Dumbledore Gay

JimboJones123

JimboJones123

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
From Time.



(New York) — Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from the audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."
"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.
She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."
Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."
"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."
Potter readers on fan sites and elsewhere on the Internet have speculated on the sexuality of Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. And explicit scenes with Dumbledore already have appeared in fan fiction.
Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who once was of interest to Dumbledore. A note was duly passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about her character.
Rowling, finishing a brief "Open Book Tour" of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority."
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.




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So anyways -- thought it was interesting news for today.
 
Uponastar

Uponastar

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure about her reasons why. I can only hope that perhaps young readers who find themselves facing the realization that they are "different" will find it somehow comforting to know that this beloved character shared their story.
 
C

coasterphil

Well-Known Member
I almost wonder if she did that just to try and get to those folks who were upset with the books from the very start. Not only are they casting spells, but some of them are gay! :eek::lol:
 
The Mom

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
Folks, just remember to keep things polite. And quite frankly, unless someone here plans on either talking to Rowling or Dumbledore in the near future, I doubt that there is anything to add.

Either you are bothered by it, or you aren't. Either way, you're entitled to your opinion about a fictional wizard, as long as you accept the fact that everyone else is also entitled to his/hers, and it's highly unlikely that anything you say on a discussion board will change it.

So you can either discuss it politely and respectfully, or you will not be allowed to discuss it at all.
 
mousermerf

mousermerf

Account Suspended
From a creative standpoint..

I guess it makes sense if you're writing the book to be all omnipotent about the characters so you can choose how they react and such. But there is a whole group who believes that there is nothing that goes beyond the text. If it's not written, it's not there, there is no backstory for some characters.

Some writers even if asked about their characters thoughts/feelings/motivations will say "I don't know, i'm not so-and-so."

Brecht, I think? Famously chastized some actress for wanting the backstory on one of his characters to know how to play her.

That aside, this does bring up an interesting bit about Universal's new land. Suppose there will be a meet/greet with Dumbledore? Be interesting to see how that plays out..
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
mousermerf said:
That aside, this does bring up an interesting bit about Universal's new land. Suppose there will be a meet/greet with Dumbledore? Be interesting to see how that plays out..
Click to expand...

I suspect that because this isn't based on anything in the text, it will play out in the media and then go away outside of the occasional joke or snide remark. It's really something you can totally ignore and not change anything about the narrative in doing so, if you like.
 
MAF

MAF

Well-Known Member
ZOMG a character in a fictional book is gay!!!!111 And this is considered important news how? *BTW I'm not attacking anyone in this thread, I just think its a little ridiculous how this has turned into headline news everywhere.*
 
sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
MAF said:
ZOMG a character in a fictional book is gay!!!!111 And this is considered important news how? *BTW I'm not attacking anyone in this thread, I just think its a little ridiculous how this has turned into headline news everywhere.*
Click to expand...

Yes, he's a fictional character of a fictional book. But most people realize that when an author writes a book, or when a producer films a TV show, etc, he has certain values that he is trying to promote with his story. If, for example, a gay character is presented as being the stereotypical flamboyant, femine type, then it's most likely that the person writing the story dissapproves of homosexuality and is attempting to convey that with the way he portrays his fictional, gay character.

However, if the gay character in question is portrayed in a different way, then it could be just as obvious that the author intends to express his or her belief that homosexuality is normal and acceptable and is using his book or TV show, or whatever as his means of trying to convey that message.

In this case, according to the article and Rawlings' own words, it seems that she made this character gay in an attempt to help teach the readers "tolerance", which translated means trying to influence her readers to embrace homosexuality.

So it's never so simple as just brushing it off as merely a fictional chracter in a book, whether were talking about a gay character or a character who is not gay. The stories people write are written with a certain values system in mind and are a means to express said values system and influence others to change their way of thinking. For example, one could write a story with fictional character who is a child molester. If the character gets his comeupance and pays the penalty for his actions, then it is obvious that the "moral of the story" is that child molestation is wrong. However, if the child molester is the hero of the story and is a well respected character, then obviously, the author is trying to say that it is okay to molest children and is using that book and that character as his means of changing public opinion regarding child molestation. I really doubt we'll ever see such a character, but I use that absurd hypothetical character to illustrate my point.

Having said that, I must admit that I am disturbed by this because I don't approve of homosexuality and I disagree with any attempt to portray it as normal and acceptable. I know I am in the minority and many others will disagree, and that's what a discussion board is all about: the exchange of ideas. But that is my opinion on the subject for whatever it's worth.
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
sbkline said:
However, if the gay character in question is portrayed in a different way, then it could be just as obvious that the author intends to express his or her belief that homosexuality is normal and acceptable and is using his book or TV show, or whatever as his means of trying to convey that message.

In this case, according to the article and Rawlings' own words, it seems that she made this character gay in an attempt to help teach the readers "tolerance", which translated means trying to influence her readers to embrace homosexuality.
Click to expand...

If she had set out to change hearts and minds on the issue, wouldn't it have made sense to address it at least once anywhere in the story, instead of waiting until it was over and saying "oh, by the way..." ?

You might be right on some level that she's trying to inject some of her own values here, but at most, it's a throwaway "take it or leave it" statement. Nothing's being shoved down anybody's throat here. You could just as easily discard it and read the books without ever considering it.
 
sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Wilt Dasney said:
If she had set out to change hearts and minds on the issue, wouldn't it have made sense to address it at least once anywhere in the story, instead of waiting until it was over and saying "oh, by the way..." ?

You might be right on some level that she's trying to inject some of her own values here, but at most, it's a throwaway "take it or leave it" statement. Nothing's being shoved down anybody's throat here. You could just as easily discard it and read the books without ever considering it.
Click to expand...

Even if she blatantly injected it in the story, I'm not sure I would accuse her of "shoving down" anyone's throat. She has just as much right to express her views in writing as anyone else, and it's her story and she can make up whatever characters she wants. And no one is forced to buy the books or read the books.

But she's quite obviously trying to make some kind of social statement here, or else why bring it up at all? She might not be on a massive crusade to change the world, but she's obviously attempting to do "her part" in a small way to influence public thinking on homosexuality, or else she wouldn't have gone there at all.
 
imagineer boy

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
Maybe she's not making any sort of statement at all, but just gave that aspect to Dumbledore to make him seem more flawed and with more troubles or somthing like that.

Either way, it still puts a lot of unwanted images in my head. :lol:

EDIT: Or then again, maybe in a few weeks time Rowling will say "I was just kidding! That sure got your chat groups going didn't it?" :lol: :lookaroun
 

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