Did you hear that J.K. Rowling outed Dumbledore?
I can't decide whether it rocks that this fact is simply another piece of Potter trivia along the lines of what Ginny's job is after she graduates--because dammit, this freaky obsession with what goes on in people's bedrooms is half the stupid problem, if I like you I don't give a fuck who you're sleeping with. And regardless of who you're sleeping with, you deserve to have the same rights and be judged on the same principles as everyone else. Anyway, I can't decide between thinking that makes sense or being pissed that she never said anything sooner.
I think I'm leaning toward the former, because the private lives of the teachers never came into play except as necessary to drive plot--as it should be in a children's book, I think--do kids ever care about the lives of adults, except as they apply to their own lives? Not if they're safe and healthy, I think.
Hmm. Your thoughts?
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9 comments:
I'm determinedly ambivalent. Dumblebore is successful and caring and keeps it in his robes around students: yay D!
On the other hand, since he does, should we care?
I do agree with JK: it'll give the wing-nuts another reason to hate Harry.
Well, given that none of the Hogwarts professors have love lives that their students are aware of (marriages? attractions? flirtations? nothing really beyond Hagrid dancing with a giantess, right?), I think it's proper that Dumbledore's gayness is just a matter-of-fact nonissue.
Although I guess a lot of women would whine if Alan Rickman's Snape turned out to be gay—savvy of Rowling not to out him!
We don't
(Er, aborted paragraph. Pay no mind!)
I'm not surprised - and statistically, someone had to be (although MacGonagall . . . maybe . . . )
I'm with you on both counts. Part of me loves it, part of me is like, all right, go through the rest of them, now!
I always wondered about him and his big foe. But, does it really matter to the book line, no. The books are fine just as they are. They already speak volumes about tolerance with the whole mugblood hating thing that the death eaters have.
Belle, I am a wee bit uneasy with what you said. I would hope that not only gay teachers keep it in their robes but that all teachers would.
I think most authors create back stories for their characters even if the details of the back stories don't ever come out (heh) in the books. It just helps guide the action in terms of each character's motivation, etc. Regarding the recent outing, I read that the only reason Rowling outed Dumbledore was that a screenplay for an upcoming Harry Potter movie mentioned a girl that Dumbledore was once in love with, and Rowling wanted to clarify Dumbledore's character.
I think that most students aren't too into their professors' personal lives, except as they directly effect the students. Since the Harry Potter books are primarily told from Harry's POV, it's realistic that little is known about the professors' lives outside of the classroom.
I like how much of a rich backstory Rowling has created for her characters, and I like that she didn't feel like it was necessary to write Dumbledore as some sort of stereotype.
Orange, Snape being gay would muck with the plot of the last book a bit!
If anybody should have come out, it should have been Harry. That would have tripped people out.
Hey, I'm having another haiku festival. I hope you'll contribute again this year!
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