Thursday, October 25, 2007

Really...? I mean, is that really necessary?

For all the Harry Potter fans out there, myself included, do we really need to know that Albus Dumbledore is gay? I mean...really, does it change anything? Does it change how we see Dumbledore and Harry's relationship? It doesn't and it shouldn't. My brother sent me this link and I have to say, I completely agree with the author. It's just another tidbit, another detail about a character but after the fact...does it really matter that much? If it was such an important part of the story, it would have been included in the original plot. Because sexuality is such a politically charged topic, I feel like J.K. Rowling is exploiting the sexuality of her characters a bit. (Wait....can you actually exploit a fictional character??? whatever...let's just go with if for a minute here). It's almost like she can feel she's running out of Harry Potter steam. She's written all seven books, she's "finished" the series (that's actually debatable) the story is over. There isn't any more uncertainty, suspense for the next installment. People are no longer asking, is Snape really evil? Will Ron and Hermione ever get together? will Harry survive or will he be forced to sacrifice himself? We know the answers to these questions. So maybe she's trying to find a way to keep people interested in the story. Maybe that's me being a little cynical but so be it. She's already said that she's not going to write anymore Harry Potter books, but could it be that she doesn't have any other ideas? Or maybe she just can't let go. She's said that she's going to write a "Character Encyclopedia". Give information and the histories of some of the other, secondary characters. I'm sure it will be a big hit but it seems a little cheap to me. Why can't she just be proud of the body of work she's produced? She wrote 7, rather entertaining books. Can't she just leave it at that? It's not like she needs the money. The woman is already more wealthy than the Queen of England, it's not like she's struggling to make ends meet. The epilogue of the book lets us all know how everyone ended up let's just leave it at that. Or like the author of the article said, let our imaginations fill in any holes that we each see. That's what fiction is supposed to be. That's why we read fiction. A good author gives their reader enough details to make their characters human but enough holes so we, as readers, can fill in the blanks in such a way so we can relate to them on a more personal level. My Harry Potter is different from yours. The way I see Dumbledore is different from the way you see Dumbledore but that's the beauty of fiction...this is sort of digressing into my thesis, so I will stop before I get carried away.

2 comments:

The Rooster said...

Well said, dear sister. Well said. You make a great point about each individual interpreting the characters for themselves - no one sees them the same way. I completely agree.

Damien Stepick said...

I have been saying that Harry is gay for a few years now... and there you have it... Dumbledore and Harry... an odd gay couple, but a gay couple non-the-less.

I'm happy J.K. backed me up on this one.