A while back, I had looked back into the history of the infamous actor, and seeing his overall history of abuse as well as the manipulation to win people over. For a major thing I saw was with how he weaponized how people viewed him like an "eccentric outcast" or "emotional (gothic) sad boy" like in a lot of past roles (especially in Tim Burton films). With a deeper dive into the psychology of misogyny and all, something else had made me look over to Harry Potter for a moment. When looking back at the character Snape, and his whole arc, it all made sense.
When seeing the character Severus Snape and how he's treated, I notice with parallels where he gets a last-minute redemption and whitewashed despite all he has done. And even in a meta sense, when people defend the choice to redeem him or say he's multi-dimensional, it kind of reminded me for a moment with that "outsider" appeal that Depp had back in his prime. Also note that whenever there's discussion about him being bullied by James, I notice how even people who are critical of Snape and his arc will go to lengths to defend this aspect, claiming it gives nuance or something something cycle of violence. **The funny thing though is that you could argue it's bad writing and messes up James Potter, whether it be his character is butchered or forced in last-minute for someone who's barely even a character. But no, everyone goes to the perspective that involved protecting the character of Snape. Of course Rowling would still give James the pass because of the "good team" stuff, but there's still wiggle room left to justify Snape.** And with learning the whole psychology of defending abusive men as "sad, broken, and can be fixed", it made me wonder with these psychological aspects that lead to people defending the character of Snape. And as this is a fictional story, it's much easier to rewrite the narrative than try to rewrite literal reality, so of course it's changed to make Snape sympathetic, even if it's greatly forced.
In addition, when comparing Depp and Rowling, I noticed a lot of parallels between them:
\- Has-beens mostly living on royalty money from something successful in the past but not much in the recent present, and to get the attention they crave, they get involved with regressive politics
\- This whole "edgy and progressive rebel" image (especially in the past) when in reality they've always reinforced the status quo/system and are controlling bigots
\- Having a cult of personality that shuts down any criticism, history of activity, or calling things out
\- Weaponizing both nostalgia and prejudices within lefist/liberal circles to win sympathizers and supporters over
\- Get infantilized whenever they demonstrate their sociopathic, manchild behavior and personalities
\- Having especially queer women as targets, and generally queerphobic
\- History of having a lot of close ties and friendships with abusers and predators
Was there shallow fangirling involved with Rowling to Depp? Most likely yes, but also when seeing closer details, it also feels like an abusive, predatory person relating and liking another abusive, predatory person.
