacity for positive emotion

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 94184

Kneasy:

> > I  strongly  suspect movie contamination in all this pining for
> > a softer more compassionate Snape: you're not seeing Snape as
> > written - you're seeing Alan Rickman. Fantasy time! Be honest.

[the usual caveats--I have not been reading this thread and don't know what
compassion or tender emotion is being theorized for Snape. This is my take
without having read earlier arguments. Apologies.]

No. Many years ago, when we had a few books under our belts, before serious
rumors rumbled that a movie was in the works, a friend and I had long, fun
discussions "casting" a HP movie.

Drawn from the imagery and characterization in the books, we lit upon Alan
Rickman as the perfect Snape, for his ability to convey multiple shades of
emotion--and that, even before he opens his mouth.

I think the characterization we are being presented is true to Snape's
character. From someone who has seen a lot of Alan Rickman roles, he's
entirely capable of portraying a completely irredeemable nasty person for
whom not a spark flares. There's good evidence JKR has given him inside
info, to help him build his characterization faithfully.

I was a Snape/Lily believer *long* before Alan Rickman was in the mix.
Snape's canon character, all visuals aside, *resonates* with emotion, he
shakes the stones around him with his intensity. The fact of the matter is,
people come equipped with the full range of emotions, good and bad.

Snape has obviously channeled most of his capacity into negative emotion and
his energy into suppressing and/or controlling it--but you must concede, had
there been a time in his past when the emotion was positive and caring, it
would have been as strong and powerful as the other we've seen.

Combine this with the fact that for people who suppress or control as Snape
does, it was often negative life experience that caused them to behave this
way. And in fact, we know of negative life experiences in his past--just not
the specifics.

Postulating that Snape (a) is not always filling the role Harry sees, and
(b) is capable of different emotions the ones appropriate for teaching a
class, does not seem so far-fetched to me. Off the top of my head--so far,
in canon, the only times we've seen him out of the Teacher/Administrator
role:
the staffroom scene in CoS
the Shrieking Shack and ending sequences in PoA
the hospital room sequence in GoF

While they lock him into the model of someone who does not waste extra words
explaining anything he considers irrelevant (i.e., someone who would never
think to *say* that he cares or is doing anything to protect someone, etc.),
and also someone who does things as grumpily as possible, they do not
preclude deeper positive emotion. Or a capacity for tender emotion--back in
the day.

~Amanda, who probably missed the whole point but hasn't posted in a while,
so there