The news coming out of J.K. Rowling’s US book tour finally got interesting with tonight’s Carnegie Hall revelation that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay and in love with Gellert Grindelwald. While fans had instead long speculated about the relationship between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, this revelation adds even more complexity to the already richly drawn and often surprising nuances of the late Headmaster of Hogwarts.
As a gay woman and a huge Harry Potter fan, I find this revelation both particularly interesting while also not at all surprising, and like most of JKR’s utterances strikes me as raising more questions than it answers.
First, let’s start with the big questions.
How is homosexuality viewed in the wizarding world?
The petty pedophiliac aspersions cast by Rita Skeeter in her Dumbledore biography can hardly be said to give us a hint, as the gay factor may or may not have played into her angle. That said, this does provide evidence that allows for conjecture that the wizarding world's attitudes are much like that of the muggle world – in flux, but often ignorant.
On the other hand, there are also several good reasons to assume that the wizarding world is more comfortable with homosexuality. Considering the number of jokes made with the barest trace of disapproval as regards a number of human and animal relationships (Here I speak mainly of Aberforth and his goats), it seems hard to imagine that a world okay with that would have a problem with homosexuality. On the other hand, by saying this I may just have played into the insanity of any number of anti-gay elements on the Internet at large. Also worth considering is the gender inbalance in the books – the wizarding world seems to have many more men than women, and it’s possible that the acceptability male homosexuality may be part of a social construct to accommodate that fact.
Finally, there are good arguments for the wizarding world being less comfortable with homosexuality than our world. If you assume mores as non-modern as their dress and technology, it’s hard to imagine that being gay would be considered remotely acceptable.
Who knew?
Was Dumbledore in the broom closet? Or is the final word on why Dumbledore was able to trust Snape’s good intentions because of his life-long love for Lily because he recognized in Snape the same longing he himself felt for his lost friend and apparent object of affection Grindelwald? Were Snape and Dumbledore able to trust each other in the war effort because they both had secret, affection-based grief?
Why does it matter?
What’s fantastic about Dumbledore being a gay character is that he is neither the ultimate role model nor a villain. He’s just a man with good intentions, vicious flaws, a huge Machiavellian streak, a bevy of eccentricities, and a brilliant mind. It’s not his job in the Harry Potter series to be the gay character, he just happens to be gay. And while I’ve often wanted to slap Dumbledore throughout the course of this series, it thrills me to see my community represented in these beloved books as just part of a huge, eclectic and difficult tapestry. Because while Dumbledore’s character is often about message, the only message this revelation really adds to the list is that being gay is just one of those ordinary things.
I’ve said virtual thanks to JK Rowling many times. Tonight she gets one more. Thanks, JKR!
~~~~~~~~~`
Racheline is the author of The Book of Harry Potter Trifles, Trivias and Particularities. She is also a professional actor.
You can find all of Racheline's Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fan articles at www.gather.com/scififan
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Comments: 57
Interesting thought though.
Also, a friend pointed out that lots of people are going to claim Dumbledore's a pedophile, because he was single, an older man who spent lots of time with Harry privately. Don't know if I agree with that, but I definitely think the announcement of JK was unnecessary. She should have put it in one of the books if it was that important.
Jessie, this explains why she said it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071020/ap_on_en_ot/books_harry_potter
It is what is. Intolerance is crap, according to Jesus, Voltaire, and J.K. Rowling.
She didn't just blurt out "Dumbledore's GAY!" apropos of nothing; she was asked about him finding his true love. And she said he had, he was gay, and his love was Gellert Grindelwald, who had turned evil and whom Dumbeldore was forced to kill. It explains why maybe he wasn't so keen on finding another true love.
