Andy4B retweetet

I'm not against Snape being black in the new Harry Potter series. I'm not against it on principle.
There are obviously some pretty awful things and memes being said/shared that are clearly just racist. But it isn't necessarily racist to be a bit annoyed the character has been changed from the book's description, because his appearance carries meaning.
1. Snape is specifically and deliberately described as having "sallow skin" and being "pale." It mirrors the same pale complexion Voldemort has, which is partly why Snape always feels suspicious. They're designed as visual inversions of each other: Snape has a big hooked nose, Voldemort has a flat snakelike one. The whole point of Snape is that he LOOKS like the villain. Everything about his physical description screams untrustworthy. That's Rowling's deliberate misdirection, teaching readers not to judge by appearances. Change the appearance, you risk losing the power of that twist.
2. There's also an irony nobody seems to be talking about. By making Snape the suspicious, untrustworthy, seemingly villainous character AND the only prominent black actor in the cast, you've actually created the exact optics you were presumably trying to avoid. The one black guy is the one everyone's supposed to distrust? How is that progressive?
3. People are making a false equivalence with Hermione being black in the Cursed Child. That's completely fine because the books never say she's white in the text, and it doesn't affect her story either way. Snape's appearance is different. It's written into the plot.
4. The writers now have a real issue down the line. How are they going to portray Snape being bullied when younger? How are they going to portray James Potter suspending Snape upside down with Levicorpus? Surely they aren't going to force racist undertones onto Lupin, Potter, Black and Pettigrew? PLEASE do not turn this into some politically driven TV series where the Marauders' cruelty becomes a racial storyline. That would ruin both Snape AND James.
Culture Crave 🍿@CultureCrave
First look at Paapa Essiedu as Snape in the 'Harry Potter' series
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