Harry Potter fans.....?

Question

Am I the only one that didn't see Dumbledore being gay. Nothing wrong w/it but I just didn't come to that conclusion. For the longest I even thought that it would've been reveiled that he was Harry's Grandfather or Great Grandfather. If someone else saw it explain it to me please. I think its a ploy to pull extra sells for her books. What are your opinions?

(yes i'm a grown person who read all seven harry potter books...because i liked them not to screen them before my kids read them)

Answer 1

I don't see how his sexual preferance makes any difference one way or the other. I already have all the books, and knowing this little factoid neither makes me want to buy more of them, nor get rid of the ones I have.

Answer 2

I've read all of the Harry Potter books at least twice and I've seen all of the movies so far. I don't think that J.K. rowling should have said that Dumbledore was gay. I don't really think it had to do with the plots of any of the books and shouldn't have been said It was sort of a let down, I thought that he might have had a wife that died and now that I think about it, it would have been really interesting if he turned out to be Harry's grandfather. Although, J.k. Rowling has written some amazing books and she has the right to say that
Dumbledore's gay.

Answer 3

There were never any clues in the book to even remotely suggest that Dumbledore was gay.

You missed no signs because none were there.

Oh, sure, people are saying that they knew it all the time based on some stuff in the books.

For example, he was never married. Well if that premise is used to determine a person's sexuality in the book, then a whole lot of others were gay too.

He wore loud, colored clothes. If Rowling used that as an indication for someone being gay, then she was being very stereotypical.

He put a bonnet on his head. And he was quite tipsy too.

He spoke of Grindelwald in a passionate way. Dumbledore was passionate about everything he did. To take his statement in book 7, "His [Grindelwald's] ideas inflamed me," as an indication that he was referring to Grindelwald in a romantic, gay kinda way is ridiculous. Grammar tells us that "ideas" is the the subject that is related to the verb inflamed. Grindelwald is not the subject. His ideas inflamed Dumbledore, not Grindelwald himself.

So no matter what Rowling says, there were no outward signs.

And if she called herself dropping subtle hints throughout the books, then that makes her more of a hypocritical git than when she announced that Dumbledore was gay.

Answer 4

I was surprised too! At first when I heard about it, I thought that it was saying that the actor is gay, not Dumbledore. Lame, I know. But I don't really care. I love Dumbledore anyway and to me it doesn't matter if he's straight or gay. He's so wise and just awesome! I read all 7 books, but I thought that the last one was best because it revealed so many mysteries and it was cool. The truth is, I still liked the 1st actor better than the 2nd one as Dumbledore, and I was a lot more surprised when I found out that he died than when I found out about Dumbledore. =)

Answer 5

I never thought of it one way or the other. I mean, so his personal life was never really mentioned in great detail, not even that much in the last book, but there is a reason the books are called Harry Potter. Because everyone else is a secondary character, in my opinion, so really, it shouldn't matter regardless. I do not know if it is a ploy to sell more books. I mean, they have already broken records and she is already a billionare. I dont know why she said it now of all times, but I think that even if you re-read the books 100 more times, you wouldn't come to the conclusion that he was gay. Not like it matters anyway if he was or wasn't, its just irrelevant to the plot.

Answer 6

Dumbledore being gay does not change anything about his character or the plot. Personally, I don't understand why there has been such a huge uproar at this news, or why it has been getting so much media attention.
Also, J.K. Rowling did not say this in an attempt to sell more books. She only said this in response to a specific question from a fan.

Answer 7

I am a bit bemused at some of the things that you and others have said about it, and JKR's alleged motivations.

I don't think that JKR has an agenda, or is seeking more publicity. I think it speaks to the popularity of the series and the amount of emotional energy that fans have put into the books, that it became a big story.

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.

Also, JKR had said before DH was published that Dumbledore and Harry were not closely related.

wl

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/10...

Answer 8

No, I did not realize that he was gay however it is irrelevant to the story so to me it does not make any difference. There apparently has been a rumour about this for a while so I do not believe that it was a ruse to sell more books personally. I doubt that it will create additional sales.

Answer 9

I saw the whole "Dumbledore being gay" as a possibe attempt at bringing attention back to the books, as well. It seemed as if Rowling wanted to place something else on her books besides the eternal awesomeness of the series. By making Dumbledore gay, she seems to be pointing out to readers that gay is good. I am not argueing, but I believe that everyone has his or her own opinion on any and everything. She is using her book as a political/social missile to advocate homosexuality.
Once again, if a person supports homosexuality, it is in his or her own interest. But I see her contemplating how to alter someone's mind by totally catching them off guard; it's almost funny.
A test subject reads Harry Potter, loves the whole series, but does not support homosexuality. Suddenly, the icon of all that is good, Dumbledore is revealed to be gay. Now the test subject ponders "Heh, well, I guess homosexuality is dandy!"
That is what I see as the objective of revealing Dumbledore as gay.
What actually peeves me more than anything is that she did not let readers discover on their FREAKING OWN! Dumbledore could have been a great literary figure! His role ambiguous, and his relationship with the other wizard would of course be questioned along the way. Rowling just had to label her readers as stupid and remove all interest. I feel as if I understand Dumbledore so much, I am not nearly as interested as I once was.

Answer 10

for one, rowling posted on her website a about a year or so ago that harry and dumbledore had no blood relationship whatsoever; nor was dumbledore harry or ron from the future coming to give the "guidance." and second, yea, i wasn't that surprised. rowling actually explained in her press release that early on she had decided that dumbledore would be gay. in the books, if you remember, dumbledore and grindelwald were planning things "for the greater good." obviously, some might be questioning why dumbledore would do such a thing; it was because he was in love with grendelwald. love blinds us sometimes to what's rite in front of our nose, and just as we see their traps... we're already falling into them.

rowling: "dumbledore's love was his greatest tragedy."

Answer 11

I had no idea either!!! I mean it goes on about him liking knitting and stuff but I just thought he was a little onld man who was in touch with his feminine side...after all who's heard of a 'macho' old wizard man??