Victory for TEWWW EWWW

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 172991

Nora, quoting from The Today Show today:

> "Was Snape always intended to be a hero?" "Is he a hero? I don't see
> Snape as a hero... he's very brave, but..." "Would he have protected
> Harry if he hadn't loved Lily?" "No, not at all."
> 
> --------------
> 
> Putting it all together: childhood love but still willing to join 
> the Death Eaters, begging your evil boss for her life (but forget 
> the husband and child), protecting only out of a personal love for a
> long-dead woman who you probably didn't have any contact with after
> school and thus wouldn't *know* anymore in many ways.  In the end, 
> it was about personal issues, not moral standards.  George and 
> Diana are both dead theories now.
> 
> Unquestionably brave, but....EWWWW!


SSSusan:
Count me as one who was quite thrilled to hear about JKR responding 
to these questions in this way.

As much as I believed in DDM!Snape, as much as I had been convinced 
that events on the tower had played out as they did and was happy to 
see that confirmed, as fascinated as I was by discovering that the 
long-bantered about Lily theories LOLLIPOPS and TEWWW EWWW were in 
varying degrees accurate, I have been just a tad bit honked off by 
characterizations of Snape that I've seen which went a little too far 
(imho) in classifying him as The Good One or a hero.  

I call it TooGood!Snape.  Yes, he was proven out as Good!Snape -- or 
at least DDM!Snape and protector of Harry -- but I also did not find 
him a hero.  I loved that Harry came to grips with him, I loved that 
Harry so quickly recognized how he, Voldemort *and* Snape were 
Hogwarts' 'abandoned boys,' how he openly acknowledged Snape's 
bravery to all around.  But Snape didn't immediately turn into a full-
fledged hero or the *true* 'epitome of goodness' in my mind.

Having JKR reply as she did to these questions makes me feel better 
about my reaction that some folks were going a little too far towards 
TooGood!Snape.  His wasn't a conversion based upon a total reordering 
of moral principles; his wasn't a conversion towards wanting to 
protect all on the right side.  He was still a deeply flawed man who, 
wonderfully, bravely, managed to make, for years, the 'right' choices 
of going along with DD's plans and protecting Harry Potter.  But he 
wasn't a full-fledged hero, and he wasn't the epitome of goodness.

Siriusly Snapey Susan,
who as one can tell by her name, *is* a Snape fan... just one who 
wants to retain a realistic picture of what the man was all about