www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Dumbledore is...gay?

I think Rowling made it up on the spur of the moment.
Note that there is nothing in the texts themselves that
would lead a reader, old or young, to identify Dumbledore
as "gay".

To my mind, "gay" refers to people who identify themselves
with their sexual preferences and flaunt them. This, obviously,
our fictional friend Dumbledore does not do.

I believe that Rowling is a Christian, but she is not, after
all, an orthodox Christian (neither big O Orthodox nor Catholic).
This, in my reading of them, is evidenced by the moral vision of
her books and most especially by the last chapters of Deathly
Hallows, where there can be no doubt in Whose footsteps Harry
is walking. Can we be surprised, given the sad state today not only of the churches of the Reformation but of so many of the clergy and people of our own Churches that while Rowling gets a lot of it, she doesn't get it all?

Edmac

Writers, if they are any good, have a very clear conception of their characters before they put anything to paper. And then when they do put something to paper, they develop a much deeper knowledge (some would say emotional relationship) with their characters and the backgrounds of their characters' lives which affect their actions, thoughts, and speech. It's possible that she made it up, but it's also possible that she conceptualized that back story some years back.

If she just "made it up" now, after she wrote the book, then it's meaningless and rather out of place and inappropriate for her to do as an author. If it was a part of the evolved back story and it played no role in the book except for explaining his romantic coldness (why he had no relationship) and the past conflict, then it would be natural to wonder why she chose that back story over any alternate which would have fit in with the character as well.

Terry

Perhaps she is planning a novel that features Dumbledore in his early years. If I were her, I would probably do something like that.

Joe

Tim, you make a very salient historical point especially about the English "public" (private) schools especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was not stigmatized as is often the case in our American context. So. this occurring in Harry Potter is not that far off the mark.
Good post!

Any school librarian (I am one) worth their salt would fight this tooth and nail. Censorship and banning of books is a cardinal prohibition in our profession.

Ed Melech said:

"Ahhh. Homosexuality is now a rite of passage. I see. Far be it from us to question what amounts to a cultural norm!

No one here is "reviling" anyone. Rowling was pandering, plain and simple. She used her fiction as a trojan horse for a social agenda."

I didn't claim homosexuality as a rite of passage. I simply stated what happened. It was accepted by many. Whether I agree with it or not, it is a fact that it happened. What was the right of passage was not the homosexual act itself, but the first love affair being with the same gender. As in a teacher/student situation. English public (really private) schools did this all the time. Historical fact.

I don't know if Rowling was pandering. She might have been. I don't know if she is using her fiction as a trojan horse for a social agenda. She might have just made it up on the spot. Many people--singers, writers, artists, get so tired of answering the same set of questions again and again and again, that they throw things in there just to liven things up. They don't necessarily even mean it sometimes. Does she mean it? I don't know. The only one who does is Rowling. It might have been all a big joke, just to see how people would react. Writers, singers and artists have done more than this just to stir the pot. Maybe she did it to increase sales and keep her name out there. Who knows? I haven't read any of her books. But I have seen the movies. I don't see how Dumbledore's being gay affects anything in the plotline. Maybe it does in the books. But everyone I spoke with who has read the books doesn't think so.

If she did it to keep her name in the public's eye---she certainly succeeded. If she wanted to use the medium as a trojan horse to spread her opinion, it certainly was in a subtle way.

Tim

You would most likely find yourself an unemployed school librarian if you worked in a Catholic school. Unfortunately we don't have the protections (no tenure) that public school librarians have. The Potter books are so easily available in so many other places, I can't imagine banning them in one school would keep anyone from reading them to begin with. So I fail to see that a ban would make any difference. However, school administrators are strange creatures often not given to reason or logic.

From what she says, Rowling has finished with the Harry Potter
world altogether, and I think she means it, and think also that
she is wise to do so. The cycle is compete. Odysseus has
returned home and slain his enemies (so's to speak). There are
rumors of her writing a mystery story. What she said about
Dumbledore was dumb and played into the hands of her enemies.
What is true is that this might have a lamentable effect on
Dumbledore's character as it will be portrayed in the films
which I, in any case, would not think of watching any more than
I would thing of watching the "Lord of the Rings" films.
(I admit to watching the first one, and that was quite bad enough). However, millions of kids will watch them, and therein
lies the quite unnecessary danger that Rowling has set up for us.
I don't give a hoot in hell about whether anyone ever sees another Harry Potter movie, but I do not want kids deprived of
the Harry Potter books because of Rowling's half-witted remarks.

Edmac

Wow, so are there three librarians here?

Whatever the views of the individual librarian, we must follow the policies of the institution we work for. Given that I work for a congregationalist liberal arts college, I have a lot of lattitude. In fact, my boss told me that I can be a resource for Catholic and Orthodox materials and that I was free to spend $$$ on such sources for collection development .

I have to be honest. I wouldn't want my children going to a school where Harry Potter is banned. And I don't think that libraries should avoid collecting materials simply because they don't support the faith/ideology of the school. There is value in reading things that are opposed to your beliefs. And I favor this in K-12 education as well as higher education. Okay, I hope I don't take this too far off topic.

Joe

Uhhh, they told you those books were evil years ago!

Oh I know. I confess though that I had initial hostility toward HP not because I thought they were evil (I love the whole fantasy world idea with magic, etc.) but because I am a snob. I thought to myself, "why not have these kids reading Lewis and Tolkien?"

Here is HP's positive value though. They are low brow enough for kids to digest them and this will make them hunger for more. That's when you hit them with the Lewis, Tolkien, L'Engle and other authors in the same class.

Joe

I still have to get through the Bible (again) and the Fathers before I can even move to Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien and the like.

no, I've worked in Catholic and public schools and public libraries and did not have to restrict my books choices to those not on the old "Index" in any.

Then you were indeed fortunate. I think the Potter books are harmless, but institutions do have the right to decide what to purchase or not purchase with their own funds. I have no problem with that although it does seem to upset ALA greatly. In my region, each Catholic school is a self-contained entity run by the pastor of the sponsoring parish. What a library carries differs from school to school. The public schools, however, buy pretty much whatever the librarians choose.

put them in the same bunch as the hyperfundies who get into a state over Tolkien, L'Engle, and C.S. Lewis. they did not like their works either. I am annoyed that Rowling would have made such a moronic statement. that's all it was anyways, very annoying.
Much Love,
Jonn