One reporter reacts to JKR's revelations

pippin_999 foxmoth at qnet.com
Mon Oct 29 19:16:00 UTC 2007


Carol responds:

(Do you see DD differently now that she's made that announcement? 
I suspect that you do. I don't see how any adult could read her answer 
to the DD in love question and not rethink both DD himself and the 
DD/GG relationship, both of which we previously interpreted solely 
based on what's in the books--unless we factored in "the epitome of 
goodness" and accepted or rejected it, as we can't so easily reject 
information that she presents as "fact.")

Pippin:
I don't think I've rethought Dumbledore very much, no. But my
experience as an art student put me in contact with a lot of
gay men (and teachers) in a non-sexual context, so I've got a
reference point that others might not have. It was a bit like
finding out that Ian McKellan is gay -- did it change the way
I experienced his performance of Gandalf? A little, but not
much. When he hugs another character, it's  grandfatherly.

But when he offers a bit of chilly comfort to Theoden for the
loss of his son, then there's an  extra poignance in knowing that
the actor has expressed regret that he never had children.

When DD says, "It's our choices..." it has a more personal meaning, 
now,  in terms of  the character, but not a different one. As for the 
DD/GG relationship, we don't even know whether Dumbledore 
realized at the time that there was a sexual component to his feelings, 
much less whether he acted on them. He might have thought it
was what people called "a passionate friendship" at that time. Which
was how it already read to me.

Carol:
Does JKR mean that readers should question authority unless
*she's* the authority, in which case, we should regard the characters
as hers instead of the general public's or the world's? Or does she
mean question authority, period, in which case her own 
pronouncements are also subject to question?

Pippin:
This reminds me of a Talmudic debate, in which one of the Rabbis
calls God Himself to witness that his position is correct. God obligingly
responds with a series of miracles, but the tribunal votes against
the Rabbi anyway and God admits that he's lost. The Law has been 
given to man, man must interpret it, and God's opinion is no longer 
binding. That has been the position of Jewish law ever since, but 
you know, no one has gone so far as to tell God to stop expressing 
His opinions, though there are those that wish people would stop 
asking Him.<g>

Carol, still recommending the article and hoping that Pippin will read
it if she hasn't already done so

Pippin
who read the article, and actually paraphrased its language about
Arthur Dent in an earlier post. And who thinks a character which
exists in child's play, action figures, video games, official and
unofficial websites,  theme park plans, and more fan fiction than 
anyone could read in a lifetime has become more myth than character
already. 





More information about the HPFGU-OTChatter archive