Monday, October 22, 2007

Gay, You Say...


So, J.K. Rowling came out this weekend at a fan convention and stated that Albus Dumbledore was gay.

Dave, over at BadArt has a good post on the subject.

I have a couple of thoughts on the subject:

1. I think it's debatable. Sure, she's the writer, and she created him, so it's largely her call. But she didn't include it in the text, so as the reader, I can make up whatever I want. I made this point over at Badart, if J.D. Salinger came out today and said Holden Caulfield's problems came from him being a closeted homosexual, I think that would be debated.

I've disagreed with artists on their own work before. George Lucas altered a moment in Star Wars 'A New Hope,' when, in the re-release, he had Han Solo firing second, in response to Greedo firing first, in the cantina scene. The original has Solo firing first, under the table, killing Greedo before he has a chance to fire. He stated that he never thought Solo would fire first, that was to cold-blooded for a character like Han Solo. First, Lucas contradicts himself within the movie. Han Solo plans to shoot down a Tie-Fight later, when the pilot has not fired on him. Second, he diminishes Solo's journey from scoundrel pirate to self sacrificing hero, betraying himself as an artist who may not understand his own work.

2. The actor playing Dumbledore has only now been given this information.
"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... [laughter]. I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, "Dumbledore's gay!"
An actor can waste alot of time trying to figure out what history a writer was thinking about for the character they are playing. I say waste because you can often never know. The actor must choose for themselves, and the best actors create a strong back story for themselves. What the writer intended may not always elicite the strongest performance from an actor. They change it to suit their performance. Sometimes this is called, personalizing your character. If Dumbledore being gay helps? Great, use it. If not, throw it out. At this point, other than specific script stuff, I'm not sure it matters at all to the actor who will play him.

3. If Dumbledore being gay is important, than why leave it out? Obviously, it would hurt books sales. Or, probably it wouldn't. But it would have created controversy, and maybe she just didn't want to deal with it. Anyway, she left it out, despite it's seeming importance. She has avoided a controversy, but she has also avoided the potential for making a rather significant, positive cultural impact. I fear that this indicates a weakness in her writing.

I believe that Sci-Fi and Fantasy can inform, influence, describe and positively affect us, just as any art form can. I'm pretty sure, the first interracial television kiss was on Star Trek. This had an impact, forcing viewers to think about the subject. The recent Marvel Comics story line, Civil War, which some of you may have heard of, led to the death of Captain America and the permanent unmasking of Spiderman. What I found most exciting , and enjoyed best, about the series is it examination of our post 9/11 world.

(Quickly, a fight between super people leads to an explosion and the death of over 600, normal men, women and children. This begins a movement to get superpeople to register with the government or be classified as illegal vigilantes, thrown in a prison outside the U.S., without trial.)

Civil War wasn't a unique idea, but given my description above and moments like Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) placing an elongated hand on Iron Man shoulder and imploring him to, 'Stay the course,' it's comparisons and similarities to our current situation here and abroad is undeniable. And you know who is reading these comics, besides 33 year-old guys like me? Kids. Kids of all ages. Civil War takes a real, horrifying thing like 9/11 and the war in Iraq and places it into a form a child can access. Think about. Judge. Explore.

A book series as wildly popular as Harry Potter, creating and examining an openly gay character, could have introduced millions of children to the possibility that homosexuality isn't the plague it is sometimes made out to be. Those millions of kids would pass the book onto their children, as I will, and they would be given the opportunity to explore this subject.

It's to bad really. She's takes on classism, racism, death, murder, adolescence, adolescent sexuality, betrayal, the afterlife, school, the power of love and a few other worthy topics. Giving her young readers alot to mull over in their heads and chew on. It's unfortunate that she avoids this subject till it's to late to benefit them.

She may have sold less books, or gotten more crap from the extremists, but she also might have made an even bigger, more positive, difference by being brave enough to bring it up.

