fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2815 ]

[ SECRET POST #2815 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2815 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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03.

[John Green]

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04.

(Hemlock Grove)

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07. [posted twice]

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08.

[Russell Edwards' Naming Jack the Ripper]

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09.

[Coronation Street]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 020 secrets from Secret Submission Post #402.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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02. http://i62.tinypic.com/5wjc6b.png

Wanting to punch Umbridge is a perfectly rational response IMO

Agreed.

Although having an Umbridge-like experience in real life definitely adds to the awfulness.

And this, right here, is why hating Umbridge more than Voldemort isn't misogyny like people claim. Umbridges are everywhere, and you're more likely to run into them than VOldemorts.

I'm sorry that happened to you OP.

I saw a whole post where someone tried to claim "Umbridge dared to be a woman when she abused her power" and got a GLORIOUS smackdown from several people who had personal experiences with an Umbridge.

TBH the hate for Umbridge is that she was a person in charge and abused her power. She tormented kids, she broke the law just because she could and then when Death Eaters took over the Ministry she jumped to their side right away because she could finally act on her prejudices. Umbridge seems worse to me because Voldemort's the obvious evil but Umbridge is the evil that is a part of the system/government that's claiming to be the good guys.

There's no dark wizards and evil spells really out there to be afraid of. But people like Umbridge? They're all too real.

Isn't there a theory that Umbridge is based on shitty government workers Rowling would have had to deal with as a single mom on welfare? There's probably something to that one.

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jaybie_jarrett - 2014-09-18 02:39 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2014-09-18 20:53 (UTC) - Expand

Unless this is a guy secretly posting this secret.

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(Anonymous) - 2014-09-17 23:38 (UTC) - Expand

I thought that she was kind of a banality-of-evil type thing, and possibly a dig at Thatcher. There are enough powerful women in HP who aren't horrible that I just can't see how Umbridge's character is misogynistic.

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cushlamochree - 2014-09-17 23:48 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2014-09-17 23:58 (UTC) - Expand

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diet_poison - 2014-09-18 00:01 (UTC) - Expand

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cushlamochree - 2014-09-18 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

Yes, it's like why Mother Gothel is a scarier Disney villain than some evil-for-evil's sake baddie.

Umbridge was written specifically to be as hateful as possible. Voldemort was written to be the Big Bad, who's hateful in a more vague way because of what he represents. Umbridge is supposed to be someone you hate personally.

Everyone hates Umbridge, OP. You're supposed to. She's a more effective villain that Voldemort because you get to see her evil up close and personal.

So, OP has had both an awful head teacher and an awful boss that they liken to Umbridge? Maybe it's just me, but when I meet people who say that every teacher or boss they've ever had has been 'so awful' and picked on them specifically, I start to wonder whether the person themselves was part of the problem...

It looks like the head teacher was the boss. OP is probably a teacher themself.

No? The OP worked at a school, where the head teacher was her boss.

They mention one boss and one teacher. Don't think that's enough evidence to make any assertions about their character.

I thought the head teacher WAS OP's boss...?

people who say that every teacher or boss they've ever had has been 'so awful' and picked on them specifically

You don't read too well, do you? OP mentions a boss, who also happens to be the head teacher of the school. In other words, the same person.

Or is it common for teachers at your school to "fire" students?

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diet_poison - 2014-09-18 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

Like everyone's already said, OP only had the one, rather than multiple shitty experience.

Anywho, I tend to wonder the same thing if it's a seeming pattern they go through with every job/situation. At some point you gotta wonder about the common denominator. Although I think it's only natural for someone to feel treated badly if they were, justified or not.

Same with people who go on about vaguely "crazy" exes.

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otakugal15 - 2014-09-17 23:52 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2014-09-17 23:58 (UTC) - Expand

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otakugal15 - 2014-09-18 00:33 (UTC) - Expand

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otakugal15 - 2014-09-18 00:36 (UTC) - Expand

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otakugal15 - 2014-09-18 01:02 (UTC) - Expand

Maybe it's just me, but I kind of feel like people should read the things they're responding to before responding.

I'm echoing with everyone else that this is one person, and OP's likely a teacher.

But is two really all that many to do the "maybe it's you" thing? Is it really that hard to believe someone had an awful, power-hungry teacher and then an awful, power-hungry boss?

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(Anonymous) - 2014-09-18 05:57 (UTC) - Expand

???

I just reread the secret to make sure. I think it's pretty obvious that the head-teacher and the boss are one and the same. It's not even ambiguous or anything. One should read things carefully before commenting...

Even if they were two different people, it's perfectly possible that they were horrible people without the OP being part of the problem, because people like Umbridge are definitely far from being a rarity. I've known three of them, though I didn't really have serious problems with any of them. (My colleagues, on the other hand... I pity them.)

In private academies in Taiwan like the one I worked at, the head teacher is the boss. And trust me, she was a piece of work. I was not the only person she treated that way, I just got the brunt of it because I sat next to her in the teachers' office. The person I replaced had been fired as well, for similar "reasons".

To a certain extent, I agree with you. "Where's there's smoke, there's fire," is generally a good aphorism, and if somebody continually has interpersonal relationship issues, it's possible that somebody is part of the problem.

And then, I had a string of terrible interpersonal relationships in which I was terribly betrayed and treated horribly, and I have spent the intervening years combing over each situation because it has to be me right? I'm the common denominator. What did I do wrong? And the only answer I can come up with is trusting the wrong people. :/

I totally get it OP. I had several teachers like Snape and it absolutely colors how I view the character (not quite revulsion because he is an interesting character, but certainly I have trouble finding him at all sympathetic).

Real life experiences are going to color how you view a character. And Umbridge is a pretty nasty piece of work to begin with.

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