Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Dumbledore is a homosexual

When I heard that J.K. Rowling announced that she "always thought Dumbledore was gay," it didn't really mean anything to me. Having read all the books, I could see how she could fit that opinion into the story, but clearly, her statement is irrelevant, since it wasn't in the body of the text. Also, sexuality in the series is largely absent, if at all present. I can remember some adolescent curiosity implied in some of the later books, but it isn't a major part of the story or part of any theme.

It's not inappropriate for Rowling to specify Dumbledore's sexual orientation outside the body of her work, and I have to praise her for standing up against bigotry by making an admirable protagonist a homosexual, but the point seems totally irrelevant. It should be as irrelevant as if she were to elaborate on the sexual practices of other characters in the series, gay or straight, but the sad fact is that her action isn't irrelevant; she has used her position to take a stand to fairly represent homosexuals. In so many media, homosexual representation is, if even present, quite often negative.

The idea that her statement could change a reading of the book is outright absurd, because there aren't depictions of any sex in the book.

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