[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape, the "Deeply Horrible Person"

[Silverthorne]

No: HPFGUIDX 94330

{Siriusly Snapey Susan}

I keep thinking back to a report made [I believe in Newsweek] before the SS
movie came out, about how JKR had said some things to Alan Rickman which no
one else knew so far and which helped him in his portrayal of Snape.  [I
think Chris Columbus remarked about how strange it was to see Rickman in the
role, because it was *clear* he knew more of what was going on than we do.]
Yet, would most people agree with me that Rickman's Snape has seemed *less*
"deeply horrible" than the written Snape?  I wonder what that means, then?


{Silverthorne}

Snape does seem more 'gentile' on film, doesn't he? Here are a few
possibilities as to why...

1) Alan Rickman dropped the ball in regards to Snape's 'true' nature (Which
I doubt, since every piece I have seen him in he has done a superb acting
job--compare the Sherriff of Nottingham to Colonel Brandon to see my point.
Two characters played by the same man could not be any more obviously
different. So different in fact that I failed to realize it was Rickman in
Sense and Sensibility until I'd watched it about 5 times...)

2) Snape the Evil and Horrible Man is quite excellent at hiding his true
nature...(er....um...considering the thrown cockroach jars and hot blooded
reactions to certain...things...not likely...his ability to hide that very
nature from Harry (and the audience) should be a necessity if he's trying to
keep his DE loyalties under wraps and is good at it ^^;)

3) Rickman, since he is in a medium that does not allow us the luxury of
getting into the characters mind easily (and that will, quite frankly, not
give the screen time necessary to get into too much detail about Snape's
'true nature'), has been given liscence to hint at what Snape is really
about...and it's not the monster he's most often taken for...

There are other possibilities of course, but that's the first few that come
to mind, if we're assuming Rickman is using book info in his
characterizations...

Anne