At a recent event, J.K. Rowling revealed that Dumbledore, one of her most beloved characters from the Harry Potter series, was gay. Wow. She created a gay character that wasn't made gay for the purpose of using the false stereotype gay character. It's was perfect. Dumbledore was an authority figure, a mentor, a protector, a defender of truth and good, he was a hero who sacrificed himself to save others and because of that he is loved by millions. And oh, by the way, he happens to be gay.
Not everyone likes her work, Rowling said, likely referring to Christian groups that have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore, she said, will give them one more reason.My wife is a good Christian and she adored the Harry Potter series. She knows what the far right fanatics don't remember, that Christians love, not hate. That they care, they don't attack. And all of those self-proclaimed Christians who attacked the books as a bad influence on children are flat-out wrong in her eyes.
So bring it on right-wing religious wackos. Tell everyone that Dumbledore is a threat to the Christian way of life. I dare you. Please. Pretty please! Literally millions of children out there need to learn exactly how out of touch, demented and dangerous you really are. Thank you J.K. for using the power of a fairy tale to illustrate why people need to denounce the far-right's hate filled view of the world and embrace tolerance, love and compassion. It is a powerful lesson that millions of children will learn thanks to you. And thank you J.K. for giving these false purveyors of piety the rope with which to hang themselves.
Brilliant...absolutely brilliant.
7 comments:
I don't care what Dumbledore's sexual orientation is/was and agree that he is now a great example of how good people are good people, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc., but was this really necessary?
Sure she is getting even with the homophobic, witch hunting, bible-thumpers out there (and they do deserve whatever payback they receive), but if we really were supposed to know this, why not write in the book. Was she afraid it wouldn’t sell? I think this is a bit cowardly.
These are, at their heart, childrens books. I don't think the sexual orientation of the headmaster really helps the story line, it is back story really.
I honestly believe that this is what the author had in mind when she was writing Dumbledore, but a description of his sexuality, like in real life, was irrelevant to his role in the story.
Fine, I can give her creative license. In fact, saw an article after I wrote this at points out some passages that she probably created to allude to Dumbledore's sexual orientation.
But why is it necessary to bring it up now? Is she missing the front-page attention? It all seems very self-serving to me.
I agree, this is really amazing. Major kudos to JKR.
She answered a question at an event. And she had previously told the script writers for one of the films the same thing when they tried to allude to a prior female love for Dumbledore.
That being said, I think she knows that she has a huge following of children who love Dumbledore and by giving the religious right this nugget to use, she is giving them the opportunity to reveal their true nature to an entire generation of readers, hence damaging their message of intolerance.
She has said that she wants to write an encyclopedia of the rest of the world that surrounds Harry Potter. That all of the characters have complete backstories that didn't make it into the series.
Did she do it to elicit publicity? I don't think so. Someone asked a question, she answered it honestly. Sadly, I think there are some parents out there who where thinking that the "witchcraft" aspect was no biggie, but that Dumbeldore being gay will be.
I really don't see the point in even raising the issue of Dumbledores sexuality, and why if she was so determined to do so, why she did it now and not when the books were first released.
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