As far as how that knowledge impacts his roles in the story. It seems that Dumbledore was especially good as recoginizing pain in others, in valuing the Other, and in rejecting many ignorant stereotypes. His being gay and losing love are very understandable motivators for those aspects of his personality. Having learned (if the magical world is anything like the muggle one) what it is like being on the other side of those issues. At least that's my perspective.
once we read the later embroidery, we can see where she had planted a seed. i just wonder, in this age of instant media, how much we expect from the TEXT of a book, and how much we integrate into the story, based on later information?
and where does this lead future readers? i often wish that her embroidery was within the text - there are so many out of the book cues that are important to the story - or how we understand the story! i wish, for future readers, that they were incorporated within.
if my true love had been so very evil, i'd have shied away from love, too. but where does that leave hope?
I'm happy that Rowling made sexual orientation something that was just there. In real life it's one of many things that defines a person's character. I'm always confused when people are identified by their ethnicity or sexual orientation. I'm a straight white male and I never hear people like me mentioned like "Nippy Katz, straight white male."
As for Dumbledore being a pedophile, ridiculous. He showed nothing but respect for the students at his school and he always sent Harry to his dormitory after their meetings.
I must say that to my mind this makes the Potter Puppet Pals more entertaining than ever, especially when Dumbledore shows up naked in some of them.
Now I must go check out Mugglenet. I'll bet all those uptight teeny boppers are having a field day with this, the first really interesting news since Deathly Hallows was published.
I don't find Rat and Mole or Bert and Ernie frightening. How could I? They're very engaging characters who wouldn't hurt a fly. Stories about animals always have a human parallel. Shouldn't say always. I've just never seen one.
I remember my mother's reaction to TWITW after reading it to me. She wouldn't explain why it bothered her. I was 4 so it didn't matter to me. She answered my question. When I read it to my daughter I realized why it upset my mother. It didn't upset me.
And on a positive note, I understand Harvey Fierstein will be trying out for the role in the next movie: "I just wanna capture Voldemort, is that so wroooooong?"
Nice article, by the way.
This is another example of her HAVING to explain things AFTER the fact. If it's not in the book it is not important. With a book as filled full of continuity mistakes as 7 and contradictory explinations I've found myself beyond caring about this series anymore except to bash such a shoddy piece of work. It has went from being one of my favorite series to one of my most loathed. ALL because of her continuity and contradictory bits in this single book, and now when she explains yet more things in an interview I find myself caring less and less.
Out of the tons of books I've read not one has had even a 1/4 of the mistakes as book 7 has. In a series that has as many editorial and authorial mistakes as this series does, when the very last book has more than the previous 6 combined...well I just can't get worked up about anything the writer says anymore.
A cursious thing I've noticed: two of the most renowned wizards in literature have to be Albus Dumbledore and Gandalf the Grey/White. Dumbledore, we know have learned, was gay. Gandalf's signature portrayal in cinema was by Ian McKellan, an openly gay actor.
On odd coincidence that reinforces your premise, Racheline, that its just one of those ordinary things.
While looking up this news on Google, found comments like, "I don't care; I love these books anyway!" Must go throw up now.
... then I'd probably have enough for my next certification exam.
As usual Racheline, your writing is always compelling.
The galleys are back, but it is a three book deal, so I will talk about it in the next one. That said, the piece I wrote in it about Snape as the Lady of the Lake to Dumbledore's Merlin comes off reaaaaaaally differently now.
I'm not sure I get your last sentence, but it seems to be related to your "popular kids" comment. I hadn't thought about that, either, but you may be right. That could be an interesting follow-up question to her.
"GATHER Discusses Tolerance," a new group at nohate.gather.com .
I think, rather, that being a series originally directed at children and youth, sexuality was left in the background. Dumbledore is not celibate because he is gay. He is depicted sans sexual complications because it is not what the story is about!
Dumbledore: A Lovely Outing, By Mark Harris
I think it is kind of funny how even in what most pople would consider a 'childrens book' there is always more adult issues once your scrape the surface and really look into things.
You did a fabulous job breaking it all down though!
=)
JKR said in an appearance at Carnegie Hall in response to a question by a fan that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay. I think the author gets final say in these matters.