I'm Harry Potter, Harry Harry Potter...
I know this is probably old news to most of you by now, but my hero JK Rowling held a press conference in Carnegie Hall this past weekend to read passages from Deathly Hallows and answer questions. She revealed a bucket of brand-spanking-new information - Neville marries Hannah Abbott, Aunt Petunia wanted to wish Harry luck when they were saying bye but couldn't bring herself to say anything, Hagrid never gets married, Draco doesn't owe Harry a life debt...
...oh, and Dumbledore is gay.
Honestly, I never saw that coming. I've been reading the books since I was 12 and have read each one a zillion times, and I never picked up on any hints of Dumbledore's sexuality. I always figured that he was just too busy running Hogwarts, being powerful and fighting evil that he never had time to settle down. Dumbledore always said that love was the greatest power of all... so why didn't I ever seriously consider whether or not Dumbledore had ever fallen in love himself? He and Grindelwald loved each other, and when Grindelwald proved himself to be an evil, power-hungry bigot second only to Voldemort, Dumbledore was faced with protecting the one person he loved the most or protecting the wizarding race and doing what was right. He chose good over evil, and killed Grindelwald. He was never able to fall in love again. This tells us SO MUCH about Dumbledore's character. There was always a part of him that remained so mysterious... but his love for Grindelwald explains a lot, if not everything. Dumbledore is who he is because of Grindelwald. It makes so much sense.
The only character that I originally thought could be gay was Lupin, but then he fell in love with Tonks so that went out the window. Colin Creevey may have had the hots for Harry... who knows? Perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were lovers too, before Crabbe died. Or Lavender and Parvati - Lav could have dated Ron just as a cover-up. Really, anything is possible.
Now, I know a lot of people have their panties in a bunch over Rowling making Dumbledore gay. I'm sure many people will turn their backs on the series; one of my hardcore Harry friends even said she was disappointed, but hopefully her opinion of the stories themselves will remain unchanged. This definitely puts a new spin on the appropriateness of Harry and Dumbledore's relationship... which was already considered uncomfortably close by some. There are also some parents out there who will probably prevent their children from reading a series filled with such "sin," despite the fact that the books are wonderful, imaginative pieces of fiction.
It's all in the eye of the beholder. Just because Rowling says Dumbledore is gay, it doesn't mean that the reader has to see Dumbledore as gay. There are absolutely no homosexual acts (or heterosexual acts, besides "snogging," for that matter) in any of the stories. Dumbledore never "acts gay" (whatever that means), is never described as being intimate with another man, and his relationship with Grindelwald isn't even explained in much detail, other than that they were close friends. If the reader feels better by turning a blind-eye to what Rowling intended for her character, they can absolutely do so. That's the greatest part about reading fiction: it's always open to interpretation.
I personally think this is great. She made "the most powerful wizard of all time" gay, and it is always refreshing to see minorities being represented in a positive light. It completely goes with one of the main themes of the Harry Potter series - the importance of tolerance and equality. Voldemort wanted to get rid of anything that was "disgracing the name of Wizard," so pretty much anyone who was considered dirty by wizarding standards - mostly Muggle-borns, but I imagine that Voldemort wouldn't like gays either. Intolerance is evil, and it has to be conquered by love. Dumbledore fought for equality once he discovered himself and learned how to keep his power in check; he always welcomed those who were different with open arms (look at Hagrid! Lupin!). I don't think Dumbledore was IN love with Harry, but there is no doubt that he loved him; however, I still view it as the type of love that a parent has for a child, or that a grandparent has for a grandchild. Get your mind out of the gutter, people (alright, I'll admit, the whole thing is kind of funny. especially everyone's reactions).
I've always thought that the series was supposed to loosely symbolize the Holocaust and Nazi Germany - Voldemort is Hitler, the Death Eaters are Nazis, and the Muggle-borns and blood-traitors were the Jews and other members that didn't fit into the desired Aryan race. Rowling said that she meant for the series to be representative of any kind of intolerance
Maybe when Dumbledore looks into the Mirror of Erised, he sees himself with Grindelwald. As I recall, it was made clear that he doesn't see himself holding woolly socks like he told Harry... but it was only guessed that he saw himself reunited with his whole family. Nope. I'm sticking with Grindelwald.
