Why are people still talking about Dumbledore being gay?

[The Fake Shemp]

He's here dead, he's queer - get used to it!

[Fragamemnon]

J.K. Rowling declaration of Dumbledore being gay was a well-crafted, somewhat blunt troll. As we on the internet have learned, a good troll will keep people talking for quite some time!

[Bloodwake]

Good question.

It's not like Dumbledore being gay is a big deal. I mean, it's not like it's going to piss off the Christians any more than it already has. I think Rowling did that by putting that "evil magic stuff" in the books.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Still, hilarious that Harry Potter is basically an allegory. He fucking dies and rose again to save the magic world. Sounds familar to me.

[close]

[Phoenix Dark]

Good question.

It's not like Dumbledore being gay is a big deal. I mean, it's not like it's going to piss off the Christians any more than it already has. I think Rowling did that by putting that "evil magic stuff" in the books.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Still, hilarious that Harry Potter is basically an allegory. He fucking dies and rose again to save the magic world. Sounds familar to me.

[close]

The books are filled with religious allegories lol

My problem with this is that it was never hinted at in the book - it's like she's just fucking with people. I don't care that he's gay, but it just seems like a cheap thing to do.

[Bloodwake]

Good question.

It's not like Dumbledore being gay is a big deal. I mean, it's not like it's going to piss off the Christians any more than it already has. I think Rowling did that by putting that "evil magic stuff" in the books.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Still, hilarious that Harry Potter is basically an allegory. He fucking dies and rose again to save the magic world. Sounds familar to me.

[close]

The books are filled with religious allegories lol

My problem with this is that it was never hinted at in the book - it's like she's just fucking with people. I don't care that he's gay, but it just seems like a cheap thing to do.

Yeah.

FYI, I'm a HUGE fan of the books (unlike the majority of this forum), and I think that just randomly saying Dumbledore is gay is just a publicity stunt. Give it up already. The books are over, just write something else and stop being an attention whore.

[Phoenix Dark]

I totally agree. As a huge fan it seems like a dumb move. This isn't like telling us about Luna Lovegood graduating from Hogwarts and then spending her time hunting fake creatures. That idea is rooted in the books, whereas Dumbledore magically being gay seems like an afterthought she had in order to stir headlines.

The books feature a pretty diverse group of characters - as well as some interracial dating - so it's true she's never shied away from those types of issues. So why not at least hint at Dumbledore's gayness in the books instead of taking the easy way out. This reminds me of John Amaechi, the gay NBA player who came out after retiring - and is seen as a hero for some reason. Taking the easy way isn't heroic

[TVC15]

People care because HE WAS A cigarillo AND HE WAS MOLESTERATIN THEM CHILDRUN

[Phoenix Dark]

Deathly Hallows changed everyone's perspective on Dumbledore and his actions. This revelation tells me nothing about him, and just seems like mind trickz

[Himu]

Good question.

It's not like Dumbledore being gay is a big deal. I mean, it's not like it's going to piss off the Christians any more than it already has. I think Rowling did that by putting that "evil magic stuff" in the books.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Still, hilarious that Harry Potter is basically an allegory. He fucking dies and rose again to save the magic world. Sounds familar to me.

[close]

The books are filled with religious allegories lol

My problem with this is that it was never hinted at in the book - it's like she's just fucking with people. I don't care that he's gay, but it just seems like a cheap thing to do.

Yeah.

FYI, I'm a HUGE fan of the books (unlike the majority of this forum), and I think that just randomly saying Dumbledore is gay is just a publicity stunt. Give it up already. The books are over, just write something else and stop being an attention whore.

Cosign. This bitch will probably make a HP8 at this point.

[FlameOfCallandor]

Saying Dumbledore is gay is like saying that Han Solo was an anti-semite. Where the fuck does it come from? dumdledore never did anything gay. Who cares. Its a moot point. Its irreverent.

[Candyflip]

Good question.

It's not like Dumbledore being gay is a big deal. I mean, it's not like it's going to piss off the Christians any more than it already has. I think Rowling did that by putting that "evil magic stuff" in the books.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Still, hilarious that Harry Potter is basically an allegory. He fucking dies and rose again to save the magic world. Sounds familar to me.

[close]

My problem with this is that it was never hinted at in the book - it's like she's just fucking with people.

But that's why it's so funny.

[Eel O'Brian]

I just assumed every character in Harry Potter was gay

[TVC15]

Deathly Hallows changed everyone's perspective on Dumbledore and his actions. This revelation tells me nothing about him, and just seems like mind trickz

Yeah, JK was just trying to either:

1) Stir some shit
2) Make a policial statement.

Knowing a bit about JK, 2 is most likely the answer.  I can see what she was trying to do, and while on some level it's kind of admirable, on another, to anyone of age, it's just so obvious that it's silly and somewhat hollow.

Cosign. This bitch will probably make a HP8 at this point.

I don't think it will be an HP8, but I don't think we've seen the last of her wizarding world.  She put over a decade of effort into that, so I'd be kind of surprised if she gave it up cold turkey.  I don't see any issue, or "milking," in doing another book.  I think it's pretty clear that she's always been pretty cool with being true to herself, and she doesn't have anywhere approaching need to do cash grabs.

[Phoenix Dark]

She definitely doesn't need the money - she seems to prefer giving money away actually. She's currently writing a new book that has nothing to do with Harry Potter, but it may be another fantasy romp.

As an avid HP fan I'll be waiting for the encyclopedia/appendix; who knows when it'll come out.

[brawndolicious]

Let me simplify it for you fanboys:

She made a billion dollars on a series of books about magical schoolboys saying hocus pocus alakazams.

