Not sure where to put this, so mods, feel free to move.....
I've recently started re-reading and re-watching the books/movies for HP. I was always drawn to it from the moment I discovered it (shortly after Book 4 was published) and was always deeply resentful of the 'talking to' I got from both my best friend and a surrogate mother of sorts for having the audacity to not only read, but enjoy them. I was wondering if anyone else picked up on this; I mean there is the obvious good vs. evil struggle going on, but the book/movie for #5 - Order of the Phoenix, in particular, struck me, mostly as I dissected a character everyone who reads/watches, comes to detest:
Professor Umbridge - if she's not the Governing Body incarnate, I don't know what is. Every time I watch the movie I hate her even more. She's manipulative, controlling, and totally enjoys other people's pain and suffering (there's even a scene where she's doing a very malicious 'interrogation' of Professor Snape in front of his class, and you naturally don't like him from the history we already have, and as a result of her antics and the way she 'interviews' him, you actually feel sorta sorry for him).
You have to follow her rules to the letter OR ELSE. If the current set of rules (or beliefs) don't conform to her satisfaction, we make up a decree to MAKE them conform - her very own version of 'new light.' Her form of punishment is painful, shameful and destroys all hope. I remember one scene, after she discovers "Dumbledore's Army" after Cho squeals on everyone, and the rest of the "army" are writing lines and while they're all gasping in pain as they write the lines, she's practically preening; almost having a friggin' orgasm as she watches them. She's totally getting off on their misery. I felt like I was watching a judicial committee.
Anyone else notice this or care to comment? Just curious if anyone else picked up on it or if it was just me reading into it? I just kinda was struck with it last night when I watched the movie again; I really could see soooo many parallels, it almost made me sick. Maybe there's a reason Book 5 was always my favorite; maybe it's 'cause sub-consciously I could relate to the mind control I was still under - which was also addressed in this book in the struggle between Harry and Voldemort and his need for the Occlumency lessons to shield himself from Voldemort's mind and the connection between them. I don't know, the more I look at it and think about it, this book seemed very much to be screaming "Anti-Cult" all the way around, like it was specifically directed at that. What do you think?
I've recently started re-reading and re-watching the books/movies for HP. I was always drawn to it from the moment I discovered it (shortly after Book 4 was published) and was always deeply resentful of the 'talking to' I got from both my best friend and a surrogate mother of sorts for having the audacity to not only read, but enjoy them. I was wondering if anyone else picked up on this; I mean there is the obvious good vs. evil struggle going on, but the book/movie for #5 - Order of the Phoenix, in particular, struck me, mostly as I dissected a character everyone who reads/watches, comes to detest:
Professor Umbridge - if she's not the Governing Body incarnate, I don't know what is. Every time I watch the movie I hate her even more. She's manipulative, controlling, and totally enjoys other people's pain and suffering (there's even a scene where she's doing a very malicious 'interrogation' of Professor Snape in front of his class, and you naturally don't like him from the history we already have, and as a result of her antics and the way she 'interviews' him, you actually feel sorta sorry for him).
You have to follow her rules to the letter OR ELSE. If the current set of rules (or beliefs) don't conform to her satisfaction, we make up a decree to MAKE them conform - her very own version of 'new light.' Her form of punishment is painful, shameful and destroys all hope. I remember one scene, after she discovers "Dumbledore's Army" after Cho squeals on everyone, and the rest of the "army" are writing lines and while they're all gasping in pain as they write the lines, she's practically preening; almost having a friggin' orgasm as she watches them. She's totally getting off on their misery. I felt like I was watching a judicial committee.
Anyone else notice this or care to comment? Just curious if anyone else picked up on it or if it was just me reading into it? I just kinda was struck with it last night when I watched the movie again; I really could see soooo many parallels, it almost made me sick. Maybe there's a reason Book 5 was always my favorite; maybe it's 'cause sub-consciously I could relate to the mind control I was still under - which was also addressed in this book in the struggle between Harry and Voldemort and his need for the Occlumency lessons to shield himself from Voldemort's mind and the connection between them. I don't know, the more I look at it and think about it, this book seemed very much to be screaming "Anti-Cult" all the way around, like it was specifically directed at that. What do you think?

