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geovikiYou've read the meta, now check out the quote...
I thought a lot of thoughtful, intelligent LJ discussions came out of JKR's interview, especially regarding Snape and Draco. And I was all, "Yeah, JKR doesn't get her own characters, and we are totally right in seeing their depth and potential."
Um, then I saw the actual transcript of what she said. And now I think we were reading far too much into her words. See, this is what she said, with the questions she was referring to:
Q: Also, will we see more of Snape?
A: You always see a lot of Snape, because he is a gift of a character. I hesitate to say that I love him. [Audience member: I do]. You do? This is a very worrying thing. Are you thinking about Alan Rickman or about Snape? [Laughter]. Isn't this life, though? I make this hero - Harry, obviously - and there he is on the screen, the perfect Harry, because Dan is very much as I imagine Harry, but who does every girl under the age of 15 fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Girls, stop going for the bad guy. Go for a nice man in the first place. It took me 35 years to learn that, but I am giving you that nugget free, right now, at the beginning of your love lives.
(skip some other questions)
Apart from Harry, Snape is my favourite character because he is so complex and I just love him. Can he see the Thestrals, and if so, why? Also, is he a pure blood wizard?
A. Snape's ancestry is hinted at. He was a Death Eater, so clearly he is no Muggle born, because Muggle borns are not allowed to be Death Eaters, except in rare circumstances. You have some information about his ancestry there. He can see Thestrals, but in my imagination most of the older people at Hogwarts would be able to see them because, obviously, as you go through life you do lose people and understand what death is. But you must not forget that Snape was a Death Eater. He will have seen things that -- Why do you love him? Why do people love Snape? I do not understand this. Again, it's bad boy syndrome, isn't it? It's very depressing. [Laughter]. One of my best friends watched the film and she said, “You know who's really attractive?” I said, “Who?” She said, “Lucius Malfoy!”
So first, she never says she doesn't see any depth in Snape. She says, "I hesitate to say I love him." Which isn't even saying she doesn't love him, just that she doesn't like to say it. Then someone in the audience says "I do." So there's an audience interaction here that we're not sensing - is there more laughter, more unrecorded comments? Therefore, we can presume her next comment about Alan Rickman is responding to that "I do." (In fact, there is a lot of laughter recorded, both from her and from the audience, in this interview. So the mood itself is light-hearted.) The next comment, about Harry, is pointedly referring to Harry on the screen. She mentions Dan - the actor portraying Harry. Her next remark, which all us fangirls have taken offense at, is "who does every girl under the age of 15 fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy.". Now I think she was quite literal in how this should be applied. She's talking about young girls and their reaction to either Dan or Tom. Not book readers. Not fan fiction writers. Hell, she has a daughter in that category; I'm sure she's aware of the hotness factor of Tom Felton.
The next question, she's back at Snape's attraction. Note that she doesn't ask, "Why do you find him fascinating? Why do you like him?" Instead, her question is, "Why do you love him?" Oddly, it interrupts another thought entirely, which makes me think that the audience interrupted with a comment that wasn't recorded. And by "love", I think she's talking about that unrealistic adoration of movie Snape, the Alan Rickman attraction. Because repeatedly she's indicated that she also finds book Snape worthy of our interest.
Remember, she's got two very important guiding principles behind conducting interviews: don't give away anything important (her efforts to uphold this are Herculean), and always treat her fans with respect (which she does by incorporating a lot of self-deprecating humor and lighthearted asides).
Abrupt topic change
I went to Costco yesterday, for passport photos and huge quantities of paper towels and meatballs. (For those of you who don't know the joys of Costco, it's a warehouse store where everything is sold in bulk. Want a pen? You can't have one. But you can have 144. And![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
arrmaitee tells us they're now selling coffins (in bulk???). I succumbed to a shopping urge and bought a CD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. And yeah, I bought it on vinyl when it first came out. I mean, we all did. It wasn't on the best-seller list for 24 years because we were training our dogs in frisbee-catching with it.
So my question is, when did the lyrics take on such poignant meaning? I never noticed it when I was 19. [fill in here with long, pointless musings on growing old that I've beaten into the ground in previous LJ entries, summed up by some nondefinitive conclusion about My Life Now that no one empathizes with or even can figure out anyway. Pretend I've said it, 'k?].
Another abrupt topic change
I work among other feeders at the public trough on what we call a campus. I just got back from a lunchtime walk around the scenic fields and carefully nurtured trees. We're actually considered a wildlife preserve, fenced off from the rest of the city, with our own little ecosystem. I think things have grown out of balance, though. When I leave work, I pass a lawn full of cute little bunnies of varying shapes and sizes (full of incestuous suggestions). I don't kid when I say there must be about 20 of the little buggers plopped casually and artistically across a lawn the size of a basketball court. Meaning - what happened to all the foxes and coyotes that I know are here, too? Falling down on the job, that's what!
