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The gold-digging part, IMO, Lily may have been a bit misled....James may have the money, but we don't see any manor house, house elves or any other treasures except the invisibility cloak...Harry would've inherited those if there were anything else or we could've seen the treasures inside Harry's Gringott's vault (that's why I'm just taking JKR's pronouncements that he is of old money and really rich....contrast the Lestranges' vault to Harry's in terms of location, protections, and contents... and all we see is a small cottage at Godric Hallows, nothing like Malfoy Manor or 12 GP. No house elves either... which is supposed to belong to really rich families). So I'm not totally convinced of his so-called wealth.... except for the gold, which Harry himself described as a "small fortune" (perhaps Harry was too young then, but kids have a definite idea about money even at age 12 or 13). I see Lily's Muggle family as a bit financially better than Severus, but their town seems to be a poor locality (even if Spinner's End may be the worst part of that town). And nowhere can we find anything that would associate Lily with British aristocracy. So I have a hard time with Lily as a 'princess' in many fanfic stories or even in canon (no need to work, yes, but not rich-rich as in elite, IMO).
Picking on people such as Severus because they're into the Dark Arts (the convenient excuse), greasy or an oddball --- that's not a mark of a good person, no matter if they were only in their teens. Sirius at Book 4 still relished to call Severus a greasy and oily kid-- I have the impression James would've done the same. We also know that James's behavior to Severus was mainly out of jealousy--so it's okay to torment your rival, whose an oddball, poor kid anyway? (would he have done if, say, Lucius Malfoy, was the rival in question? - I think not). James even 'blackmailed' Lily into going out with him, using Severus as the bait. As for James lying to Lily about not hexing people anymore, that's disturbing. Remus and Sirius called Snape a special case as he presumably never let an opportunity of cursing James pass by but how could he start those fights when James was said to be careful not to hex Snape when Lily was around?
I agree that the way Sirius and James treated Peter as a (tag-along) Marauder was appalling... they just wanted someone in awe of them and someone to insult so they could feel better and superior (same case as Severus). James's feeling of entitlement really galling. Certainly, someone of a good stock, who's supposed to be intelligent, talented, rich, and popular need not feel superior at the expense of others? That's why JKR's definition of James' being cool doesn't sit well with me. I'm not very sure about Remus but how come James supported Sirius after school when Remus was the one in need of money? I think they never thought of the other 2 as their equal.
Lily seems pretty naive to me ( her letter to Sirius while being hunted by LV and how she easily believed the version of the Marauders of the Shrieking Shack Prank) but she also seemed to be very shallow so it didn't surprise me that she fell for James. She may be Head Girl and an Order member but she doesn't strike me as an intelligent girl (magically talented probably but not the intelligent/discerning kind) or else she would've seen through others' prejudices and James/Marauders' half-truths. JKR said she liked James even at SWM so she readily accepted those half-truths, because she liked him, anyway. And when James did tone down his behavior in front of Lily (but never really really changed), it sealed their relationship. All in all, I was not impressed with Lily (and I liked her before!) after DH came out... and yes, for me, she is a horrid girl.
James went on excursions while being hunted by LV. That, for me, showed me that he put excitement ahead of his safety and that of his wife and son. And Lily seemed to be accepting of this need for excursions... well, at that point, she was totally dependent on his money and I think she also loved James so that was okay with her (I really dislike this couple although I feel they deserved each other!).
Picking on people such as Severus because they're into the Dark Arts (the convenient excuse), greasy or an oddball --- that's not a mark of a good person, no matter if they were only in their teens. Sirius at Book 4 still relished to call Severus a greasy and oily kid-- I have the impression James would've done the same. We also know that James's behavior to Severus was mainly out of jealousy--so it's okay to torment your rival, whose an oddball, poor kid anyway? (would he have done if, say, Lucius Malfoy, was the rival in question? - I think not). James even 'blackmailed' Lily into going out with him, using Severus as the bait. As for James lying to Lily about not hexing people anymore, that's disturbing. Remus and Sirius called Snape a special case as he presumably never let an opportunity of cursing James pass by but how could he start those fights when James was said to be careful not to hex Snape when Lily was around?
I agree that the way Sirius and James treated Peter as a (tag-along) Marauder was appalling... they just wanted someone in awe of them and someone to insult so they could feel better and superior (same case as Severus). James's feeling of entitlement really galling. Certainly, someone of a good stock, who's supposed to be intelligent, talented, rich, and popular need not feel superior at the expense of others? That's why JKR's definition of James' being cool doesn't sit well with me. I'm not very sure about Remus but how come James supported Sirius after school when Remus was the one in need of money? I think they never thought of the other 2 as their equal.
Lily seems pretty naive to me ( her letter to Sirius while being hunted by LV and how she easily believed the version of the Marauders of the Shrieking Shack Prank) but she also seemed to be very shallow so it didn't surprise me that she fell for James. She may be Head Girl and an Order member but she doesn't strike me as an intelligent girl (magically talented probably but not the intelligent/discerning kind) or else she would've seen through others' prejudices and James/Marauders' half-truths. JKR said she liked James even at SWM so she readily accepted those half-truths, because she liked him, anyway. And when James did tone down his behavior in front of Lily (but never really really changed), it sealed their relationship. All in all, I was not impressed with Lily (and I liked her before!) after DH came out... and yes, for me, she is a horrid girl.
James went on excursions while being hunted by LV. That, for me, showed me that he put excitement ahead of his safety and that of his wife and son. And Lily seemed to be accepting of this need for excursions... well, at that point, she was totally dependent on his money and I think she also loved James so that was okay with her (I really dislike this couple although I feel they deserved each other!).