. . . but the first thing that I thought when I heard the news that Dumbledore "is" gay was: what bullshit! J.K. Rowling recently balked at the idea of a subtext (he he) of romance between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. (I live with someone who should rightly be awarded an honorary Ph.D. in Potterology, and she believes in Remus/Sirius love. If she says it's there, it's there!) Also, if you've read Book 7, you know that she ended the series in a triumphant, sticky burst of heteronormativity. Finally, as SLY B's mom wisely said, who outs a dead guy? Oh, and *SPOILER ALERT*.
Is Rowling trying to recoup a bit? Did someone in her life point all this stuff out to her? What made her decide to tattoo a retroactive rainbow flag on Dumbledore's rump?
Don't get me wrong, I dig Prof. Dumbledore. If he's a friend of Dorothy, I say right on! But why didn't she write it into the story if she has no qualms about getting into it now? Why did she have such a negative reaction to the idea of Remus & Sirius?
Just asking . . .
1 comment:
Even if she did think of it beforehand (which I doubt at this moment) it was totally the easy way out. Make the asexual character the gay guy (he's dead too, so that's convenient). If Sirius and Remus' coupling had been in the text, they were both at a sexual active stage of life (obviously, cuz Remus had a baby right away when he hooked up with Tonks). Sure it's a children's book, but we do see some sexuality come through when characters have crushes, kiss, get pregnant, want a secluded cottage for their newlywed stage, or even when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have to say their passwords in front of Harry and Mrs. Weasley's is the name that Mr. Weasley calls her when they are alone (safe word?). Yes, we know that people in their older years of life also have sex, but we like to imagine that they don't. Also, making his one true love the guy that he knew at 18 and then ruined the rest of his amorous life, is still a way to make homosexuality safe - after all fags are ok, it's the acts they perform that aren't, right? I'm still convinced Remus and Sirius were together. I know a few people who were once gay, but end up in a het relationship. We know Sirius was hot and the ladies loved him, but he didn't seem to into the ladies...
Still, it's nice to think that Dumbledore was queer - it's easy to picture Professor McGonagle as his hag.
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