Psychology of a Hero? SEVERUS SNAPE
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Channel: Cinema Therapy
Views: 848,651
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Keywords: cinematherapy, cinema therapy, mental health, counseling, therapy, mental health therapy, Jonathan Decker, Alan Seawright
Id: wEUz8rSSu9Q
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Length: 24min 33sec (1473 seconds)
Published: Tue Apr 12 2022
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In the book it's strongly suggested that Snape's parents are abusive, or at least neglectful. IIRC, his father is shown yelling at his mother who is crying and cowering in a corner, and his father is also implied to be an alcoholic. Snape tells Lily that his parents are always fighting and that his dad "doesn't like anything much". So it's probably safe to say that Lily was the first person who was ever really kind to him.
I've been eagerly awaiting part two of this topic! Thanks for another great episode!
I have a lot of thoughts on this topic, and this is one of the hills I'm willing to die on, so bare with me for a minute. Like you said, this is Cinema Therapy, so you look at the topic from the movie perspective, but I am a diehard book fan, and will admit that I have only seen the Deathly Hallows Movies a couple times, as apposed to reading the book maybe close to 50.
The scene of Snape cradling Lily's body is heartbreaking, but I think actually does a big disservice to the other characters. For one, it's confusing to the casual fan. My Dad actually asked me after the movie was over if Snape was Harry's real dad. So there's that. Also, am I the only one that finds it creepy that he breaks into their house, cradles a dead lady, ignores a crying baby, and then leaves?
In the books, Sirius is actually the first one to get to the house after Voldemort's attack. Both Snape and Sirius put blame on themselves for the deaths of the Potters. Snape for hearing the prophecy and not being able to protect Lily, but also Sirius for giving up the role of secret keeper to Wormtail. I think the movies hurt Sirius' character in favor of Snape in a few ways, this being one of them. Can you imagine having your best friend die because of advice you gave them, and then have to spend 13 years in prison being blamed for their death?
I'm curious as to why Jono didn't think Snape's feelings towards Lily were unhealthy. He is actively denying himself a chance to move on and find happiness. I have gone to therapy myself for finding help moving on past an old relationship because the hurt feelings were lowering my quality of life.
Snape was also rejected by Lily for his own actions. We can say that maybe he didn't have a lot of choice when it came to joining the Death Eaters, but he really didn't have much of a problem with what they were doing until it personally affected him.
I also want to argue that Snape didn't actively try to sabotage Lily and James' relationship. Snape did try to stop Lily from being friends with James. When Lily criticized Snape's friends, he uses whataboutism to criticize James:
"'What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?' demanded Snape. His color rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment."
There's also this from the same passage:
"Snape's whole face contorted and he spluttered, 'Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to-- I won't let you--'"
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chapter 33.
Sorry, this topic gets me all riled up!
I know this is said a lot on the interwebs but I still stand by it 100%
If Voldemort went after the Longbottoms instead of the Potters, Snape would have died the most loyal death eater.
James and Lily fought for the light because they believed in the light. Snape fought against the dark because the dark has offended him.
Plus he's emotionally abusive to children and that's never okay.
Shape is definitely not a hero but I wouldn’t be so quick to label him a villain either. After his childhood—abusive/neglectful parents and someone must have taught him all those hexes Sirius swears he already knew before Hogwarts— and Lily rejecting him/not accepting his apology, he does something monumentally stupid at age 17. He goes to Dumbledore in 1980, at age 19 or 20. After that, he is a bitter, broken man who belittles kids while saving their lives.
Nope not a hero. He did what he did to get back at the man who killed his obsession.
Really enjoyed this two parter episode
I think I got swept up in the emotion at one point and found Snape's tragic lingering affection for Lily as kind of romantic. It was easy to feel at that point that Snape was a hero. That may have been because it was hard to separate the character for Alan Rickman, who I always loved in literally anything. I don't really see him as a villain either, though. I think Snape is just human. Flawed. It's one of those gray areas. No one is all good or all bad, and Snape just illustrates that completely.