[HPforGrownups] Re: Are there no depths to which Siriophiles wont sink?/Remus is the worst

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 99332


Okay, I finally made it through all these posts!

1. Sirius and Severus are both completely immature.  Both of them are stuck
in the identity they were in school.  Sirius was in Azkaban for 12 years, so
what?  He was out of school, fighting the dark wizards before that.  Severus
was picked on, so what?  There are kids who were picked on in school who
don't become what they hated the most.  Who people defend (IMHO) is based on
who they identify with more.  I was (am, actually) the kid who got picked on
by the cool kids, and everyone else just stood by and watched.  I see myself
in Severus.  There's no way I can identify with the popular and handsome
Sirius.  The Sirius who has a group of close friends.  I didn't even have
very close friends until 8th grade.  These debates get ugly because people
identify so much with a character that they feel an attack on the character
is an attack on themselves.  I know when someone attacks Severus, I don't
even think before I start typing a reply (most of which I manage to stop
myself from sending *grin*).

Sherry says:

Very good points!  Fortunately, it is only a book and characters in a book.
I am disabled and went to public schools all my life.  Though I was not
picked on, except in the early grades of elementary school, I was ignored by
everyone.  I did know other kids who were picked on mercilessly, and it was
terrible to witness.  I was painfully shy anyway, which didn't help matters.
I was afraid of the other kids, and they were afraid of me.  The thing is
that as adults, we choose our behavior, even if we have patterns that were
formed in our childhood.  We don't have to give into those patterns.  If
there's one thing in these books I have really appreciated it is that the
characters are an interesting mix of "good and bad"  Snape must have some
redeeming qualities, even though he is an abusive teacher.  Sirius had some
redeeming qualities, even though he was reckless and rash and cruel as a
teenager.  I admit I relate more to Sirius, but it has nothing to do with me
having had cool friends or anything.  It has all to do with the fact that he
was Harry's godfather, and that Harry finally had the father figure he
wanted.  Whether Sirius would have been a good parental type in a world
after the war, I don't know.  I guess I see him through Harry's eyes.  I
hope to find something in the last two books to make me believe Snape
doesn't mean to be a bully as a teacher.  So, even though I am a Sirius fan,
I try to keep an open mind about all the characters eventual outcome.  I
always want to be proved wrong, to find that the people I dislike really do
have something good and honorable about them that I can admire or at least
respect.  I really don't think people take this personally, as much as they
just enjoy the debate and interchange.

Sherry G