As you all know, the world was rocked recently by the death of music icon David Bowie at 69, from cancer. Imagine my surprise when another British pop culture icon was pronounced dead just a day after, at 69, from cancer.
Alan Rickman, aka Snape, was known almost worldwide for that specific role. A generation grew up with him in the Harry Potter movies, and he was beloved even before the events of the final book were revealed.
Rickman’s Snape became a beloved character through his dry humor and wit. His emo style hair and constant chasing of Harry and co. never failed to draw a smile.
Contrary to popular belief that Malfoy made Slytherin cool, it was 100% Snape that made it acceptable to brag to your friends about being selected by the online sorting hat as a Slytherin.
Many people also sympathized with Snape’s dedication to Harry’s mother, Lilly Potter, despite her disregard to him as she sided with James eventually. It was definitely one of the more heartbreaking developments throughout the series.
Warning: If you somehow still haven’t finished the Harry Potter series, then read no further.
Ok, so now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about Snape being a true hero. Because if anyone’s actions in the HP series were more heroic, I can’t think of them right now.
Snape played the double-double agent, and though he paid the ultimate price, Harry, little brat that he is, finally realized how much of a hero Snape was.
I pretty much don’t really care what other roles Alan Rickman played. He’s one of those actors who has a single role transcend everything they’ve ever done before or after, and that’s ok. Daniel Radcliffe will forever be Harry Potter, just like Robert Downey Jr. will always be Iron Man.
Sure, Rickman might have been in that Robin Hood movie with Morgan Freeman, or played an evil guy in that one Australian cowboy movie with Kevin Costner, but none of that matters. That’s not the point. The point is that Snape died today, and at the end of the day, the world is left praying that no more 69 year old British Guys die from Cancer tomorrow.