via
http://ift.tt/2wF7Zdq:
dendritic-trees:
fierceawakening:
dendritic-trees:
fierceawakening:
ferenofnopewood:
fierceawakening:
liminy-lemony:
what is a childhood grudge: you took my toy when we were kids once and i will forever hold you guilty
what is not a chlidhood grudge: you hated me because i existed since we were 11, stalked my for 7 years, tried to murder me, sexually assaulted me, and got away with everything because of your appearance and family name. the only reason you stopped, was because you were to short to reach me across the country. everytime i even hear of you i get violent flashbacks. i want you dead, but i will settle for hurt. if either happens, i’ll probably throw a party. i’m definitely not going to care, or waste any effort pretending.
if you can understand that, but not why snape is a bitter asshole about the marauders, then you need some perspective.
“Only the good characters’ PTSD makes sense” pretty much sums up my discomfort with Snape hate.
I mean, we’re living in a world where actual racist right wing radicalization is a serious problem and “this guy stopped and became a hero when he did” is a more important message than ever
BUT NO
I think this is one of those times where nuance and competing access needs are a problem.
Because, like…Most of the hate for Snape I see has exactly zero to do with Snape’s hate for the Marauders (which was completely fucking justified) and everything to do with either his relationship with Lily (tragic to me, but a lot of people read it as very creepy entitled sadboy bullshit) and the way he treated his students (which is completely inexcusable).
There’s a lot of discourse on this site about how mental illness may explain behaviors, but it doesn’t excuse them. With Snape, it’s like…I see *why* he is an asshole, but that doesn’t make him less of an asshole. The text treats him as a hero who redeemed himself (which is true), so the meta counterpoints that by treating him as an abusive bastard who should NEVER have been given a job having to do with children (which is also true).
And I’m just over here like…We weren’t supposed to really like Snape. He was never held up as an example of a great person. He was, canonically, a shithead. But when the chips were down, for whatever person reasons, he fought against Voldemort with everything he had. He was, in fact, a hero. And that doesn’t stop counting just because he was also a dick.
I’m troubled by the sad boy bullshit reading, but more than that I’m troubled by the aggressiveness of the people who insist the sad boy bullshit reading is the only valid reading.
I mean, I’ve unfollowed people because every single time I posted that I actually like that a famous book series says “sometimes being an ex-fascist is an accomplishment, but people rarely go from awful to perfect” people vagued about like… “Lololo snapehate ride or die.”
I don’t understand that intensity, especially as a response to “hey, I get something important out of this.”
This very much.
I mean, again, I get that there’s some competing access stuff and I understand that if I want the right to get loud and emotional about books I must by necessity extend the same to everyone else.
But the aggressiveness really bothers me. The refusal to acknowledge multiple readings, especially for a character constructed specifically as a refutation of simple black and white ethics speaks to a very dangerous way of approaching the world.
YEs! That’s exactly it. I’ve only once seen “I know what I’m supposed to get out of this character, but knowing he never repented for abusing his students means I can’t quite get there.” It’s pretty much always “no, he wasn’t a ~hero~, he was a ~Nice Guy~”
Which is extra weird to me because the biggest redeeming thing about Snape to me is that he *wasn’t* a Nice Guy.
Lily rejected him and he honored it, even though it devastated him.
It bugs the hell out of me that people can call that “friendzone guy” when it is the exact opposite. It is someone refusing to be friendzone guy even though he does not have the emotional maturity to move on after being rejected.
This very much.
Personally I’ve always found that saying “well Snape just sucks” completely misses the point which was very much that Snape was the expression of what was wrong with the whole system.
My perspective on him is really altered by the fact that he couldn’t leave. Like, I’ve had bad teachers (none quite as bad as him, but bad), and every single one of them voluntarily went to university and got a whole entire teaching degree and then a whole entire teaching job that they proceeded to do very badly, entirely of their own free will. Snape is there because Dumbledore mind-screwed him into being there.
And yes, its an uncomfortable thought to be faced with “if you were stuck somewhere really bad for you, and you couldn’t leave what would you do? Could you do better than that? Really? Are you sure?”
But you know, you have to think that thought sometime. Best get on with it.
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