I finally saw the “Order of the Phoenix” last night. I’m not sure if I liked it, mostly because I watched at Charlotte’s Imax theater at Discovery Place and, I’m embarrassed to admit, I couldn’t see it very well.
We got there 20 minutes before showtime, but that was much too late to choose a good seat. Upshot: We sat in the second row. I have a crick in my neck today, and I know I will never again watch another regular movie on an Imax screen until I’ve watched it in regular format first. It’s possible some of the scenic shots, such as the broomsticks flying over the Thames, were fabulous. I really couldn’t tell. And my aging ears did not get along well with the sound system.
All that said, Imelda Staunton as Umbridge was almost perfect. The small, pink, plastic, kitten-shaped buttons on her fuzzy pink sweater were a masterful touch.
A few days ago some of us were asking who was the worst villain in the Harry Potter books (other than Voldemort, of course). Is it Draco Malfoy — the spoiled, rich and smarmy bully? Is it Lucius Malfoy — his father who combines the syncophancy of Jack Abramoff, the ethical business sense of Ken Lay and the compassion of David Duke? Is it Snape? Is it Filch, the creepy and whip-loving janitor? What about Bellatrix Lestrange, the deranged sadist torturer?
To me, Umbridge is worse. It’s the banality of her bureaucratic maneuvering, and the way she (and her boss, Cornelius Fudge) close their ears to reality.
Maybe she’s so scary because of some eerie parallels to the current White House administration, which muzzles its scientists and, like Fudge and Umbridge, just sticks its fingers in its ears rather than notice reality. (Sorry about the political digression, but the similarities are hard to ignore.)
A fellow Potterhead described her as a dripping sweet snake — a type we’ve all encountered. Science fiction writer Orson Scott Card, in his review of the movie (He loved it! Go figure) says, “She personifies every slimy, evil person you have ever known.”
That’s why she raises just about everyone’s blood pressure. If I know someone like Voldemort, I don’t know it.But we’ve all known an Umbridge. And that’s truly scary.