It *is* all about the voice. The very reason it was a mistake to cast Alan Rickman as the Sherriff of Nottingham vs. Kevin Costner's Robin Hood - my housemates and I in university watched "Prince of Thieves" far too many times and I can tell you the draw wasn't Kevin.
The Sherriff has to be worldly - he is the symbol of the power and appeal of the establishment. That may or may not need to translate into sexy. Robin Hood on the other hand is (or should be) the Green Man. He needs to be sexy and dangerous. However, most modern (and especially most modern and American) versions of Robin have made him safe. He has become David (although ironically David was something of a wild child in the original) and Joshua, St. Francis, the Founding Fathers and Wyatt Earp somehow rolled into one.
'Prince of Thieves' although Costner tried an accent, even attempted the 1950's studio approach casting Americans as the chief "good guys" and Brits as the bad. To quote George Macdonald Fraser, "the man ... smiling cruelly on the protesting mob has spoken with the voice of the West End stage, while the fearless spokesman of the oppressed ... is good old American." It still failed because Robin was still written as too much of the "little boy who used to pull my hair": he's sappy about going "home"; he wants a "simpler plan", etc, whereas the Sheriff has those great lines about "I never knew my parents, very sad really" which Rickman delivered in a tone that clearly stated he wasn't sad about it all.
Now Snape in canon, has some of the same draw. Especially in "The Half-Blood Prince" we get some of the tragic backstory which suddenly transforms him into something of a cross between Bill Gates and James Dean. We never see *any* of the pluckiness of a Gavroche in the boy-Snape, but there is definately an undertone of "Never kick a dog because he's just a pup/You better run for cover when the pup grows up". Now, of course the movie version of "The Philospher's Stone" came out four years before "Half-Blood" was published, but I think there were enough hints in the prior books of what Snape would be revealed to be that the casting director made a good choice.
I suppose there is a certain degree of "Beauty and the Beast" or the "The Phantom of the Opera" in the fan-fics you describe. Only they haven't taken the time to deal with the loathing and just jumped straight to the magnetism.
Irrelevant, but if by any chance you are familiar with Marvel Comics, you might like their version of the rhyme you quote: "Never thtrike an ailing Athgardian - you won't like him when he'th Thor!" I know, dumber than a line of posts.
Irrelevant ... which part? Robin Hood as Green Man vs. Robin Hood as Boy Scout, Fraser's take on Hollywood of the 50's, Les Miserables, my view of Snape's personal history, or the love-of-a-monster phenomenon? And to what? To necessity of a sexy Sheriff of Nottingham or to your original snark?
I am passingly familiar with the Marvel Universe. My husband and brother are both well-versed. I tend to mix up Marvel and, oh, the other one ... DC? Yeah. Me, I mostly know Thor (in the Marvel context) from the plot device in "Adventures in Babysitting".
...You cannot tell me that Erroll Flynn, with that trademark cheeky grin, broad shoulders and muscular arms - bare for choice in his various roles, and well on display in Robin Hood's tights - did not look dangerous AND sexy. Even if you did not know that he was an all-around cad in daily life, you would still feel sure that this is a man who'd do anything, just because of how he looked.
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Date: 2008-08-23 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 03:59 pm (UTC)'Prince of Thieves' although Costner tried an accent, even attempted the 1950's studio approach casting Americans as the chief "good guys" and Brits as the bad. To quote George Macdonald Fraser, "the man ... smiling cruelly on the protesting mob has spoken with the voice of the West End stage, while the fearless spokesman of the oppressed ... is good old American." It still failed because Robin was still written as too much of the "little boy who used to pull my hair": he's sappy about going "home"; he wants a "simpler plan", etc, whereas the Sheriff has those great lines about "I never knew my parents, very sad really" which Rickman delivered in a tone that clearly stated he wasn't sad about it all.
Now Snape in canon, has some of the same draw. Especially in "The Half-Blood Prince" we get some of the tragic backstory which suddenly transforms him into something of a cross between Bill Gates and James Dean. We never see *any* of the pluckiness of a Gavroche in the boy-Snape, but there is definately an undertone of "Never kick a dog because he's just a pup/You better run for cover when the pup grows up". Now, of course the movie version of "The Philospher's Stone" came out four years before "Half-Blood" was published, but I think there were enough hints in the prior books of what Snape would be revealed to be that the casting director made a good choice.
I suppose there is a certain degree of "Beauty and the Beast" or the "The Phantom of the Opera" in the fan-fics you describe. Only they haven't taken the time to deal with the loathing and just jumped straight to the magnetism.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 07:17 pm (UTC)I am passingly familiar with the Marvel Universe. My husband and brother are both well-versed. I tend to mix up Marvel and, oh, the other one ... DC? Yeah. Me, I mostly know Thor (in the Marvel context) from the plot device in "Adventures in Babysitting".
Just thought of this...
Date: 2008-08-31 05:54 am (UTC)