I was totally going to use Lupin as an example because he's so perfect that way! He's a nice guy, he does some nice things in the text, he's never done anything nasty on the level of some other characters, yet I can completely see why he gets under some people's skin. I know just what you mean by saying what a character is to you is different than what he is to most of the fandom. That's just the sort of thing that can be sometimes hard for people to accept, I guess. I don't usually think of Remus as all that great either, actually. I did a post a while ago about characters we identified with for the wrong reasons--like that their unattractive qualities matched out own, and that was Lupin for me. So a lot of times when people see him as being really wonderful I just think, "No he's not. Really, he's not."
And again that's another assumption that really gets my goat; that I'm bound not to like Potter Major et al because of what they did to poor 'Snapey-poo'. Well surprisingly enough that has very little to do with it. Bullying Snape didn't endear them to me, but it's the qualities they represent that I don't like. Had they never bullied Snape I still wouldn't have liked them. I. Just. Don't. Like. Them
This is so true--and you'd think this would be obvious because think of all the people who like, for instance, one member of the Trio or two, but detest one of them. If we just liked the same people our favorite character liked, or hated those people he hated, that wouldn't happen. Personally, I like Snape and Sirius. I've never cared much for James-even before OotP I thought of him as being the way he seemed to be there. I think I can understand how Snape sees James, but it's different from the way I see him. I don't care much for James in my own way, not Snape's.
I think it's because there are no characters I identify with on a personal level, but the ones I don't like remind me of or embody certain qualities found in people in real life or fiction that I just don't like. It's immediate and obvious.
Yes, that's the way it is for me too. I usually know what qualities get on my nerves and why--I generally like venting about it! But I don't then feel this need to come up with a reason everybody who doesn't agree with me is an idiot. Maybe I'm just not used to my own view being considered the normal one.;-) I do just assume that whatever people are attracted to in a character is something positive, so there must be something positive in there for them to be attracted to.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-31 08:26 am (UTC)And again that's another assumption that really gets my goat; that I'm bound not to like Potter Major et al because of what they did to poor 'Snapey-poo'. Well surprisingly enough that has very little to do with it. Bullying Snape didn't endear them to me, but it's the qualities they represent that I don't like. Had they never bullied Snape I still wouldn't have liked them. I. Just. Don't. Like. Them
This is so true--and you'd think this would be obvious because think of all the people who like, for instance, one member of the Trio or two, but detest one of them. If we just liked the same people our favorite character liked, or hated those people he hated, that wouldn't happen. Personally, I like Snape and Sirius. I've never cared much for James-even before OotP I thought of him as being the way he seemed to be there. I think I can understand how Snape sees James, but it's different from the way I see him. I don't care much for James in my own way, not Snape's.
I think it's because there are no characters I identify with on a personal level, but the ones I don't like remind me of or embody certain qualities found in people in real life or fiction that I just don't like. It's immediate and obvious.
Yes, that's the way it is for me too. I usually know what qualities get on my nerves and why--I generally like venting about it! But I don't then feel this need to come up with a reason everybody who doesn't agree with me is an idiot. Maybe I'm just not used to my own view being considered the normal one.;-) I do just assume that whatever people are attracted to in a character is something positive, so there must be something positive in there for them to be attracted to.