A Thought on a Dumbledore Article
I just read this article:
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentarygay1028.artoct28,0,6887411.story
with interest, and posted this commment in reply:
I read you article with interest. I have read all of the HP books, and loved them all; I might be what you might call ' fan'.
OK, so that was understatement of the year.
The reason why I disagree with your article however, is that homosexuality and the 'issues' surrounding it are not a key feature within the HP books, plot or characters.
JK Rowling was not trying to write a book that highlighted homosexuality to a wider audience. I believe that if she were trying to do as such, she would have outed Dumbledore in the books. However, and you said it yourself - "I always thought of Dumbledore as gay," Rowling replied.
I imagine her saying this quietly to the audience, as this is her own opinion, and how she imagined, in her own head, her character.
This is why I am defending JK's public revelation - she was simply answering someone's question.
However, I suppose I do take offence at her later statements: "If I'd known this would make you this happy," a beaming Rowling said, "I would have announced it years ago."
This makes me think that she would have only outed Dumbledore as Gay to get more publicity and so make more money overall, which are not ideas I hold to JK. I think your phrase "It's just an easy applause line" supports this.
JK Rowling, in my opinion, is very very good at writing everything she needs to create her story, and weave it to the reader, demonstrated throughout the HP series.
". . .if Dumbledore had wanted the world to know he was gay, he would have come out in the text." Exactly - He (through the mind of JK) obviously didn't. I do not think that this makes any difference to the plot, although we can read into several phrases or sections in a different light, but it aids to character development.
So, I think JK was right to "reveal" this, as I do not see it as a major or even minor issue in the story. It makes no difference to me if Dumbledore is gay - deep down I suppose that there was always that subconscious thought anyway.
"What I find objectionable is Rowling's decision to deliver this bombshell not within the pages of her books, where it belongs, but by casually announcing it in a public gathering." I do not share this opinion, as this "bombshell" was not delivered for the wrong reasons in my opinion. JK was not trying to write a book about a gay character, hence there is no real reason for it to be delivered in the pages of her books.
Also, I just want to say that from a perspective author's point of view, I like your "Characters tell their creators who they are and what they're going to do, not the other way round. . .with characters doing and saying things that may be contrary to the author's intentions" I think that this is a wonderful thing to say, and I fully agree with it! This is exactly the kind of thinking I adhere to when writing or planning anything I write.
Well done, a thought raising article.
