Magical day for gays as Dumbledore is outed
JK Rowling, the author of the famous "Harry Potter" Series, recently spoke to a group of people at Carnegie Hall in New York. As she was taking questions on her final book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", she stated that one of the characters in the book was actually gay. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school that Harry Potter attends, is homosexual and was smitten by Gellert Grindelwald, a rival who the reader learns about in the final book. When making the 6th movie, JKR actually had to edit a scene in which involved Dumbledore with another girl. Gay-rights campaigners said that they were disappointed in JKR for not making Dumbledore's sexuality explicit. As for thier disappointment, I think that JKR made the right decision in not revealing the character's homosexuality. Reading closely enough, a person could easily determine that Dumbledore is gay, by the details JKR writes about him. By openly stating that he was gay could then cause some parents to prohi
bit thier son or daughter from reading the series. She made the decision to keep it quiet for the avoidance of hositilty and I think she made a smart move. Would the books have been as popular as they are if she would have bluntly stated that Dumbledore was homosexual? Do you think that she should have addressed his sexuality?
3 comments:
According to the article, the fact that Dumbledore is gay should not come as too big of a surprise for die-hard fans. It states that many websites have suspected his lifestyle choice. I feel that JKR kept the fact from the general public purely for profit. Had she revealed that he is gay earlier in the Harry Potter series, people would have had a reason, in addition to the condoning of magic, to avoid the books. This would have substantially hurt profits. The fact that she waited to reveal this brings into question her acceptance of the gay community. Had she agreed with their lifestyle, I believe that she would have revealed Dumbledore's love of men earlier. But, she is more concerned with profits then supporting the gay community. I think that this ultimately reveals her attitude towards gays. She really is not that accepting. But, hopefully by acknowledging Dumbledore's choices now, she will increase profits that much more because those that would disagree with gays have already purchased the book and now gays will purchase the books because Dumbledore is a well liked figure that can represent them.
I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I have read each of the books two times and I never knew that he was supposedly gay. This is shocking to me, but now that I think back to the books there are some references to that fact. Harry Potter is supposed to be a book for all ages, so I think that it was a smart decision for JK Rowling not to include this tidbit of information. The books are about the progress of Harry Potter in Hogwarts and adding this information would have led the readers away from the initial story line. I agree that it would hurt profits as well and I don't understand how gay rights advocates are upset that she did not proclaim his sexuality within the novel. It is a book that is read by all ages!!! I don't believe that her not admitting his sexual preference in the book has anything to do with her attitude about homosexuals. I think that if she was really looking to earn a profit, she would never have established the fact that he was gay in the first place. JK Rowling has increased the number of readers all throughout the world with her novels and if a few people get offended, I think that all the progress she has made offsets these few people.
I think that it is fine if JKR wants to make some of her characters be gay, but if it has nothing to do with the story line I don't really understand why she had to mention it. It is almost as if she was trying to draw even more attention to herself, or the books, by causing this to be a news story. Since Harry Potter is a series for children as well as adults, maybe she should have not included this information. It may be better for kids to learn about human sexuality in other ways than by reading Harry Potter. Although this may not seem so obvious, as Dylan said, it is kind of irrelevent to the whole point of the series. I haven't read any of the books so I don't know if I should really be one to talk, but as far as I know it is irrelevent information.
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