This has been a rough week for culture. First David Bowie, and now Alan Rickman has succumbed. There’s a reason why we use the word “cancer” to name a scourge that plagues us.
In 20 minutes, I will convene my Harry Potter class, and we will pay tribute to the man who gained an entirely new generation of fans by embodying the Half-Blood Prince.
Probably I will show them this:
And then I will show them this:
Rest in peace, Alan. Enjoy the Bowie concert.
So today is my one-year blogiversary! That’s right, one year ago today I made my first post here on Sappho’s Torque, and I’ve tried really hard to keep posting about once a week ever since. Thank you so much to everyone who has been following me since the beginning, and to all of you who have joined in the last year or who keep up with my posts via Facebook. I appreciate you all!
So to celebrate this milestone, I have a little gift for you. Well, it’s really a gift only if you’re a fan of Alan Rickman. If you are — and I suspect most people who’ve enjoyed his movies have to work pretty hard not to be — you probably already grasp his immense talent. But check out this video of him doing something which in real time takes 11 seconds — and I encourage you to check out the video of that, afterward — and marvel at his ability to convey this wild range of emotions with such expressiveness. This video takes some time to watch, around 8-9 minutes, so I recommend you do it when you can watch it from beginning to end without a break.
So out of curiosity, what’s your favorite Alan Rickman role?
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