On fiction

[andrewducker]

I've been reading lots of the discussion of Dumbledore's outing with interest. Not, per se, in his being gay or not (it fits in perfectly well to the background, but doesn't really add or subtract much to the plot, which is presumably it wasn't in the book), but in the reaction to it, which was much more interesting

Comments

[onceupon]

Mt issue is not with her having ideas outside of the books - it is her attitude about the whole thing.

[taromazzy]

Have I missed the memo from Peter Tatchell outing fictional characters?

Is Gandalf gay?
Postman Pat?
His black & white cat?

I can barely keep up!

[andrewducker]

JK announced that Dumbledore was gay when she was asked at a talk whether he'd ever had any girlfriends. She apparently had previously had to tell the scriptwriter for one of the films.

[surliminal]

Harry Potter is odd because it is now somewhere between a series of novels and a fantasy theme park. many of us grew up in a world where a novel (or novels) told a story leaving us to dream of what else happened. the author telling us exactly what happens cuts down on those dreams. JKR is not the only who will have had realms of back story she didn't squeeze in - every decent fiction writer will. the difference is that prior to her they mainly had the decency, or restraint, to let go of their creation at its birth and leave it to the inheritors, the readership. I don't really give much of a damn TBH - I'm not a slash writer, not a rabid HP fan, and I don't care about "canon". I do, very slightly, feel we're losing some of the imaginative dimension fiction brings to our lives if this becomes the norm rather than the exception

a rant at the whole gone with the wind thing

[ratmist]

If that book had held a candle to Margaret Mitchell, it'd have been fair enough. *southern girl rankled* It was dreadful, soppy weak pap. It was one case where I didn't care that a 'fanfic' was subjected to copyright action, when generally I don't think they should be.

(not ranting at you - still ranting at that horrible book, years after it was published!)

[lilitufire]

I rewatched the Omnibus that came out just after the first film quite recently, and she had half a shed load of extra material, including really cute stuff like character illustrations, and what the secret door to Diagon Alley looked like. While she's not my favourite author, I think that kind of world building is pretty much essential anyway.