18 comments:

Foofa said...

The thing that got me was that I think (but I could be wrong) I read that she answered a question about if Dumbledore ever found true love with , "he's gay". To me this implies that gay people can't find real love or their perfect partner. It just didn't follow. It also just didn't make any sense. If it was that important why wasn't it included or at least alluded to?

Cap'n Ergo "XL+II" Jinglebollocks said...

Wow, that's really well thunk out. I wish I had the energy to tackle this issue, but I just don't. Thanks for doin' it for me!!

GETkristiLOVE said...

So, you need this t-shirt.

lulu said...

You know, I kind of thought he was when I was reading the last book, and for exactly the same reason that she cited--his relationship with Grindelwald when he is young--evidently she had amazingly detailed backstories for every character, no matter how briefly they show up in the books. If working that way allows her to create such well rounded characters, more power to her.

I don't think she was saying that he didn't find true love because he was gay, because she then said that falling in love blinds people and that Dumbledore's love for Grindelwald is his great tragedy, which to me implies that she believes in the value of his love.

Phil said...

Natalie - Yes, the rest of the answer is that he had loved someone and been blinded by love. Though, I do think it unfortunate that he never found it again.

Hot Lemon - My pleasure.

GetKristiLove - Totally.

Lulu - Yes, she writes and creates great characters, and I agree, I don;t think she meant that he couldn't find love because he was gay.

Geo said...

Nice post. Well-reasoned and good Civil War reference.

What throws me is the fact that it's all after the, um, fact. Kind of like when Ridley Scott came out years after Blade Runner did and said "oh, yeah, Deckard's definitely a replicant." While I still feel that was pretty random, at least it was a subject of debate. To pop in months after the story has run its course with this revelation is a little fuzzy.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. I haven't read the last book yet, so my opinion is uninformed, but I think it's a cop-out to announce that Dumbledore's gay outside the text of the books after the last book has been published. JKR gets to have her cake and eat it too: acclaim for having a prominent gay character, and no risk of hurting book sales or pissing anyone off by having the character actually be gay in the actual book.

Doc said...

I don't care if he is as queer as a (three dollar bill, cat fart, duck on stilts, insert your on phrase here), as long as he isn't a pedophile. An older wizard on young wizard scene would just be too much.

Doc

Cap'n Ergo "XL+II" Jinglebollocks said...

wow, lookit the dust in here... Kids got ya' busy?? :^)

Unknown said...

Not one new post all November long?

Anonymous said...

This blog sucks. I am offended by your pro homosexual views.

Doc said...

I totally understand you are busy with things at home, but when you get the chance, come on back. We miss you.

Doc

don'tneedtoknow said...

Hi Phil,

I haven't been here in a while. I'm sorry about that.

I'm with Lulu on this one. I wasn't shocked that Rowling said Dumbledore was gay because it's pretty obvious in book 7. She doesn't really come out and say he's gay, but the vibe Dumbledore puts out when he talks about his relationship with Grindelwald is not platonic. He sounds like he's talking about an old lover.

Rowling is not copping out. A good writer doesn't have to be obvious. Sometimes the most provocative literature is the most subtle. Dumbledore is reserved and immensely private. Making his sexuality a topic in the book would go against his character. Rowling doesn't make it an issue because Dumbledore wouldn't. It's that simple.

Greenman said...

Elizabeth - That's cool. I haven't been blogging or reading much lately either.

I'd argue that it wasn't obvious. Just by people reaction, most didn't make that assumption. I agree that Dumbldore wouldn't make it an issue, but that doesn't apply to the final book. He's not around, rumors are flying and a Tell-All book is published. For the topic not to be brought up in all the revealing Dumbledore backstory makes me think she intentionally avoided it and made a choice not to.

Greenman said...

Greenman is me. Phil.

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Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

It's a new year...time for a new post. You've been tagged.

Anonymous said...

You write very well.