The Huge overreactions from a five minute time span.

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 150130

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Joe Goodwin 
<joegoodwin1067 at ...> wrote:
>
> People should be able to feel and say whatever they like. That 
said, the many attempts to make James Potter out to be some sort of 
horrible person, which often use this one scene as 'evidence,' are 
laughable. Strangely I have gotten a few 'Off list' emails agreeing 
with me and warning me that the 'Save Snape brigade is going to have 
a fit."

I think there is another reason why this scene is important and why 
it is important that James appears in it as a horrible person, and 
that reason has nothing to do with the ex-Potions Master in whatever 
manifestion of AcronymSnape! one prefers.

James is Harry's dead father, and since Harry joined the WW, he's 
been told that James was a hero. It's natural that Harry should have 
an iconic view of his charming, talented, brave dad. Suddenly Harry 
has to confront a scene which turns his world view upside down. His 
hated bully of a teacher (yes, Snape is a bully) becomes the victim 
and war-hero dad behaves like a jerk because behaving like a jerk 
amuses Harry's beloved godfather. Meanwhile his trusted formr 
teacher is too much of a wimp to stop them.  Harry deals with this 
scene; he tries to find out as much as possible; that is to say he 
confronts what he sees in the pensieve and he comes to terms with 
what he learns.  He understands that his father had flaws, but he 
also knows what his father did against evil.  His father was not a 
horrible person all the time, nor an icon, but a flawed and 
contradictory human being, ultimately a brave human being who laid 
down his life for those he loved.

Contrast Harry with Tom Riddle. When he finds out his father was not 
a wonderful wizard but a muggle who abandoned his pregnant wife, TR 
murders him.  No attempt to find out what really happened, to see 
what better side TRsenior might have.  Similarly when he finds out 
his great Slytherin family is not living in pureblood splendour and 
riches, but is one inbred half-wit sadistic uncle living in a hovel, 
TR frames him for murder and leaves.  Having had all his illusions 
shattered, he creates another one,the greatest illusion in the 
WW.    He becomes Voldemort, the Dark Lord.

VM deals in illusion.  Harry doesn't.  But he has to get past the 
illusion, and seeing a couple of lads having a few harmless teenage 
japes wouldn't have done that for him.

Leah