Rowling Outs Dumbledore

carnation · #1 10-20-2007, 11:29 AM

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/st...00010000000001

LOL. Odd that she outed him after the series was completed!

AlwaysSAI · #2 10-20-2007, 11:47 AM

Why does it matter if a character in a book series is gay?? Who cares? It's not even a real person......some figment of Rowling's imagination.

Then again, i never got into HP.

But, yeah, I saw it on the news this morning, too.

Tom Earp · #3 10-20-2007, 01:55 PM

Always on the cutting edge isn't she?

Oh, with scads of $$$$$$$

Drolefille · #4 10-20-2007, 02:27 PM

I think it's interesting, she didn't just pull it out of nowhere and it works with the plot of the books. It's just not something that you'd ever need to explicitly say in a novel. Nice.

Senusret I · #5 10-20-2007, 03:11 PM

It's pretty silly for an author to "out" a character in a book.

As a writer myself, I understand that when you're writing a series, you also have a "bible" that is sorta like the sourcebook for your characters. In this bible, you may not use EVERY single tidbit in your novels, but you write with those tidbits in your conscious mind.

But there comes a point where you have to commit to the ideas. If your series is written and it was never important enough -- in SEVEN books -- to say that Dumbledore was gay, then I think one should just allow the reader to come to their own conclusions.

It's quite possible to give any novel a "queer reading." It cheapens the work when the author does all the thinking for you.

sageofages · #6 10-20-2007, 07:31 PM

I always saw Dumbledore as sort of asexual in his sexual orientation.

Yes his gender was male...but in absence of any real relationship references I put him in the "never" category as it really didn't seem to be an important part of his character development.

TrojanWoman · #7 10-22-2007, 02:28 PM

I also didn't see how this information changed things in the books a great deal. I agree with sageofages that I saw Dumbledore as asexual. But the movies take a little bit more freedom with the story and I think it came up because JK didn't want them to show Dumbledore having a female love interest.

Drolefille · #8 10-22-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrojanWoman

I also didn't see how this information changed things in the books a great deal. I agree with sageofages that I saw Dumbledore as asexual. But the movies take a little bit more freedom with the story and I think it came up because JK didn't want them to show Dumbledore having a female love interest.

Realistically though I think we think of most elderly people as asexual. (Except Sue on the Sunday Night Sex Show!) We probably assume they're straight, but if they're single for whatever reason, there's not really any sexuality assumed.

texas*princess · #9 10-24-2007, 09:47 PM

I think she did it because her series is over and she's an attention-whore like some Hollywood starlets.

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! ONE OF MY CHARACTERS WAS GAY!

meh.. I never got into the whole HP thing. What was his mom smoking when she named her kid Dumbledore anyway?

Drolefille · #10 10-24-2007, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texas*princess

I think she did it because her series is over and she's an attention-whore like some Hollywood starlets.

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! ONE OF MY CHARACTERS WAS GAY!

meh.. I never got into the whole HP thing. What was his mom smoking when she named her kid Dumbledore anyway?

Lol, I just want to know how Lupin's parents knew he'd be a werewolf... or Sirius' parents knew he'd choose a dog as his animagi alter ego.

SydneyK · #11 10-24-2007, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texas*princess

What was his mom smoking when she named her kid Dumbledore anyway?

She married into that name; Dumbledore was his last name. His full name was Albus Percival Dumbledore. (Actually, I think there were a couple other names in there, but I don't remember what they were.)

MysticCat · #12 10-25-2007, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Lol, I just want to know how Lupin's parents knew he'd be a werewolf... or Sirius' parents knew he'd choose a dog as his animagi alter ego.

Well, what's the point in being magical if you don't have at least some hunches about what will turn out to be appropriate names for your kids.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyK

She married into that name; Dumbledore was his last name. His full name was Albus Percival Dumbledore. (Actually, I think there were a couple other names in there, but I don't remember what they were.)

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Trivia point: JKR has said that she derived some of the "magical structure" of the books from alchemy (starting with the Philosopher's stone). In alchemy, there are three stages:

nigredo (blackening): individuation, purification, burnout of impureness;
albedo (whitening): spiritualization, enlightenment
rubedo (reddening): unification of man with God, unification of the limited with the unlimited.

Note that the three stages are reflected in the names of three major charecters -- nigredo (Sirius Black), albedo (Albus Dumbledore), and rubedo (Rubeus Hagrid).