Snape, Snape, Snape--favorite moments (Re: Snape's involvement in the...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 169281

> >>Phoenixgod:
> I really, really don't understand the attraction to Snape.

Betsy Hp:
Why, Phoenixgod, I'm so thrilled you asked! <bg>

> >>Phoenixgod:
> I mean, I get the bad boy thing, because I have a bad girl thing :) 
> but aren't they supposed to be devastatingly handsome bad boys and 
> not someone who doesn't shower on a regular basis?

Betsy Hp:
Ooh, you've made two mistakes here, IMO.  Mistake number 1: Snape is 
not a bad boy.  Lucius, Voldemort (back in his Tom Riddle days, 
before his nose fell off), *those* are the real Potterverse bad 
boys.  Sirius is a kind of "safe" bad boy, in that he leaves home 
early, rides a motorbike, is too cool for school, etc.  But Snape is 
not a "bad boy".  That's not the attraction.

Mistake number 2 is the shower thing. I presume you get that from his 
greasy hair?  That's something that's not all that much of a turn-
off, contrary to wide-held beliefs.  As proof I offer up just about 
every rock star that ever lived, and (of course) Captain Jack 
Sparrow.  It's very possible to get behind a guy that's not 
conventually well-groomed.

It's very helpful (and don't think JKR didn't know what she was 
doing, she's clever that one) that Snape doesn't smell.  If there 
were mention of a miasma of body-odor hovering around Snape, it'd be 
a bit harder, I admit, to find the man attractive.  As it is, all 
we've got is a man who doesn't fuss much with his hair.  And that's 
not enough to battle the sheer sexual charisma Snape has going on.  
Not for me, anyway. <g> 

> >>Leslie:
> <snip>
> Plus, well, there's that British actor, and the movie interpretation
> that puts him in a ridiculous frock coat with innumerable buttons
> that the real Snape would never tolerate. The real Snape wears
> robes. Only robes.
> Snape is actually supposed to look more like Wormtongue from LotR.
> My guess is if he appeared like that in the movies, far less women
> would be salivating over him.

Betsy Hp:
I can say for myself that Alan Rickman *is not* my reason for loving 
Professor Snape.  In fact, while I do adore Rickman, I don't think 
he's quite right for the role.  I agree that Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) 
would have been a better pick, IMO.  And while Snape is a *much* 
stronger man than Wormtongue, and that strength would show in 
completely different bearing and facial expressions, I can easily see 
a similar look (lank hair, pale skin) working.  Oh, and I'd have 
still salivated. <g>  (Tim Roth, who I've heard was JKR's dream pick, 
would have been even better.)  

But, jerking this conversation *away* from the medium that dare not 
be named <g>, I read PS/SS *before* realizing what casting had been 
done for the... ahem... *you know*.  By the time I put the book down 
I was utterly Snape's.  So the attraction came solely from what was 
written down on the page.

But enough about what the attraction is *not* based on.  What is it 
that *is* so darn attractive about Snape?

> >>Leslie:
> <snip>
> It has to do with intelligence, capability, talent, and a masterful
> sense of control. Or, more succinctly, Snape is "cool".
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Exactly.  The very first scene with Snape shows us his ability to 
hold a crowd in his grip simply by the power of his words.  We also 
see that he's not only intelligent, he's also decisive and quick to 
act.  That "masterful sense of control" describes it exactly, 
Leslie.  And, to me, there ain't nothing sexier than a man who knows 
what to do and does it.

In many ways Snape is JKR's action guy.  Which is really cool 
considering that Snape is also JKR's nerdy brain.  I mean, what a 
killer combination!  How could you *not* fall for this guy?

> >>Jen:
> <snip>
> And your thought above inspired me to try to start a "What
> I like about the character of Snape" thread.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp
This is like, my favoritest thread EVER!  I love you, Jen. :-D

I just have to pull this one out:

> >>Montavilla47:
> <snip>
> 4) Snape kicking Gilderoy Lockhart's butt in the Dueling Club. Go   
> Snape!

Betsy Hp:
See, this is just a perfect illustration of Snape.  He doesn't brag, 
he doesn't front, he just smirks (because he knows he's a bad-ass) 
and effortlessly proves his own coolness.  At teaching too!  One 
whisper and Draco is throwing a super cool hex.

This is where JKR teaches children everywhere that there's more to a 
man than hair gel and teeth whitener.  Much better to actually *be* 
the part than merely look it. <g>

> >>Leslie:
> <snip>
> He is at his most unattractive when he loses his cool.
> <snip>
> Snape, I would grant, is often pathetic as well. I don't mean the
> scornful, disgusted sort of definition of the word with either of
> these men. But they make me sad sometimes. And sometimes I feel
> sorry for them. Snape, in the incident in the pensieve, comes off as
> extremely pathetic. And his inability to put the past behind him
> (something Sirius is also guilty of) renders him pathetic as well.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
There is something a bit broken about Snape, I agree. JKR is (as I've 
said before) a master at hurt/comfort, and so she does tend to put 
her male characters through the wringer.  I think that in order to 
balance out the many strengths she gives Snape, she needs to give him 
those weaknesses.  But she balances them well enough, IMO, that 
Snape's weaknesses don't steal from his strengths.  Instead, they 
almost highlight them some how.  Like chiaroscuro.

Betsy Hp