Unsentimental JKR (was re: Snape Culpable and the Three-part Interview)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 135078

> >>Magda:
> <SNIP>
> Remember how she went on about people getting too fond of Draco 
> after OOTP came out?  How she couldn't understand why people liked 
> him and said it must be Tom Felton's fault?  Could a woman who was 
> so down on Draco have given us the more-human (still a little     
> prick but nonetheless three-dimensional) Draco we saw in this     
> book? Scared and crying and quick to refute the suggestion that he 
> invited a werewolf into Hogwarts where his friends lived?
  
> >>Lupinlore:  
> As for your question with regard to Draco and could JKR right him 
> as he was in HBP if she really meant her comments, my answer      
> is "Yes, indeed."  After all, in the three-part interview,        
> conducted AFTER HBP was released, she not only continued in her    
> excoriation of Draco but expressed her concern about those who    
> favored him in the most detailed explanation yet of her views.

Betsy Hp:
I think you're misinterperting JKR's meaning when she rips into the 
Draco supporters.  What she's worried about, IMO, is young girls who 
like the bad boy *because* he's the bad boy.  This is the reason I 
never took her seriously (and was so dismissive of those who used 
interview quotes to back up their "Draco is entirely bad" 
arguments).  Because JKR *does* treat Draco sympathetically, from 
the very first book.  Her sympathy towards Draco is right there, in 
black and white, from the little lost rich boy in PS/SS to the 
reluctant suicide bomber in HBP.

> >>Lupinlore:  
> Why would she do that?  I suspect it's because her views of 
> redemption and who is deserving of sympathy are rather different 
> than those you often find in fandom.

Betsy Hp:
No, I think JKR is specifically worried about the fan mail she gets 
from young girls who seem attracted to Draco *because* he's the bad 
guy at Hogwarts.  There's a difference between those sort of 
supporters (who are setting themselves up for some very bad 
relationships) and those who look at the books and say, based on the 
information in the books, Draco really isn't a successful bad guy, 
in fact there's a lot of subtle hints that he's not all that evil 
really and JKR may take him in a different direction than at first 
seems apparent.

For example, I tend to support Slytherin house, not because I think 
evil is cool, but because I don't think JKR really intended to set 
up one house as the bastion of evil. A young fan I know supports 
Slytherin because she likes snakes and is interested in dark magic 
(she's 12 and trying to figure herself out, I think).  There's a 
world of difference between those two types of support, and I think 
JKR feels the need to try and steer the latter type of fans away 
from the "bad boys are cool" mind-set. Especially as those fans tend 
to be quite young.

And I agree with Magda's over all point.  Why on earth would JKR 
give away the answer to her books?  That's another reason I'm 
dismissive of her interviews (especially with regards to characters 
like Snape and Draco) as theory foundations.  Because the final 
destiny for Draco and especially Snape is far too important for JKR 
to tells us about in an interview.

Betsy Hp