They patterned an evil character face in the new Harry Potter after Laura ROFL

[wakeme2008]

Just got back from the lastest HP film and IMHO 100% sure they patterned the facial mannerism after Laura Bush.

Here is the best picture I have found



Imelda Staunton plays Dolores Umbridge, who is a very evil person. But every time she was doing something evil, she would tilt her head and give her best Laura Bush smile.

made me think of some of the Swamp Rat photos of Laura.

[WolverineDG]

1. Holy crap!

She DOES look like Laura!

dg

[driver8]

2. Ha Ha -- I am watching this movie at work right now.

(I work for Warner Bros.)

She does look like Laura Bush!!

[wakeme2008]

3. kick for the morning HP ppl :) nt

[gulliver]

4. Just saw the movie. She looks just like Laura.

Pretty amazing actually. Also Dolores Umbridge is a crony of a phony leader named Fudge who leads with fear. Umbridge and the Voldemort bad guys both use torture. Umbridge is a racist against the Centaurs. She changes the character of Hogwarts from an interesting, practical magic school to one based on nothing but tests. She terrorizes the teachers. She accuses her critics of "disloyalty". She puts up edicts against students associating with one another and all sorts of civil liberties. The wizard newspaper is full of half-truths and wizard government propaganda...

[Hekate]

5. Rowling intended the book as an example of resistance to fascism,iirc

That's a great life-lesson for young people, enabling them to imagine how they themselves can recognize and resist oppressive systems.

Haven't seen the movie yet, but I've read all the books to date so I know the plot of this one. I've got a group together to see the movie with on Tuesday, when I hope the lines will be shorter and the crowds less intense.

Really something to look forward to.

Hekate

[CBHagman]

17. Yes, it's amazing how well it reflects the world today.

I remember looking at the date on one of the books to see when it was published. Look at Barty Crouch, Umbridge, Fudge, and a few others and you'll easily think of counterparts in today's world.

[Hekate]

20. When I read Terry Pratchett's "Jingo" I also checked the pub date

I read it for the first time during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, and I kept thinking that maybe he'd ripped it all from the headlines. But no -- our best fiction writers are simply extremely observant of human nature and history, and able to tell the truth.

Hekate

[LWolf]

8. NCLB in a nutshell,

as I've been saying since OOTP was published.

[blondeatlast]

13. Gad--you are so right! I'm not a big fan and have only read excerpts of

my son's copy, but I think I'll read it through now.

I knew the movie played on a familiar theme--NCLB is it. The withdrawal of "frivolous" (re: critical thinking and creative classes) and the endless expansion of rules in the face of a "crisis"--I'm no HP wonk, but it really makes sense.

Gotta check it out again, I do believe.

[LWolf]

15. As a teacher of students aged 11-15,

I've read and re-read Potter. My students are always talking about it, and I want to be able to join in!

HP was first brought to my attention when the sorcerer's stone made it to the U.S.; I was teaching 2nd grade, and a gifted 2nd grader wrote in his journal about it. He was so enthusiastic that I checked it out then.

My first reading of OOTP, it just SCREAMED at me. Of course, I work in the middle of the top-down take-over of public ed. I found, and still find, myself despising Dolores Umbridge more than Voldemort himself. I take her personally, having worked in her preferred system.

I'm wondering if more people will notice this when they see the film. I haven't seen it yet.

[blondeatlast]

18. I'm pretty sure the more politically aware will. It seemed to me

to be rather blatant--same with the new "Pirates" movie, where they put forth "emergency" measures and therefore anyone suspected of even associating with the pirates (men, women, and children) were hanged--with no trial.

[blondeatlast]

10. Yep--I couldn't help thinking how apropos it all was.

Same with the newest Pirates movie--they outright say that habeus corpus was dismantled, then off to the gallows for men, women, and children.

I swear it wasn't accidental.

[Lars39]

16. That was riveting...not accidental at all.

[gulliver]

19. Saw Pirates III too, and I agree.

It was very powerful stuff on habeus corpus and the consequences of business interests running amok and usurping power over the people, literally making deals with monsters. But it was also a really good movie, IMO.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. Yes, the middle aged teacher from hell.

Imelda Staunton was "Vera Drake" in "Vera Drake" which was an excellent movie about the bad old days of illegal abortion in England, circa 1950. She was nominated for Best Actress for that one.

The amazing horrible shades of fuzzy pink suits she wore in Harry Potter were a wonder to behold.

I saw it Wed. Night and enjoyed it greatly.

And when I heard the name "Dolores Umbridge" I immediately thought of "umbrage", as in anger.

[nealmhughes]

7. Ah, that is where I knew the name: Vera Drake!

She was fantasic in that movie, vastly underrated actress here in the US.

[blondeatlast]

9. I swaw a lot of allegories to the Bush cabal in this one.

The ever expanding list of rules, Harry's trial in the beginning, where the defense wasn't really allowed to present its case.

Same with the newest "Pirates." Maybe I'm paranoid, but I really do think they are deliberate references to the Bush administration.

[blondeatlast]

11. No doubt about it... (pics below)

[blondeatlast]

12. BTW--Staunton's performance was excellent. Hope she gets a nomination.

The movie is the best one yet, IMHO--and I'm not a HP geek, just the mother of a 10 year old mild HP fan.

[blondeatlast]

14. And the soft-spoken, measured inflection in the voice. Just like "darling" Pickles. nt