I'd have felt a great deal more impressed with the news if she'd bothered to actually show it in the books. If he *is* gay, he's clearly as in the closet about it as they come.
Oh completely. and as the ONLY gay character in the books (although I wonder if she create new ones for more free publicity) he wouldn't have his job for long if found out. Yes, i know that gay doesn't mean pedophile, anything BUT - but that's the public perception, and the wizarding world is not exactly the most accepting and tolerant society!!
It has all kinds of repercussions really. It makes the wizarding world look less accepting than our own (or why wouldn't people know about it? As you say, it implies that he's had to hide it all his life.) It's highly likely to make our own world look askance at his relationship with Harry. It's simultaneously a safe move and a dangerous one. Safe because Dumbledore is an old man and therefore asexual. Also it seems fairly clear Dumbledore has had no relationships since Grindelwald. Therefore he's not an active gay man and is acceptable in a kind of Catholic church way. And dangerous because of exactly the same thing.
It is unfortunate that she limited his sexuality to heavy innuendo in the books, but I'm just pleased that it's there, period. Because JKR is a mega-popular author, this could be a start of a huge movement toward the end of marginalizing homosexuality in literature.
I can't help that feel that it's just for effect though. If she wanted to make more of a stand for gay characters then she could have done it more obviously. After all, the books have sold, she's minted.
She could have introduced a gay character with no effort at all, and that would have done far more to help the cause, but I would imagine that her PR team warned her against it.
I agree that her PR team probably warned her against it- would have been nice if she'd been more explicit. Judging on all the hubbub now, she may have decided that the possible uproar over Dumbledore's sexuality would detract from the other elements of the book. Now she's just enjoying the attention.
There have been YA books with gay characters before, obviously, but never one with the immense popularity of the Harry Potter series. That's why this seems like such an important move to me.
I practised for YEARS after I got hooked on Star Trek, and I can make a sort of scrunched-up face that does actually leave one eyebrow higher than the other...
Rowling's making all these revelations that are really coming out of left field for me. I keep thinking that I should congratulate her for not actually having it mentioned in the books, since it actually wouldn't have been relevant to the plot, but that just makes me wonder why she decided on having him be gay at all.
I suppose so long as she doesn't get to the point where she's telling obscure things about the books and then getting pissed off that nobody noticed them but her, I can't complain too loudly . . .
Ah, but it seems they didn't both come out of that closet, did they? Of course, at least one of them may have used one of those words in another sense!!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-10-20 09:33 am (UTC)Maybe I should read...lol *raised eyebrowness*
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Date: 2007-10-20 09:40 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-10-20 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 08:29 am (UTC)She could have introduced a gay character with no effort at all, and that would have done far more to help the cause, but I would imagine that her PR team warned her against it.
As for "the start" I can't agree, there have been tons of YA books with gay characters. here's some : http://alexsanchez.com/gay_teen_books.htm
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Date: 2007-10-21 02:22 pm (UTC)There have been YA books with gay characters before, obviously, but never one with the immense popularity of the Harry Potter series. That's why this seems like such an important move to me.
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Date: 2007-10-20 11:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-20 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-10-20 11:23 pm (UTC)(And shouldn't you be in bed by now? Have you no bingly beep?)
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Date: 2007-10-20 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-20 01:36 pm (UTC)I suppose so long as she doesn't get to the point where she's telling obscure things about the books and then getting pissed off that nobody noticed them but her, I can't complain too loudly . . .
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Date: 2007-10-21 06:39 pm (UTC)