Wow... that was really interesting. Now I want to see that XF episode (any idea what season it was?).
I also have a hard time with what I"m shown and what I"m told. I have a tendency now to go with what I'm shown and not really believe anybody anymore, though, but that might be because of a firm distrust of JKR that I'm currently enjoying. :) I like her as a writer, I just think she's deeply flawed and I find those flaws interesting. So I'm more inclined to mistrust characters' POVs, though not in a way that means much. I don't buy much of what Sirius has to say about Snape, but not because I think he's lying. That's just how he remembers it. I'm sure Snape and James were enemies, and that Snape ambushed James sometimes. I kind of doubt he ran much of a gang, though. He just doesn't seem, as a kid or an adult or any glimpse of him we've ever had, the sort with the inclination or ability to run a gang. Snape and James probably hated each other and probably hexed the hell out of each other about equally, at least in their later years. The difference that strikes me is that Snape was miserable and vindictive and attacking a hated enemy, whereas James seemed more like a cheerful teenage sadist who was picking on Snape because he didn't count.
Dumbledore said that Harry and Draco resemble James and Snape, and I kind of still believe Dumbledore's opinion on things... he does have a wider view of who's human. He does believe in Snape and believes in the shreads of humanity left in Tom Riddle. In some ways he seems quite fair. But in other ways he seems to have huge blind spots and this kind of arena might be one of them. He does have favorites.
Perhaps Snape and James achieved a kind of archenemy equality. Or... or at least the kind of pseudo-equality that Harry and Draco have, which is to say none at all. Draco does run a gang, and he is personable enough to want followers. But he never succeeds at anything with Harry. Snape might have really gotten James sometimes (Snape being willing to fight physically, which Draco almost never is), but I doubt he came close to achieving equality.
hmm, a side note, I read an essay recently that mentioned how Draco will never fight physically, even when all three of the main characters will eventually beat on him. He did fight Harry magically, though, which would have had physical results had they not both missed. But for the most part Draco tries to set up elaborate traps for Harry, or teases him and provokes him, or tries to set the school against him. In a way, Draco's gang resembles James's gang more than Harry's does. That whole thing with the werewolf trap is more something Draco would do, both in its cruelty and in its complexity. Even when Harry wants revenge on Draco, he'd never bother with something that intricate.
One of the reasons I find HP so wonderful for fanfic is that there are all these contradictions between what we're told and what we're shown. A few are intentional (misdirection with Snape being the enemy and all that) and I think a few are not. (But I could be wrong--go ahead, give us all false hope about Draco and Slytherin! :) Stories where everything is really well-written and sinks right into you beautifully aren't so good for fanfic. There's nothing to really improve upon. There's nothing to struggle with and sort through. We can argue all day between what we're told and what we're shown, and in the end I think we have to decide for ourselves because the information is not there in JKR's writings. I find that fascinating. I'm really not sure why.
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Date: 2004-12-14 09:31 am (UTC)I also have a hard time with what I"m shown and what I"m told. I have a tendency now to go with what I'm shown and not really believe anybody anymore, though, but that might be because of a firm distrust of JKR that I'm currently enjoying. :) I like her as a writer, I just think she's deeply flawed and I find those flaws interesting. So I'm more inclined to mistrust characters' POVs, though not in a way that means much. I don't buy much of what Sirius has to say about Snape, but not because I think he's lying. That's just how he remembers it. I'm sure Snape and James were enemies, and that Snape ambushed James sometimes. I kind of doubt he ran much of a gang, though. He just doesn't seem, as a kid or an adult or any glimpse of him we've ever had, the sort with the inclination or ability to run a gang. Snape and James probably hated each other and probably hexed the hell out of each other about equally, at least in their later years. The difference that strikes me is that Snape was miserable and vindictive and attacking a hated enemy, whereas James seemed more like a cheerful teenage sadist who was picking on Snape because he didn't count.
Dumbledore said that Harry and Draco resemble James and Snape, and I kind of still believe Dumbledore's opinion on things... he does have a wider view of who's human. He does believe in Snape and believes in the shreads of humanity left in Tom Riddle. In some ways he seems quite fair. But in other ways he seems to have huge blind spots and this kind of arena might be one of them. He does have favorites.
Perhaps Snape and James achieved a kind of archenemy equality. Or... or at least the kind of pseudo-equality that Harry and Draco have, which is to say none at all. Draco does run a gang, and he is personable enough to want followers. But he never succeeds at anything with Harry. Snape might have really gotten James sometimes (Snape being willing to fight physically, which Draco almost never is), but I doubt he came close to achieving equality.
hmm, a side note, I read an essay recently that mentioned how Draco will never fight physically, even when all three of the main characters will eventually beat on him. He did fight Harry magically, though, which would have had physical results had they not both missed. But for the most part Draco tries to set up elaborate traps for Harry, or teases him and provokes him, or tries to set the school against him. In a way, Draco's gang resembles James's gang more than Harry's does. That whole thing with the werewolf trap is more something Draco would do, both in its cruelty and in its complexity. Even when Harry wants revenge on Draco, he'd never bother with something that intricate.
One of the reasons I find HP so wonderful for fanfic is that there are all these contradictions between what we're told and what we're shown. A few are intentional (misdirection with Snape being the enemy and all that) and I think a few are not. (But I could be wrong--go ahead, give us all false hope about Draco and Slytherin! :) Stories where everything is really well-written and sinks right into you beautifully aren't so good for fanfic. There's nothing to really improve upon. There's nothing to struggle with and sort through. We can argue all day between what we're told and what we're shown, and in the end I think we have to decide for ourselves because the information is not there in JKR's writings. I find that fascinating. I'm really not sure why.