Rowling, Potter, Dumbledore: Who Are They, Really?

Rowling goes to church...maybe she's a Christian?

Potter's character and story was rooted in two Scripture verses? *see below

Dumbledore is gay?

In a previous post where I reviewed the last book, I mentioned the significance of the Scriptures used in the story, and the similarities between Harry's sacrifical love in overcoming evil with good, and that of Jesus. It seems that Rowling was intentional in this similarity - you can read about it at this link http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572107/20071017/index.jhtml Here are two quotes from that article -

*While Rowling said that "Hogwarts is a multifaith school," these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents' message means "living beyond death. Living after death." It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

*"They're very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones," Rowling explained. "[But] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they sum up — they almost epitomize the whole series."

I have to say that I was very surprised to hear Rowling announce that Dumbledore is gay. Apart from Rowlings disclosure, no one could have proved that Dumbledore was gay, though some claim they wondered about it. Dubious, I think. And of course, now people are going back through and looking for hints that support this claim; the LA Times (10.23.07) ran an article on seven clues that Dumbledore is gay. Some in the gay community are claiming Dumbledore as their hero, praising Rowling for her courage to insert a gay man into such a noble and famous position of influence on young children; the LA Times (10.22.07) printed a story asserting as much (along with many other newspapers - see links at bottom of post). Some in the gay community are diappointed by this revelation - the timing and the thinnes of the character's gayness; and Christians opposed to the series anyways have another piece of ammunition to add to their arsenal of arguments.

Here's my take on it, on why Dumbledore is the ideal Christian gay man, and why the gay community can't claim him.
Dumbledore was chaste.
Dumbledore's love of another man was his downfall.
Dumbledore remained committed to chastity in his life, in his school; he committed to righting his wrongs and convincing others to overcome evil with good and love.

Rowling is clever, but I still haven't heard a good reason for why she made this announcement now. Some denounce her for cowardness in not revealing it before the final book came out, accusing her of crass marketing ploys. Others praise her savviness, recognizing that this kind of announcement made too soon could have hurt record sales. It seems that Rowling has known for awhile that part of her background character plot required Dumbledore to be gay, but it is also clear that his being gay was not part of the actual plot.

But since so much Christian and Scriptural influence is imbedded in both the plot and the characters, is it possible that Rowling introduced the most famous gay man in literary history that was chaste and apolitical - influenced by Jesus' singleness, betrayal, temptations, love of men, and willingness to live and die for others? Could it be that Rowling imagined a way for millions of gay men to follow the way of Jesus which includes -amongst many other things - choosing chastity on purpose? Did she create a character to inspire gay men to follow the royal law like Jesus, but to deflect focus from their sexual orientation and instead insist on overcoming evil with good and love for neighbor?

Things aren't always what they seem...


Here are some links on this story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm

http://www.thestar.com/search?&q=dumbledore&r=

http://www.newsweek.com/id/50787/page/1

http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2007/10/reassessments_dumbledore_comes.html

Last Night (well...more like early this morning) I Finished Reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If you've not yet read the book, then don't read this post.

It's a good book...good not meaning an average, acceptable book, but good in the profound sense.

There is lots of death in the book, it was hard to accept...except that the author intentionally brought the issue of death to the forefront of the whole story.

Two major pieces of Scripture become central to Harry's understanding of how to complete his task. And some significant Christian theology themes take centre stage: the one who dies for others also has had evil placed upon him, thus when he dies, the evil power begins to weaken; the one who dies this death is brought back to life to complete the victory of justice and mercy over wickedness and cruelty; a trinity of friends are bound together to complete the task of overcoming evil with good; the journey of the trinity is essential to their ability to complete the task given them for saving/delivering/rescuing their world.

The final epilogue is almost underdramatic, but then it is also satisfying...though it is hard to envision Harry Potter living a normal life for the next fifty years in light of his thrilling and terrifying seven years at Hogwarts. And what about Draco...what an interesting character...and then there is Snape...the other understated hero of the story. The revelation of how Albus and Severus worked together to direct and shape Harry...insightful, fulfilling, and inspiring. Philosophically, the reflections on power, greed, envy, utilitarianism, friendship, death, sacrifice, remorse, repentance, forgiveness, love and kindness were good prompts to me as I considered what I would do in the situations of Harry, Albus, Ron, Hermoine, Severus and Riddle.

In a couple of years I'll read through all seven straight through...it'll probably take a whole summer though... wouldn't that be delightful?!

Tonight I Begin Reading the Deathly Hallows!

It's Friday night, Eli is in bed, the other three are at the lake, Tara is getting ready to scrapbook and I am about to begin reading the first chapter of the last book of the one and only Harry Potter series. I am smiling as I type, knowing that I am about to reenter into an imaginary world that has captured my imagination for many years.

Tonight we three went out on a date, a late dinner at Flat Top (which was yummy), and then a slow saunter over to Barnes & Noble to get our prized book. Then it was brief stop by Starbucks to get our Frappacino's; the barista said that one of the girls there bought the Potter book the night it came out and stayed up to read the whole thing! She also said that it's all over the internet, how the book ends! Yikes! It's that kind of stuff that compels me to read it now, before someone spills the beans. I never skip ahead and read the end of a book to find out how it ends, but I'm also tempted on this one...but I think I'll take the risk.

So here goes...