Character Assassination

[Dee Savoy]

Dumbledore is gay and I'm annoyed as hell. I have to admit I haven't read one page of one Harry Potter book. I've bought 'em all and my kids love them. I've seen some of the movies and even bought the damn DVDs. One year we went to a Harry Potter party with my kids dressed as Hermoine and Harry--complete with capes wand and a pair of busted glasses. Even Mama went in costume though I'd be hard pressed to tell you exactly what I was. I tell you this so you know I don't mind Pottermania, even though I don't indulge. I think the kids are terrific characters who stand up for each other, what they believe in and their school. But I do mind at this late stage of the game finding out that one of the major characters is not what I thought he was. Not that there's anything wrong with Dumbledore being gay. It's the timing that stinks. It seems like now that the last book is (ahem) coming out there needs to be some sort of controversy to sell the title. Midnight parties have become passe so now we need something else to give the final tome some juice. That's the conclusion I come to since, to my limited knowledge, Dumbledore's sexual preference has never been alluded to before. Maybe I was imagining things, but while I was watching the first movie, I'd have sworn a hook-up between Richard Harris's and Maggie Smith's was probably in the offing. Maybe that's my own preference speaking. As I have said, I'm no Potter expert. But if the Pottermaniacs had any clue before now of Dubledores sexuality, folks wouldn't be shocked now to find out. What bothers most is it smacks (in my mind) of an author manipulating her characters to suit her plot or other needs rather than being true to the character himself. Not fair. For all you people keeping abreast of the books--am I right or wrong in my assessment? Is this just a plot device or is Rowling being true to her creation?

[John Dishon]

Who said it was important? All I'm saying is, maybe it was alluded to in the story. I haven't read the books either, so I don't know. But I don't think the announcement was used to sell books, because the books would sell by themselves.

[L.J. Sellers]

John, I assume you're not talking directly to me, but in Dee's defense, I have to say that announcing character traits after everyone has read the book is a little weird. It's like saying, "Oh, by the way, Zeke is missing two of his fingers, that's why he always kept his hands in his pockets." If it's important, why not tell readers during the story? For the record, I'm not annoyed by the outing. I find it mostly amusing

[John Dishon]

If you haven't read it, how do you know that his sexual preferences hadn't been alluded to before? And the last book definitely did not need anything exterior to its own existence to get it to sell. It would have sold millions even if nothing happened during the entire book.

[L.J. Sellers]

Hi
I've never read the books either, but the after-the-fact characterization seems manipulative. But when you're the richest woman in the UK, you can get away with it.