And then she said the principal was gay.

'kay?

[lordmaji]

...hahaha

He likes little boys.

[Human Snorenado]

Saying Dumbledore is gay is like saying that Han Solo was an anti-semite. Where the fuck does it come from? dumdledore never did anything gay. Who cares. Its a moot point. Its irreverent.

I honestly find it hard to believe that you made it out of middle school, much less have a college degree.  I guess what they say is true- Don't mess with Texas, unless you can do so in a manner that their limited intellect won't allow them to comprehend.

[etiolate]

the squealing of slashfic chicks all over the internet was a disemboweling sound I won't soon forget

[brawndolicious]

the squealing of slashfic chicks all over the internet was a disemboweling sound I won't soon forget

I remember when people got so upset that sargon or whoever that wizard from LOTR was came out.

[drozmight]

This is hawt, hawt stuff.



What if JK Rowling and Mel Gibson got together. That'd be one awesome episode of South Park.

[TVC15]

the squealing of slashfic chicks all over the internet was a disemboweling sound I won't soon forget

I remember when people got so upset that sargon or whoever that wizard from LOTR was came out.

Ian McKellan has been out for at least a decade.

[Bloodwake]

Saying Dumbledore is gay is like saying that Han Solo was an anti-semite. Where the fuck does it come from? dumdledore never did anything gay. Who cares. Its a moot point. Its irreverent.

Irreverent lolz.

[brawndolicious]

Ian McKellan has been out for at least a decade.

I know, but the average person didn't know who he was until LOTR.

[Phoenix Dark]

Ian McKellan has been out for at least a decade.

I know, but the average person didn't know who he was until LOTR.

[brawndolicious]

that's the way the gossip columnist (don't remember the magazine but don't ask why I read that) worded it.  a bunch of fans asked her if he was really gay because they had a crush on him and she said he was very open for a long time.

[Mupepe]

he's gay?  when did this happen?  i know i'm not the only person here that missed this.

[brawndolicious]

rowling was giving a speech on the books and then she mentioned that dumbledore was gay.

[Mupepe]

rowling was giving a speech on the books and then she mentioned that dumbledore was gay.

like just randomly "oh yeah, dumbledore is gay.  next questions please..."

[brawndolicious]

rowling was giving a speech on the books and then she mentioned that dumbledore was gay.

like just randomly "oh yeah, dumbledore is gay.  next questions please..."

from maf's thread:

In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne, read from her seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft,  had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled.  "Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling as the audience errupted in surprise. She added that,  in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonshed fans, Rowling added. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

[Phoenix Dark]

Interesting points from friends

She didn't mention it in the books because its not directly related to Harry. Hagrid's backstory did not exist for its own purposes, Harry did have to know about it. These parameters have to be established from the character's creation because they affect the character, but were not mentioned because they do not affect Harry.

Also, there is no negative impact from this (aside from part of the mystery of Dumbledore being gone). The idea of challenging some readers who had preconceptions of Dumbledore to now to have either renounce him or accept the new facts is not negative, political or no.

I think this was innocently slided in.

EDIT: Actually thinking about it some more it would be socially motivated, not politically. Also, thinking about it some more, no one complained when Dumbledore gave us social motivation to care about one another, to the point of dying for someone.

I mean, the series is titled "Harry Potter" not "Other main characters extraneous background information: and the Philosopher's Stone."

Reading interviews with her in general she does give out some interesting background information that only she would know though. It's not like she mulled the thought in her head at the last minute, she did give a reason why she thought of Dumbledore as a gay character by bringing up another character that she already mapped into the little universe in her head she created.

Tim Schafer would tell you the mark of making a good story is knowing things about the characters you create that really wouldn't matter to the person who is playing the game, but help build depth of character that just wouldn't be present if you didn't know that about them as you were creating them.

Same thing with a book. Or book series. Tolkein himself reveals a lot of information through appendices that if you just went through the books you wouldn't get all the information about a character or event. They are important to the story of the world he created, but not so much to the events of the main story.

As for Rowling, I remember one time she answered an esoteric question about Quidditch pretty easily because she already mapped that scenario out in her head, but it didn't make sense to put it in any of the main stories. It wasn't about Harry and his friends, it was extraneous background information. I mean, we only get some background information about Snape in Book 5 because Harry was there, and we were with Harry.

[etiolate]

I can't believe we had a class discussion about this in one of my literature classes. I said if you write 7 books with a major character who's gay, and by the end of the 7th book nobody knows he is gay then maybe you need to work on your subtlety. It's like she wrote it so safely that the character became asexual enough for her to be able to throw it in after the fact to lessen the scandal and keep the book sales.

[brawndolicious]

pd, if my friends said anything like that I would punch them in the fucking face.

I didn't read all the books but dumbledore is shown as a pretty asexual figure.  I mean, the whole book is a teenage soap opera.  you can't really mix in anything about an old man's sex life.

[ferricide]

plenty of authors (including my limited and pathetic self) know more about their characters than go into the story they are writing. it's a good way of keeping things real.

there are hints if you know and not if you don't. i never suspected it, but at the same time, i didn't really feel a lot of interest in the character. i am not a dumbledore fan, since he's a manipulative prick IMO. which was a major theme of the last book, fair enough.

salon had a good article on covering both

a) hints
b) why it's annoying to be told

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/10/23/dumbledore/

but anyway, it's not precisely shocking, and nor do i think it was fake. i think JKR obviously craves attention but i don't think (as far as i can tell) that she's trying to get it by making up weird shit about her characters. how she's grabbing it is going to public and just... refusing to shut up and go away, basically.