And now, prairie dogs have moved into my walking path. They have no fear of me anymore. Well, a little fear, maybe. But they just stand up on their little hind legs and make a few token sharp, yipping barks, maybe stop chewing a bit. They walk with an almost psychotic fear of letting their bellies touch the ground. I am loath to say I think they're cute. They beg to be Disneyfied. Timon came close, but really, they need their own feature film. They'd make terrific sidekicks to the hero.
Unlike the Canadian geese, which are just despicable. They'd be the mindless drones in thrall to the evil...um....damn. I can't think of an evil denizen of our campus. Maybe an uber-goose. Yeah.
Well, this post sure meandered. Sorry.
I thought a lot of thoughtful, intelligent LJ discussions came out of JKR's interview, especially regarding Snape and Draco. And I was all, "Yeah, JKR doesn't get her own characters, and we are totally right in seeing their depth and potential."
Um, then I saw the actual transcript of what she said. And now I think we were reading far too much into her words. See, this is what she said, with the questions she was referring to:
Q: Also, will we see more of Snape?
A: You always see a lot of Snape, because he is a gift of a character. I hesitate to say that I love him. [Audience member: I do]. You do? This is a very worrying thing. Are you thinking about Alan Rickman or about Snape? [Laughter]. Isn't this life, though? I make this hero - Harry, obviously - and there he is on the screen, the perfect Harry, because Dan is very much as I imagine Harry, but who does every girl under the age of 15 fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Girls, stop going for the bad guy. Go for a nice man in the first place. It took me 35 years to learn that, but I am giving you that nugget free, right now, at the beginning of your love lives.
(skip some other questions)
Apart from Harry, Snape is my favourite character because he is so complex and I just love him. Can he see the Thestrals, and if so, why? Also, is he a pure blood wizard?
A. Snape's ancestry is hinted at. He was a Death Eater, so clearly he is no Muggle born, because Muggle borns are not allowed to be Death Eaters, except in rare circumstances. You have some information about his ancestry there. He can see Thestrals, but in my imagination most of the older people at Hogwarts would be able to see them because, obviously, as you go through life you do lose people and understand what death is. But you must not forget that Snape was a Death Eater. He will have seen things that -- Why do you love him? Why do people love Snape? I do not understand this. Again, it's bad boy syndrome, isn't it? It's very depressing. [Laughter]. One of my best friends watched the film and she said, “You know who's really attractive?” I said, “Who?” She said, “Lucius Malfoy!”
So first, she never says she doesn't see any depth in Snape. She says, "I hesitate to say I love him." Which isn't even saying she doesn't love him, just that she doesn't like to say it. Then someone in the audience says "I do." So there's an audience interaction here that we're not sensing - is there more laughter, more unrecorded comments? Therefore, we can presume her next comment about Alan Rickman is responding to that "I do." (In fact, there is a lot of laughter recorded, both from her and from the audience, in this interview. So the mood itself is light-hearted.) The next comment, about Harry, is pointedly referring to Harry on the screen. She mentions Dan - the actor portraying Harry. Her next remark, which all us fangirls have taken offense at, is "who does every girl under the age of 15 fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy.". Now I think she was quite literal in how this should be applied. She's talking about young girls and their reaction to either Dan or Tom. Not book readers. Not fan fiction writers. Hell, she has a daughter in that category; I'm sure she's aware of the hotness factor of Tom Felton.
The next question, she's back at Snape's attraction. Note that she doesn't ask, "Why do you find him fascinating? Why do you like him?" Instead, her question is, "Why do you love him?" Oddly, it interrupts another thought entirely, which makes me think that the audience interrupted with a comment that wasn't recorded. And by "love", I think she's talking about that unrealistic adoration of movie Snape, the Alan Rickman attraction. Because repeatedly she's indicated that she also finds book Snape worthy of our interest.
Remember, she's got two very important guiding principles behind conducting interviews: don't give away anything important (her efforts to uphold this are Herculean), and always treat her fans with respect (which she does by incorporating a lot of self-deprecating humor and lighthearted asides).
