Out of the closet and into the Fiendfyre
Oct. 22nd, 2007 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI'm sure that anyone who cares (and probably many of you who don't) know that J.K. Rowling has brought Dumbledore out of the closet. And, of course, there's been some negative reaction to this. I don't, as a general rule, read Harry Potter fan forums, but the one Yahoo list I'm on has had people saying that it was a bad idea for Rowling to bring sex into things. Except, well, she hasn't. She said Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald, not "Dumbledore did Grindelwald up the butt while jerking him off with his wand." And people never seem to have the same objections to characters being "outed" as STRAIGHT. I mean, Harry himself had a crush on one girl, fell in love with another, and eventually got married and had children. I'd say we have a pretty clear indication as to HIS sexual orientation, but I guess that's okay, since it's the good one, right? It reminds me of when Eric Shanower wrote his short story "Abby," featuring the twins from The Shaggy Man of Oz. There's no hint in that book as to their sexual orientation, but Eric had Twink (the girl) get married and have kids, while Tom (the boy) had an unsuccessful relationship with another man. People complained that Eric made Tom gay, but didn't seem to have the same objection to his making Twink straight. The implication seems to be that anything even hinting at same-sex relationships is dirty and should be avoided (especially by kids), even if it's no more (or even less) explicit than something involving a heterosexual relationship. Why? Apparently primarily because some people follow religions that forbid homosexuality, and not only do they insist on enforcing their principles on people who don't hold the same beliefs, but also think that kids are going to want to imitate Dumbledore and fall in love with an evil wizard of the same sex. Or something like that.
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Date: 2007-10-22 01:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 06:18 pm (UTC)No, wait, that's Tinky Winky. Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts (well, for the first several books, anyway).
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Date: 2007-10-22 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 11:22 pm (UTC)I think that was in the Anne RIce version of Harry Potter.
Apparently primarily because some people follow religions that forbid homosexuality, and not only do they insist on enforcing their principles on people who don't hold the same beliefs, but also think that kids are going to want to imitate Dumbledore and fall in love with an evil wizard of the same sex.
Well, this morning I made a snide remark to my business partner about Republicans, and he claims that us Democrats are ruining the moral fiber of this country. To which I replied, that the Reps didn't have a monopoly on moral values. Anyone mention Larry Craig? So, he proceeded to tell me that Larry Craig's situation is different because even though he was caught in a sting, it's not as though he goes around campaigning for rights for homosexuals. Meaning, it's better that he's a hypocrite than out of the closet. WTF?????
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Date: 2007-10-23 05:49 pm (UTC)Why the prohibition against homosexuality is so much more important to fundamentalists than any of the rest of Mosaic law is beyond me, anyway.
See: Otto Von Bismarck and Sausage
Date: 2007-10-23 10:22 pm (UTC)It does seem single-minded, but I have a theory about it. I won't go into it.
In re: Larry Craig. Don't be fooled about politicians - they are forced to vote for an advocate for stuff they don't believe in all the time. It's part of the job. That idea that they live a life and have a moral code which they act out in their legislative duties isn't true, because politics doesn't function that way at all. He could be a gay guy and still not feel it's good public policy, or feel his party loyalty is a larger principle than whether or not his forays into gay sex are legal.
His hypocrisy occurred when he pretended later he wasn't looking for a BJ, not that he has sex with men but doesn't support gay rights. I don't support the right to go 100 mph on the highway, although I'd reeally like to, and that doesn't make me a hypocrite. Same thing with gay rights - why should some demographic fact about him dictate all his opinions? (Don't flame me for equating the two; I know they are not at the same level of social import.)
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Date: 2007-10-22 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-23 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-23 08:31 am (UTC)I adore you.
"Dumbledore did Grindelwald up the butt while jerking him off with his wand."
She didn't say that, but lo and behold it's been written enough times. By people like me, Oh God.
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Date: 2007-10-23 05:53 pm (UTC)I adore you.
Thanks.
"Dumbledore did Grindelwald up the butt while jerking him off with his wand."
She didn't say that, but lo and behold it's been written enough times. By people like me, Oh God.
Well, I hope it was at least said in a slightly classier way. Although with some of the fan-fiction out there, I wouldn't be too sure of that.