Is anyone else dismayed that the character Albus Dumbledore, from the Harry Potter books, is gay?

Question

I am so tired of everyone being politcally correct. I will not jump up and down and applaud Rowlings announcement. In my opinion, Rowling should have left Dumbledore's sexuality up to the imaginations of the readers. I'm curious, are there alot of other Harry Potter fans that would rather not have known this info?

Answer 1

I don't see why it mattered. His love life had no impact on the story. I think it was a publicity stunt to get more attention--as if she needed that.

Answer 2

You haven't been asked to applaud the announcement. However, the fact that the subject disturbs you is indicative of far you need to go in accepting differences amongst us all. When all is said and done, Dumbledore is only a character in a book.
Would it bother you if you heard JK Rowling was gay?
How do you feel about "Alice in Wonderland"? Are you also bothered about this theme?

Answer 3

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, but to be honest it doesn't bother me either way! I never really thought about Dumbledore's sexual preferences - I was always far too caught up in the plot of the book. However, now that she's announced it, I can see how it might fit in. I'm not fussed - I found it interesting for about 5 minutes and then stopped thinking about it altogether.

Answer 4

I am not dismayed. I don't think that JKR has an agenda, or is seeking more publicity.

According to the story I read, she had told the writer of the screenplay for HBP that Dumbledore was gay because there was mention of a female love interest in the screenplay and she had to set them right. Having done that, she might as well have made it public, since it would have eventually come out anyway--she could control when and how it was done. and in any case, this story came out because she was directly asked if Dumbledore loved anyone.

Throughout the series, we know Dumbledore as a tireless and seemingly single-minded fighter against Dark Wizards (at least from Harry's perspective; we do have to remember that Albus is also a great teacher, an alchemist, and important theoretical Wizard--remember the tools and instruments he made himself). But how did Albus become that way?

We learn much about this in DH, with Arianna's story, Aberforth's story and the story of the friendship between Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. In reading DH, it was clear that Grindelwald seduced Dumbledore on a number of levels; intellectually, ideologically, and, by JKR's new revelation, emotionally. We don't know if that seduction was sexual as well, and I'm not sure it is important for us to know.

The revelation completes the picture for us of a man who felt betrayed, injured by one he loved, ashamed at how far he went from rational thought and behavior, how far he really was from what he thought he was.

The up shot is that we now know more completely Dumbledore's motivations for fighting Dark Wizards--his shame at his own tangential contribution to Grindelwald's career, his reluctance to fight him, and, when Voldemort rose, his determination to not to repeat his prior mistake of inaction and to fight Voldemort from the start.

So in summery, It was part of the way JKR viewed Dumbledore and understood him. I don't think it was something that would have come out voluntarily--more likely something that would have made a scholarly article 50 or 60 years from now after she was gone and literary scholar had access to her full notes (assuming she left them to be investigated).

BTW, there is some inkling of this in DH, where Rita Skeeter talks about devoting a chapter in her book about Dumbledore to the Dumbledore/Harry relationship. This is not to say that there was anything improper--but that JKR did put out a hint.

wl

Answer 5

I don't care either ways about Dumbledore's sexuality.

JKR's revelation dis surprise me, but in hindsight it does add up. I think a series which has dwelt so heavily on choice, diversity, tolerance and acceptance, it is quite apt that one of the leading characters has a background. I'm totally OK with knowing Dumbledore's sexuality.

Answer 6

It's fine by me. It's her story and she can tell the whole world.

But I think the media should not have made it bigger than it really is. In our country, it was even on the "Breaking News!". This does not exactly call for a change in economy or drastic plans for the country.. and younger kids who flip through the channels adore Harry Potter and of course will want to see what the news is about.

Dumbledore is okay gay. Alot of communities will probably be thrilled on JK's move with coming out for him. I also think that alot of negative reviews will also pop out. But hey, any news is publicity right?

Answer 7

Um no. I love that the writer let it be known. She created the characters for these books and the more info is announced about any character in the series the more I'd like to hear. It makes things interesting :)

Answer 8

Oh, who cares? Dumbledore is a great educator, and he doesn't bring his sex life into his relationship with his students, just as he should.

If his author wants to bring it up, that's her perogative. (-: Burned books still have to be bought from some where. It's probably a canny move on her part.

As for me, it really doesn't make the slightest difference in how I read the books.

Answer 9

i was shocked when i first read abut it. i didnt even believe it at first since i just read it in a tabloid. but then i got over it. it doesnt really matter anyway. unless rowling makes a book about the guy, then it wont really matter. i think this little bit of info is interesting because, lets face it, who ever thought of dumbledore as gay? yet it seems oddly unsurprising. come to think of it, it never was mentioned any love interest of his. and even snape has one! but on the downside, it somehow taints his image. lets be honest here, all of us somehow have some sort of prejudice against gays and all that lot. the same applies to the fictitious dumbledore.
but inspite of his being gay, he's still a great person.

Answer 10

This is just the dumbest thing I've ever heard. We all watched all the movies, read all the books and there was no inkling of this being a "gay" character....and you can't rewrite them later into being something they never were...but someone persuaded her she needed to show some kind of consideration of gays and that's how she did it.

What she didn't realize that in doing that she was offending a lot of people....but at this point why should she care. Even "Harry Potter" was confused by it.