Regarding DTCL's frequent attitude toward two certain HP characters

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

You're all familiar with the Draco in Leather Pants and Ron the Death Eater tropes, right?

After seeing the way some--not all--members of this comm treat Snape and Dumbledore, I'm seriously tempted to rename the tropes "Severus in Leather Pants" and "Albus the Death Eater."

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, but I joined DTCL under the impression it was about analyzing the more problematic parts of the HP books, not about glorifying characters you like/bashing characters you don't like. It looks like I was wrong.

Comments

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

That's not what bothers me. What bothers me is seeing people on here construct these amazingly elaborate arguments that Dumbledore is responsible for [insert bad thing here] and had sinister motives for even the good things he did, or that Snape is a paragon of morality and shining figure of redemption whose mistakes and bad decisions were clearly all the fault of [insert Gryffindor character here], based on little to no canon evidence.

I'm not saying there aren't reasons to like Snape and dislike Dumbledore. I just hate it when characters are made out to be better/worse than they actually are.

[traverse.livejournal.com]

when characters are made out to be better/worse than they actually are

But this is the entire problem. What the characters 'actually are' to you, may not be to somebody else. We are engaging in a range of interpretations here, and, fine, some may look wrong, preposterous or over-elaborate to you, but it's ultimately horses for courses. There is no scientific standard of fidelity to canon.

Also, trying to understand the character's internal motivations and reasons for action inevitably destroys the rather black-and-white moral judgment passed on them by canon. Thus Snape who people feel did not get a fair hearing from his author receives heaps of sympathy and the whitewashed Dumbledore gets a hard time. Scales of balance and all that - they may sway the other way occasionally.