To hate Snape?

[DannyWallace]

Rereading Harry Potter. I absolutely LOVE the books and have reread them a million times (seriously!)

But, I just don't get the fascination with him.

He was literally obsessed with Lily. He bullied children (especially Neville and when Hermiones teeth grew!). Yes he put himself in danger to save the wizards etc, but I don't think being a hero stops you being a complete arsehole!

People I know have the word "always" tattooed on them! Why? We teach kids not to bully but then say it's ok when Snape acts like that?!!

Ok, I'm very aware it's not real, but I get passionate about it 🤣

I find Sirius pretty annoying and often want to give him a good shake. I have a lot more time for Snape who I think was a more balanced character and showed great courage.
( but despite reading the books first I cannot get Alan Rickman out of my mind, so that helps)

Could anyone else have played Snape?

His interpretation was pretty much perfect.

Haha, I thought it was about the village too. I agree, it is annoyingly smug and up its own arse

I never liked snape but he was a complex character. Very well written.

@SoldDownTheRiver I totally get what you mean. Harry winds me up too.
However....
Imagine the emotional abuse he had growing up. Was he ever cuddled? Did he ever get toys? Did he ever get encouragement? Who cheered his first word? Who encouraged his first steps?
He was kept under the stairs.

If anyone was going to turn out angry and evil, it easily could've been Harry.

(I told you, I'm WAY to into HP!! 😂😂)

Also, one thing I think we all can agree on.
Love or hate Snape, no one else other than Alan Rickman could've played him!!

Draco’s parents bully him into making poor life choices but even he has a better redemption arc when he throws Harry his wand to fight Voldemort

Eh? That doesn’t happen!

So you also hate James as he was a bully too?

Haha, I thought it was about the village too. I agree, it is annoyingly smug and up its own arse grin

Glad I'm not the only one who clicked on the link thinking it referred to Snape Maltings! But I love the walk from there across the marshes to Iken

It's just as one of them said in the books (either Remus or Sirius I think) - that people aren't "good" or "bad" - there are many shades in all of us.

But I always thought that Snape's remark about Hermione's teeth was just plain cruel and inexcusable. Git.

I can’t hate Snape cos I love Alan Rickman too much so can only manage to feel disappointed.

JK Rowling herself said Snape was a 'grey' character - he was neither good or evil but consistently floated in-between.

As for the 'always' yes Snape said it about Lily but there was an interview done with Alan Rickman where he was questioned on whether he would do it again/regret the decision to play Snape and he answered "when I'm 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will ask me 'after all this time?' and I will say 'always'".
That's what 'always' means to me.

He's a pretty awful guy, but was given such a burden of responsibility. He bollocksed that up until the last minute, really, then didn't greatly redeem himself, despite people learning where he was coming from.

I HATED Snape’s redemption arc. Absolutely loathed it. It was so fucking predictable and “Always” makes me want to puke.

Phew! Happy to get that out.

Where are people getting the idea that Snape called Lily’s friend a mudblood? It’s been stated multiple times on this thread... He called HER a mudblood, I don’t ever recall him calling a friend of hers by that slur.

People I know have the word "always" tattooed on them! Why?

Now that is a very good question.

I need to look it up to remember exactly but I don’t think he calls lily a mudblood, bedside doesn’t he say he doesn’t feel that way about lily and then she asks why not, since he does about everyone else of her birth? And then she complains about him saying it to her friend (Marlene McKinnon?). Need to re-read to be sure but my recollection is he specifically doesn’t call lily a mudblood but she calls bullshit because she knows that’s what he thinks about non-pure bloods generally.

Yes he did. Snape called Lily a "filthy Mudblood". HTH.

@sailorcherries

Alan Rickman didn't say that quote at all. It was a made up internet meme.

Mally I thought there was discrepancy in whether he said it or not, however JK Rowling did admit that when filing began she told Rickman the secret behind 'always' and he never told a soul - which is what shaped that answer.

Snape was half blood himself wasn’t he

Yes, she told him about "always" as he needed to know so he could act the part. He didn't say anything about reading Harry Potter when he was old. It was a cheesy, made-up quote.

Yes, his father was a Muggle and his mother was a witch - Eileen Prince. Hence the Half Blood Prince.

Yes the walk across to Iken is glorious EmmaGrundy!

I like Snape because he's complex as a character. Say what you like about JK Rowling, but she cannot do characters. All the people who were utter arseholes (James, Sirius, Harry, Dumbledore) are suddenly heroes because that's what the story requires of them, and some of the story arcs make no sense, like the Ginny/Harry thing, that's just outright creepy! To me there's only a few genuinely well drawn characters: Hagrid, Snape, Draco and Luna, and if anything the way everything's depicted in the books is a masterful representation of a cocky, hot headed, self important brat spewing his viewpoint to the world when he knows less than half the story and assumes he must be right.
So, in essence, I like Snape. I can understand why he did what he did, though there's no excuse for it, and he's one of the few characters who actually stands up to any kind of analysis.