You know, I was worried that after the 7th book came out there would be no more theories or predictions to make. I'm glad that's not the case =).
Dork-status.
much love <3
...oh, and Dumbledore is gay.
Honestly, I never saw that coming. I've been reading the books since I was 12 and have read each one a zillion times, and I never picked up on any hints of Dumbledore's sexuality. I always figured that he was just too busy running Hogwarts, being powerful and fighting evil that he never had time to settle down. Dumbledore always said that love was the greatest power of all... so why didn't I ever seriously consider whether or not Dumbledore had ever fallen in love himself? He and Grindelwald loved each other, and when Grindelwald proved himself to be an evil, power-hungry bigot second only to Voldemort, Dumbledore was faced with protecting the one person he loved the most or protecting the wizarding race and doing what was right. He chose good over evil, and killed Grindelwald. He was never able to fall in love again. This tells us SO MUCH about Dumbledore's character. There was always a part of him that remained so mysterious... but his love for Grindelwald explains a lot, if not everything. Dumbledore is who he is because of Grindelwald. It makes so much sense.
The only character that I originally thought could be gay was Lupin, but then he fell in love with Tonks so that went out the window. Colin Creevey may have had the hots for Harry... who knows? Perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were lovers too, before Crabbe died. Or Lavender and Parvati - Lav could have dated Ron just as a cover-up. Really, anything is possible.
Now, I know a lot of people have their panties in a bunch over Rowling making Dumbledore gay. I'm sure many people will turn their backs on the series; one of my hardcore Harry friends even said she was disappointed, but hopefully her opinion of the stories themselves will remain unchanged. This definitely puts a new spin on the appropriateness of Harry and Dumbledore's relationship... which was already considered uncomfortably close by some. There are also some parents out there who will probably prevent their children from reading a series filled with such "sin," despite the fact that the books are wonderful, imaginative pieces of fiction.
It's all in the eye of the beholder. Just because Rowling says Dumbledore is gay, it doesn't mean that the reader has to see Dumbledore as gay. There are absolutely no homosexual acts (or heterosexual acts, besides "snogging," for that matter) in any of the stories. Dumbledore never "acts gay" (whatever that means), is never described as being intimate with another man, and his relationship with Grindelwald isn't even explained in much detail, other than that they were close friends. If the reader feels better by turning a blind-eye to what Rowling intended for her character, they can absolutely do so. That's the greatest part about reading fiction: it's always open to interpretation.
I personally think this is great. She made "the most powerful wizard of all time" gay, and it is always refreshing to see minorities being represented in a positive light. It completely goes with one of the main themes of the Harry Potter series - the importance of tolerance and equality. Voldemort wanted to get rid of anything that was "disgracing the name of Wizard," so pretty much anyone who was considered dirty by wizarding standards - mostly Muggle-borns, but I imagine that Voldemort wouldn't like gays either. Intolerance is evil, and it has to be conquered by love. Dumbledore fought for equality once he discovered himself and learned how to keep his power in check; he always welcomed those who were different with open arms (look at Hagrid! Lupin!). I don't think Dumbledore was IN love with Harry, but there is no doubt that he loved him; however, I still view it as the type of love that a parent has for a child, or that a grandparent has for a grandchild. Get your mind out of the gutter, people (alright, I'll admit, the whole thing is kind of funny. especially everyone's reactions).
I've always thought that the series was supposed to loosely symbolize the Holocaust and Nazi Germany - Voldemort is Hitler, the Death Eaters are Nazis, and the Muggle-borns and blood-traitors were the Jews and other members that didn't fit into the desired Aryan race. Rowling said that she meant for the series to be representative of any kind of intolerance
Maybe when Dumbledore looks into the Mirror of Erised, he sees himself with Grindelwald. As I recall, it was made clear that he doesn't see himself holding woolly socks like he told Harry... but it was only guessed that he saw himself reunited with his whole family. Nope. I'm sticking with Grindelwald.
You know, I was worried that after the 7th book came out there would be no more theories or predictions to make. I'm glad that's not the case =).
Dork-status.
much love <3