Abrupt topic change
I went to Costco yesterday, for passport photos and huge quantities of paper towels and meatballs. (For those of you who don't know the joys of Costco, it's a warehouse store where everything is sold in bulk. Want a pen? You can't have one. But you can have 144. And
arrmaitee tells us they're now selling coffins (in bulk???). I succumbed to a shopping urge and bought a CD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. And yeah, I bought it on vinyl when it first came out. I mean, we all did. It wasn't on the best-seller list for 24 years because we were training our dogs in frisbee-catching with it.So my question is, when did the lyrics take on such poignant meaning? I never noticed it when I was 19. [fill in here with long, pointless musings on growing old that I've beaten into the ground in previous LJ entries, summed up by some nondefinitive conclusion about My Life Now that no one empathizes with or even can figure out anyway. Pretend I've said it, 'k?].
Another abrupt topic change
I work among other feeders at the public trough on what we call a campus. I just got back from a lunchtime walk around the scenic fields and carefully nurtured trees. We're actually considered a wildlife preserve, fenced off from the rest of the city, with our own little ecosystem. I think things have grown out of balance, though. When I leave work, I pass a lawn full of cute little bunnies of varying shapes and sizes (full of incestuous suggestions). I don't kid when I say there must be about 20 of the little buggers plopped casually and artistically across a lawn the size of a basketball court. Meaning - what happened to all the foxes and coyotes that I know are here, too? Falling down on the job, that's what!
And now, prairie dogs have moved into my walking path. They have no fear of me anymore. Well, a little fear, maybe. But they just stand up on their little hind legs and make a few token sharp, yipping barks, maybe stop chewing a bit. They walk with an almost psychotic fear of letting their bellies touch the ground. I am loath to say I think they're cute. They beg to be Disneyfied. Timon came close, but really, they need their own feature film. They'd make terrific sidekicks to the hero.
Unlike the Canadian geese, which are just despicable. They'd be the mindless drones in thrall to the evil...um....damn. I can't think of an evil denizen of our campus. Maybe an uber-goose. Yeah.
Well, this post sure meandered. Sorry.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 12:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 01:43 pm (UTC)Now, Boyd Holbrook, poster child for all that is androgynous, is another matter. But YMMV.
What is the official goddess postion on the cuteness of prairie dogs? Or the nihilistic world views of Pink Floyd, for that matter?
Hope you're feeling better, too!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 08:08 pm (UTC)but i hate orlando bloom with a passion. he will always look 13 years old, no matter how much facial hair he grows. blaaaaaah :P
thankyou isis, for finally updating your recs. i trust only your taste!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 07:25 am (UTC):-)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 03:00 pm (UTC)For one thing, I'm convinced that most, if not all, of her 'derogatory' comments toward fans of Slytherin House are made in jest. I also mentioned in
As for the rest, I lovelovelove Pink Floyd, and I like bulk buying when I can get a bargain, but I have no real opinion one way or the other on prarie dogs. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 07:13 pm (UTC)Whatever it seems she says about her characters, clearly the Slytherins are the ones that inspire the most discussion.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 07:17 pm (UTC)I'm really surprised at the level of vitriol expressed by some fans in the wake of that interview.
I, too, am puzzled - and somewhat dismayed. The interview didn't seem at all inflammatory to me but there are some fans who are acting as if JKR insulted their wardrobes and barbecued their kittens. I don't understand why some people are taking it so personally. Though most of the reaction to the interview isn't like that, from what I've seen. Odd the sense of entitlement some people have.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 07:30 pm (UTC)You know, that's an excellent point. It must be really odd for her to get up in front of a group of people who think she's just short of the Resurrected Lord (and I'm not talking about Voldie).
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 08:29 am (UTC)And it's obvious she finds Snape an interesting character to right, if she truly despised the character I doubt he'd have such an interesting part -- and past.
I understand some people's slight overreaction to the case, I'd be miffed as well if she suggested she didn't understand why people liked my favourite character, but in the end, no one should be offended by her comments here.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-20 06:18 am (UTC)i don't think jkr was particularly diss'ing our slytherin boys, but i do get the feeling that she doesn't see them as the ficfans do. if she did, draco wouldn't have been such a whiney, well, er, pansy in the hp3 movie. at least i don't think so....
anyway, i really had to post (belatedly i know, i have been w/o internet due to a storm for the last 3 days [*shudder*] am just trying to catch up) because you mentioned costco and coffins - i am in nz now, but come from the birthplace of costco (the kirkland brand is not a random name). i had the same bulk question when i saw that they were starting to sell wedding rings [*snert*]. but costco is definitely the place for cd's and dvd's - i still write to my father and have him pick up dvd's for me at costco [*grin*]
no subject
Date: 2004-08-21 09:45 pm (UTC)Boyd Holbrook.. now.. mmmm. ^___^
Plus. I'm turning sixteen in less than two months. *nodnod*