What are the chances?
Imagine this. I’ve just taken over the Hogwarts Herald blog. So I write my first post, introducing myself to everyone and giving some ideas of my plans for this blog. I got some nice welcome messages from other bloggers, which was very much appreciated.
Go to bed. Wake up. Turn on Sunrise on Channel 7 for some Sunday morning entertainment.
Big headline: ‘Dumbledore Is Gay’.
I mean really - what are the chances?
As David Smith said in his Observer article: ‘There could hardly have been a bigger sensation if Russell Crowe, Rod Stewart or Sven-Goran Eriksson had come out of the closet.’
So how did it happen?
Back to David Smith’s article: ‘After reading briefly from her mega-selling book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, on Friday night, Rowling took questions from an audience of 1,600 students. A 19-year-old from Colorado asked about the avuncular headmaster of Hogwarts School: ‘Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?”
‘The author replied: ‘My truthful answer to you…I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.’ The audience reportedly fell silent - then erupted into prolonged applause.’
Apparently Dumbledore always had a thing for Grindelwald, whom he defeated when they were teenagers. Does this stike anyone else as a little odd? I mean, all things considered, and even after everything else that’s happened, the Harry Potter series is still a children’s series. Or at the very least, it started out that way. It just seems to me that JK is taking a bit of a risk here - there could possibly be a bit of a backlash from conservative parents. Though, that being said, I suppose conservative parents may have alraedy put their foot down about the whole ’satanic themes’ bit.
Anyway, this was the bit that interested me the most:
JK said: ‘Yeah, that’s how I always saw Dumbledore. In fact, recently I was in a script read-through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying, “I knew a girl once, whose hair…” I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, “Dumbledore’s gay!”‘
Weird. But kinda cool. Let me know what you think!
Now that we’re done dissecting Dumbledore’s love life, why not head over to the Pride and Opinions blog, and learn about The Differences Between Gender and Sexuality?
October 21st, 2007 at 9:35 am
Not a huge surprise. I suspected it while reading about his teenage relationship with Grindelwald and his interactions with his family during that time period.
October 21st, 2007 at 12:56 pm
When I first read this it took me by surprise for a moment or two. And then I thought about it. Really thought about Albus, and what we know about him and who he seems to be… and you know what? I’m not surprised. I’m sure there are a plethora of conservative parents out there who are just screaming that thisis just another reason to burn her books. Let’em… The entire series is themed on tolerance and I don’t see why sexuality should be any different. Dumbledore was a good man, and he was good to Harry, and the rest tof his students, and that is all that should matter…
October 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pm
[...] favorite new blogs here at 451 Press!!! Read the most recent entries for Pushing Daisies, and the Hogwarts Herald!!! Did You Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to Food TV. It’s Free! « Back Home Posted in General [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:10 am
[...] books in the HP series, though it didn’t take long to figure it out with all the impatient Potterites swarming the store and the coffee [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
[...] The Simpsons. by Richard Ristow By now, the whole world knows that, within the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore is gay. JK Rowling admitted so in public, and as such, it’s hit the news programs and the blogosphere [...]
October 27th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Where did you go?
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:13 am
[...] are growing. The characters grew. Hell, even the Headmaster was gay… That is one of the things I admire most about the work, Jo allowed the characters to grow. [...]