Comments on: JK Rowling Confesses Dumbledore Is Gay

By: Francois

Francois — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:33:47 +0000

Good lord. The thought that just saying a character is gay would provoke a “media frenzy” makes me laugh. Surely the days when just being gay is quite such a volatile subject are long gone? The interest is because it is a character readers love and thought they knew all about – and whaddya know, the author knows more about him than we do! It is hardly like its an unlikely detail anyway – if he had been married or something then I might have been shocked at this news, but as it is – “Oh. Well that makes sense of a few things.” Shame she didn’t make it clearer in the books (though it appears like it might be slightly clearer in the films). The world of Harry Potter is a bit stereotypically white, middle-class and hetero. Still, what can you expect from a series based at a boarding school? Kids lap up stereotypes.

By: Julie Leto

Julie Leto — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:31:47 +0000

Wow…homosexuality is a personal preference, huh? A “lifestyle choice.” That’s the crux of the argument? That means a lot of us can’t agree because a lot of us believe that homosexuality is genetic–But that’s an argument for more learned people than I.

But to say that the HP storyline does not depend on a character’s sexuality shows a distinct lack of understanding of the series as a whole.

So much of what happens in the stories happens because of LOVE–including sexual love. The fact that Voldemort cannot feel love is CRUCIAL to the books. The fact that James & Lily fell in love is HUGE. The fact that Lily died to save Harry is HUGE. ALL of Snape’s motivation–all of it–stems from his very intense love for Lily Evans Potter. Lily’s eyes, people. Lily’s eyes.

I won’t even get started on Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermoine and how innately important their sexuality is to the story lines. I mean, sexuality doesn’t mean sex on the page.

The fact that Dumbledore is gay does not change anything within the text itself, but since another major theme of the novels (and no, they aren’t just children’s books and haven’t been since the third book!) is prejudice and acceptance, it does add a layer of poignancy.

And lastly, JK Rowling did not, IMO, do this for publicity. She answered a direct question put to her. The story about the movie script is true. I would have had less respect for her had she not revealed this about her character because she was afraid of backlash or of people calling her a publicity hound.

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:27:16 +0000

I was struck by the statement that:
“The fantastical world she spun in such great and stunning detail should not ever had had to concern itself with any of its characters sexual orientation – they were to busy saving the world from HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED of course, to care whether their Headmaster fell in love with a man, woman or one of the Centaur in the Forbidden Woods.”
If it is true that the sexual orientation of the main characters is irrelevant to the purpose of the books, then readers shouldn’t have been told about Harry’s crush on Ginny, Ron and Hermione’s flirting, or any of the other heterosexual relationships in novels either. I think that Gina is assuming that sexual orientation means only “non-normative” sexuality–homosexuality–and not considering the many times that sexuality appears in the novels as an integral part of life and growing up. JK Rowling apparently thought that sexuality was important to her characters, and having seen only heterosexuality in the books up to this point, it’s nice to know that she considers other lifestyles for her fictional creations.

By: Gina

Gina — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:38:03 +0000

ToriForte – if you had read my comments in their entirety you would have seen that I do not begrudge anyone their personal preferences, be it their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs.

I do however begrudge a well known, popular, successful author with plenty of reason to be proud of her accomplishments blantantly stirring up a media frenzy for herself by using such a volatile subject.

It just sseemed so unnecessary, so staged, that I had to ask – does this have any bearing on the story?

Maybe I don’t think like everyone else but I’ve read the whole series, and with each movie I re-read them to “refresh my memory” and I never once thought about what Dumbledor or Mr. Finch or Hagrid or any of the other adult characters were doing behind closed doors.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:11:44 +0000

Why was it even mentioned? Of course it would cause media attention. That’s the only reason it was mentioned. Not even a factor in the story. Probably just using her podium of success to call attention to an issue she feels is important. Those who focus on such issues actually take away for the enjoyment of the story.

By: sherry thomas

sherry thomas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:22:21 +0000

Same here, agreeing with Caroline. I believe that was in answer to a direct question about whether Dumbledore ever found his true love. Yes he had, once. And yes he lost him. I think it adds a lovely poignancy to the character.

I don’t know JK Rowling at all, but I was under the impression that she did not enjoy the publicity part of her success. And if there ever was a franchise that didn’t need any more publicity, that would be the HP series.

By: Francois

Francois — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:15:35 +0000

I agree with Caroline, and in addition enjoy finding out titbits of information about characters that didn’t make to the final version of the book or whatever. Far from an “ugly shadow”, this actually makes an aspect of the books much clearer to me.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:08:24 +0000

I thought it was in response to a direct question about Dumbledore’s love life (does he find true love, or similar). What’s an author to say, if asked point blank? Dumbledore is her creation; he can be anything she wants him to be, and if people want to know (which they obviously do) I don’t see how it’s attention-seeking to answer honestly. I have yet to meet an author who doesn’t know way more about her characters than she ever spelled out in the book.

By: Wandering Chopsticks

Wandering Chopsticks — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:10:15 +0000

Actually, one of the articles I read said it came out b/c Rowling was reading the script for the 6th movie and they had a scene about Dumbledore’s past loves. Rowling crossed it out, and wrote that he was gay.

She’s always had back stories to all the characters in her head, and I think she’s planning to write an encyclopedia to fully-flesh out what didn’t make it into the series.

By: Karen Scott

Karen Scott — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:58:44 +0000

What Gina said.

Call me cynical, but what was the point of outing Dumbledore, if not to make headlines, and garner attention. It’s not like she’s writing anymore HP books is it?

If one could accuse J.K. Rowling of being an attention whore, that’s what I’d call her.