Story here.
Just when I thought I couldn't have enjoyed the Potter series any more than I did, Rowling has given all of humanity, as far as I'm concerned, a signal gift: she has announced that one of the major characters in a thousands-of-pages-long story--a character, in many respects, who will loom every bit as large as Tolkien's Gandalf to our children and our children's children--is a homosexual. That the Potter books will go down in history as among the most popular in the whole of Literature, and have been read by millions of children--some of whom, I'm sure, have homophobic parents--makes this announcement a triumph for gay rights. Kids who fell in love with Dumbledore's stalwart, wise, heroic character now will have all the more reason to realize, and appreciate, the atrocity of bigotry. What a wonderfully subversive (and political!) act on Rowling's part!
And as to timing: it's a master-stroke for Rowling to have made this announcement now, just as buzz about the final volume in the series was dying down. A win for her, for the Potter books (and, dare I say it, their gravitas), and (most important of all) for tolerance.
Bravo!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
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6 comments:
But that's all it is, a publicity stunt! He doesn't have a love life in the books, does he? I mean, if she really wanted to make a social statement, wouldn't she have included the dude's relationships in the book? I mean, it's just J.K. looking to making another billion dollars. In that way, it's disgusting... however:
In the more grand, more important, social realm, it is a triumphant and glorious announcement. And I hope you're right, that the children who are fans of the books and come from homophobic backgrounds will now be able to be accepting and encouraging members of society. J.K. is such a huge influence in so many kids lives that she has the power to create social change. I sincerely hope this'll do it! God knows so many people can use that!
Still, the publicity and timing of it makes me want to vomit...
Have a great weekend!
Gary...the last book sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours...if ever a book could be said to not need a "publicity stunt," it's this one...
...in fact, this would be more likely to hurt sales than help them, as parents who don't want their children thinking about issues of sexuality at a pre-teen age will now forbid their kids to read it (if they haven't already), and some schools may even disallow it in the classroom (which, of course, has already happened because of allegations of witchcraft and Satanism and what not--the usual charges, which they levelled, too, against D&D in 1983--and this only adds fuel to that fire, in the minds of some!)
...as importantly, her explanation fits the story: if you read the link, she explains that a mysterious relationship Dumbledore was said to have had when he was younger (w/ a powerful male wizard) was an unrequited gay crush, and that fits, in retrospect (and I'll note, most fan sites have been speculating that Dumbledore is gay for years, so to die-hard fans it's not news, but confirmation...). Moreover, it's true that we never hear him discuss any other relationship in such a way as to suggest it could have been anything but Platonic...so, I do believe Rowling when she says this is what she had in mind when she wrote the books. Why didn't it come out earlier (no pun intended)? Because this was her first live reading and Q&A with fans in 7 years. It's only recently she's been willing to talk about the motivations behind individual characters, because (for some obvious reasons) she's been reclusive since the first book became a world-wide sensation.
S.
Seth, I do hope, sincerely, that you're right. You probably are, since you definitely know more about the Potter books than I do. It still reeks of publicity stunt to me though. Either way, it's still an interesting developement, one that should have a very positive impact on the readership.
I think this is just terrific. It's like a secret little gift to tormented gay kids all around the world.
I actually kind of like the fact that it's not explicit in the books, it would have been hard to not make an issue out of it, and you'd quickly run into (I think) the "tragic homosexual" trope.
Apparently (if you read the article, I mean) JK had decided this a while ago, and nixed a film reference to a (female) Dumbledore crush.
Hurrah!
Having just read the final Potter Dumbledore's youthful alliance with Grindelwald, considering the presumed clash of G's fascist tendencies & D's humanism, makes a little more sense. It was love! And who says it was unrequited? The relationship is not described, but there are plenty of hints it was passionate -- none that pinged my gaydar, true, but Dumbledore lets fall little detail.
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