Daily Dialogue — November 14, 2016

UMBRIDGE: Pardon me, professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?

MCGONAGALL: I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students, you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices.

UMBRIDGE: So silly of me, but it sounds as if you’re questioning my authority in my own classroom…Minerva.

MCGONAGALL: Not at all, Dolores, merely your medieval methods.

UMBRIDGE: I am sorry, dear, but to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty.

MCGONAGALL: Disloyalty.

UMBRIDGE: Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action.

— Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), screenplay by Michael Goldenberg, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Bechdel Test suggested by Will King who also suggested today’s movie.

Trivia: Author J.K. Rowling revealed that the character of Dolores Umbridge was based on a real person whom she “disliked intensely on sight”, and whom “returned [her] antipathy with interest”, even though she honestly could not explain why they hated each other so much.

Dialogue on Dialogue: An example where dialogue may have inspired how the actors blocked their moves. In this tit-for-tat exchange between Umbridge and McGonagall, watch how they interact on the stairs, each rising one step as they challenge each other, McGonagall’s retreat when Umbridge makes the threat about disloyalty, and Umbridge’s step up for her final line. Subtle movements, but they underscore the power struggle going on between the two characters.