Why I do care about Dumbledore's sexuality and you should too
27th February 2018
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A few weeks ago The National Student published an article entitled 'I'm not interested in Dumbledore's sexuality and Harry Potter fans shouldn't be either', arguing that Dumbledore's sexuality is irrelevant to the new Fantastic Beasts movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald, set to be released in November. Now as we are fans of seeing both sides of the story here at The National Student, I'm here to tell you why I think that not referencing Dumbledore's sexuality explicity is an act of cowardice on the part of JK Rowling and the team involved in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
I am part of the Harry Potter generation. I was born the year before the first book was released and by the time the final book was published in 2007, I was 11 years old. I watched every movie as it was released, and when Fantastic Beasts came out in 2016, I went to the midnight showing in town with my friends. All this is to say, that I am a huge Harry Potter fan and JK Rowling has been an idol of mine for many years.
However I can't say I've been thrilled with the way that she has retconned details into the Harry Potter canon long after the series has ended. It's all well and good wanting to keep the magic alive, and as a writer, I know that we know far more details about our characters than we reveal on page. However, if you are not willing to live up to your word when it comes down to it, then you have no business adding those details in. This is exactly what has happened with Dumbledore's sexuality.
Likely, when Rowling revealed in 2007 that Dumbledore was gay, she never thought anything would come of it. The books were finished, and as it wasn't included in the books, it wouldn't be in the remaining movies, so she didn't need to worry about it. Until now.
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