Bad Slytherins/ Good Slytherins (was Does JKR want us to hate Draco? )

[fanofminerva]

No: HPFGUIDX 129692

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...> 
wrote:
>  
> > SSSusan:
> > She does for me.  Buckbeak, his taunting of H/R/H, his constant 
put-
> > downs and threats about Mudbloods and Lupin and Hagrid, his 
attacks 
> > on Harry, his insults of the Weasleys, ....  I don't see how 
this 
> > ISN'T succeeding at showing us that he is, if not evil, damn 
near 
> > close, and certainly not likeable.
> 
> 
> Potioncat:
>
 I'm not sure if for the purpose of this, we're talking about how 
> Draco is viewed at discussion sites or also fan-fiction. Because 
what 
> a fan-fic writer does with a character may have very little to do 
> with what that writer thinks JKR is doing with the character. A 
fan-
> fic writer can ask,"can I take this toad of a person and make him 
> seem like a prince?"
> 
> I think JKR has shown that Draco is a horrible person. I've never 
> seen anything in canon that would even hint at any goodness in 
him. 
> The only reason she talks about it in interviews is because there 
are 
> fans who want to see him differently. I also think that she isn't 
> bothered at all by any bad thing that happens to him. And while 
many 
> readers are upset that Crouch!Moddy bounced him around, I think 
JKR 
> considers Draco had it coming. Whether it was a fair and 
appropriate 
> punishment at that given moment has been the source of other 
threads.
> 
> Some readers are upset that 11-year-old students are comdemned to 
a 
> life of evil by the Sorting Hat. Keep in mind, no real child is 
> harmed by the sorting process. It's a work of fiction. And as to 
> that, I've known snotty little kids who continue to be jerks as 
they 
> grow up. Whether they were born that way or made that way, I 
cannot 
> say.
> 
> There are those who like Draco and other Slytherins because they 
are 
> bad. The badder, the better. I stumbled onto a few of those sites 
> before I found HPfGU. Not pleasant places, I can tell you.
> 
> And maybe there's a chance that some readers think Draco's going 
to 
> be "converted" because Snape seems to favor him. Snape, of course, 
is 
> JKR's other bad boy, and it really isn't certain how he will turn 
out.
> 
> One of the other posts in this thread suggested that the Good 
> Slytherin (if there is one) will be someone who has been a minor 
> character, and who hasn't joined in with Draco. I think it's 
> important that T. Nott wasn't part of the hexing party on the 
train. 
> His father was also captured, but he doesn't seem to be involved 
in 
> revenge.
> Potioncat


One other thing to keep in mind is the impact of the actor in the 
movie playing the character on the subsequent interpretation of that 
character in the books.  Take Snape, for example.  I really like the 
actor Alan Rickman.  Subconsciously, my like of Rickman is 
transferred to the character of Snape.  When I read the books, I see 
the character played by Alan Rickman in my mind.  Same thing with 
all the characters.  Because Tom Felton is such a cutie, people see 
him when they read about Draco and transfer their reactions to Tom 
onto Draco.  Although I do not read fan-fic, I would bet that this 
same process plays a role in that genre as well.

The question that is really intriguing but cannot readily be 
answered is how would these characters be interpreted if we did not 
have the movies and the imprint of the actors?  Is there anyone on 
the list who has never seen the movies, trailer, websites, etc., but 
who has read the books only?  If so, their take on the characters 
would be very interesting to me.

Julie