Sexy Snape / JKR's men (was:Re: What's fun about the HPs?...)

[Kristen]

No: HPFGUIDX 152541

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ceridwen" <ceridwennight at ...> 
wrote:

> 
> Ceridwen:
> I liked, or at least was favorably inclined toward Snape, before I 
> ever saw the films.  I love the 'Spock Effect' comment, it just 
might 
> be true.  But, maybe there's another twisted, tortured soul with a 
> big nose even farther back:  Sherlock Holmes.  I think both Snape 
and 
> Spock trade on the same sorts of feelings from readers as 
Sherlock.  
> And, hey, they all have names beginning with the letter 'S'!
> 
> I think that a certain segment of the population do 'go gaga over 
> emotionally repressed men with tons of baggage'.  
SNIP
Sometimes not the nicest, but aside from Voldemort, I 
> don't think there is a single all-good or all-bad character in the 
> series.  Which is very much like life.
> 
> Ceridwen.

I'll add my own fictional "S" comparison to the mix, and that is 
Spike from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series.  Like Snape, 
Spike is a wonderfully ambiguous character.  In the early part of 
the series, he is capable of great evil, yet he dotes on Drusilla 
and makes great sacrifices to protect her.   Spike's "I 
might be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it" 
contrasts interestingly with Snape's "Fools who wear their hearts on 
their sleeves" speech.  If, like me, you're a fan of LOLLIPOPS,  you 
know where this is going . . .  We've had just enough hints to allow 
some of us to imagine what Snape risked for love.

It's this ambiguity that keep me fascinated with Snape.  Post-HBP, 
Sirius and Remus don't have this complexity, although I agree with 
Pippin that the ESELupin would restore the intrigue for Remus.  
(Sirius is the kind of person I'd find quite irritating in real 
life, and I'd always been rooting for a Siris-Remus subtext to give 
SB a few additional layers.)
  
While I haven't quite got past the greasy hair to "sexy," I 
certainly find Snape to be the most compelling character in the 
series.