By Jove, I think she's got it.

[serafina20]

On rewatching Harry Potter last night, I realized why I'm so "eh" on Snape in the movies. From the moment I started reading the books, I heard my version of Alan Rickman in my head while reading Snape (I can never quite visualize or hear actors in my mind while reading or writing, but I have a version of them in my head that remains consistent over time). And yet, I was underwhelemed by Rickman and Snape in the movie, and couldn't figure out why.

I finally have. He's not angry. He's not petty. He's not even really *mean*. He's just ... there. Snape says thigns that might be hurtful if he put some emotion behind it, but he doesn't so he's just really flat and a little weird. And that makes me sad.

It's funny. I loved Snape in the books, but I'm eh on him in the movies. I didn't really like either Draco or his father in the books, but I love, love, *love* them in the movies. Jason Isacs is sexy.

Comments

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

I loved Snape in the books, but I'm eh on him in the movies.

Actually, I think that Snape comes out best in the PS/SS movie. Though that "best" is qualified by how badly I think just about everyone else comes out.

You have read GoF and OotP, right?

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think that Snape comes out best in the PS/SS movie.

What's that?

And, yes, i've read all the books.

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

I get more of a "character arc" feeling from Snape in the movie. I wonder if Alan Rickman knew that Snape was going to turn out to be repaying James for saving his life and have been a spy for Dumbledore.

Because rather than the vitriol that we feel from Snape in the first book because we're seeing it through Harry's 11-year-old and biased viewpoint, I definitely got a "I have to protect this kid, though I hate him" vibe.

Ron comes out second-best, but there's really not as much scope for Rupert Grint to bring out the sort of global "feeling second-best" thing Ron goes through in the books as there is in Snape's character.

Of course, the whole thing would've been better if it had felt more like people living their lives and less like characters on a plot-point scavenger hunt, but that's just me.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

I don't see any hatred in Snape at all in the movies. I don't see much of anything in him. It's easier for me to get more of a feel for him in the books because, even though we're seeing him through Harry's eyes, I can interpret and read between the lines based on what I know as an adult. Plus, the hatred and anger isn't aimed at me, so I'm more in a position to try to. In the movie, he just seems to be reading lines taht don't match up with any sort of emotion underneath. It's one of the reasons that, while I enjoy the movies, i basically reject them as having anything to do with the books.