Adding my voice to the throng
Oct. 23rd, 2007 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charliesmumI wasn't going to do this, because, as usual, everyone has already spoken of this more elequently than I will, but I feel compelled to add my own thoughts on the whole Dumbledore thing.
I think the one thing that bugs me is the people who say, 'if he was gay, why didn't we know it in the books?' because...hello? CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Yes, I know people of all ages read them, and they had dark themes, blah blah blah, but at the end of the day, they are books for children, and the story did not leave room to discuss anyone's sexuality - at least beyond the teenager around whom the story revolved. And even then, we got kissing and that's it. (Actually I think its mostly Americans who think 'children's books' equal fluffy bunnies and candy canes and shallow problems, and that a children's series can't actually address real issues).
Not only that, it wasn't relevant to the story. It makes perfect sense to me that, while JKR wrote Dumbledore, she discovered he was gay. I'm sure if I were to re-read book 7, I'd find lots of subtext. (Actually![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carlanime did just that, but it's locked, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's pretty funny, though. Maybe she'll repost in the comments here.)
Also, as a wanna-be writer, I can totally get behind the idea of a character having a trait that never makes it into the book. Neil Gaiman talks about that brilliantly. Go check his blog, you'll see.
I suppose the only real quibble I might have is when she was asked if Dumbledore was ever in love she said 'he was gay' first, instead of just saying, 'yes, he was in love with Grindlewald.' because it almost sounds like she's saying he couldn't be in love because he was gay. However, we know from context that's what she meant, so I'm cool.
I think the one thing that bugs me is the people who say, 'if he was gay, why didn't we know it in the books?' because...hello? CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Yes, I know people of all ages read them, and they had dark themes, blah blah blah, but at the end of the day, they are books for children, and the story did not leave room to discuss anyone's sexuality - at least beyond the teenager around whom the story revolved. And even then, we got kissing and that's it. (Actually I think its mostly Americans who think 'children's books' equal fluffy bunnies and candy canes and shallow problems, and that a children's series can't actually address real issues).
Not only that, it wasn't relevant to the story. It makes perfect sense to me that, while JKR wrote Dumbledore, she discovered he was gay. I'm sure if I were to re-read book 7, I'd find lots of subtext. (Actually
carlanime did just that, but it's locked, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's pretty funny, though. Maybe she'll repost in the comments here.)Also, as a wanna-be writer, I can totally get behind the idea of a character having a trait that never makes it into the book. Neil Gaiman talks about that brilliantly. Go check his blog, you'll see.
I suppose the only real quibble I might have is when she was asked if Dumbledore was ever in love she said 'he was gay' first, instead of just saying, 'yes, he was in love with Grindlewald.' because it almost sounds like she's saying he couldn't be in love because he was gay. However, we know from context that's what she meant, so I'm cool.