Harry Potter Quandry

Nothing says "the holidays" like a good overdose of Harry Potter in whatever form available; thus, over the past week I've watched all the movies and begun to re-read many of the books. It's a wonderland. But given this thorough re-examination of the stories, the relationships of the characters, and the major plot points (and even the minor and sub-minor ones), there's been a question rattling around in this mindtrap of mine for a while, nagging, constantly tapping me on the shoulder, and yes, even cajoling me to come up with a good answer for it and I have none, so I throw it out there to the wider public (of 4 readers several of whom are non-Potterophiles) for consideration:

Why is it important to know that Albus Dumbledore is gay?

A couple weeks (months?) ago, J.K. Rowling "outed" Dumbledore in a Q&A she was doing to promote the 7th and last installment of the series. I was somewhat ambivalent then, not really paying attention. But at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I ask why this move was necessary. To be honest, I'd never once (literally--never) considered Dumbledore's sexuality at all: he's possibly hundreds of years old (I'm serious) although I don't think we know exactly how old he is, he's a famous and powerful wizard, and he's the headmaster of a school and a lifelong teacher. All of these social roles in some way allow us to not really need to know his sexuality. In some ways, they're a-sexual roles in and of themselves; surely, they have the potential to be considered in sexual ways if that's part of the story. Hence the beginning of my beef.

When I heard about Rowling's announcement, I thought, "Huh...never even though of that." mostly because there's no reason to...it's not an important detail in the story. We know Ron and Hermione like each other, we know Harry has a crush on Cho while at Hogwarts and marries Ginny in the end, but we don't know any other teacher's sexual preference and frankly I don't want to. Do I need to know that Snape has a girlfriend who lives in Hogsmeade? Is Minerva McGonigle a lesbian? I think the answer is "no." Their social relationships in the book are to their students, making the sexuality of the teachers irrelevant to this story. So, it's weird to me that we need an official proclamation, outside of the scope of the story, that Dumbledore is gay.

[Pause while I go back to check the actual transcript].

Okay, I see why she did it--you can read it here if you want--and it was very nonchalant and answers a very specific question, but to add another layer, that's not the story you get if you follow the massive news coverage of this announcement. And even though I can understand it in its context, I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with the information. Worse, I'm not sure what pea-brains will do with it.

I'm conflicted. On one hand, Dumbledore is an absolutely beloved character and, to be honest, makes sense as a gay man (now that I think about it). On the other, in the scope of this story which is a battle between Good (capital G) and Evil (capital E), sexuality seems a minor detail as does race, gender, and class (all categories that are touched on but not dwelt on in the story); Harry is a symbol of the good of Humanity (capital H...getting the gist?) and Voldemort is the opposite of that. Would the story change if we knew Voldemort was gay? The answer should be "no," but ultimately it is "yes." It would change things in ways that move us away from the human question at hand which is a good and important question.

I always find it interesting that in the midst of these deeply rich, human characters who are fighting an "Ultimate" symbolic war of souls and "eternity" (sounds like religion, huh?), these are the questions we need answered. We can accept that Harry might die as a sacrifice for others in the greater meta-narrative of good/evil, but we have a burning need to know whether Dumbledore is gay and if Neville ever gets married. Maybe that's the greatest insight here: good and evil are not the meta-narrative but instead its the human narrative, sketched out through these deeply decisive, meaning-making social details. Dumbledore might be Good and Wise and True (all capitals) but knowing whether he's ever "found love" and with whom are much more central, real questions. What can Good and Wise and True mean unless we know his reality and see how and if it matches our own? They somehow mean more if he's found love because that's meaningful to us. It makes us feel better to know that Ron and Hermione get married. We drool over Harry marrying Ginny and having a son who's headed to Hogwarts. And, oh yeah, he saved the world.

So, I guess I've talked myself into an answer that I can live with. Just as I needed the context to understand the question, we all long for the context within which we can understand the trials of being Good, Wise, True, Friends, who are Loved. Without the concrete reality of those abstractions, they do become only something of dreams and a world that exists only on paper or celluloid. But if we know Dumbledore's gay (which really means he loved "in that way") and we know Harry and Ginny live happily ever after next door to Ron and Hermione, then they could be our neighbors and, by that same extension, we could save the world--if a dark and evil wizard should ever appear and threaten humanity as we know it. I know my wand's ready.

But, despite my infant answer to this question, I still have a beef: Dumbledore falling in love with Grindewald? Really? I was convinced it would be Nicholas Flammel. Oh well.

"Harry Potter" Valley

I am a Harry Potter fan....there I said it. I always have been--ever since book 1 and 2 saved my life while I was temporarily living in the Dominican Republic. Aside from their salvific qualities, it's an amazing story. And the movies are amazing. So, I waited with a gnawing hunger to go and watch the 5th movie--Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix--which was finally satisfied yesterday. And the wait was worth it. I was mesmerized (and I've known how it ends for years), enchanted (hah!), and drawn in both by the lush visual quality of the movie and the theatrical ride that every HP movie since #1 has almost guaranteed before you walk in the door.

But as I walked out of the theater into the blinding, glaring 93-degree heat yesterday, I felt sad. I was experiencing, what I'm sure is the Harry Potter let-down--not because the movie was a disappointment (far from it) but because I won't get another visual dose of Harry for another 2 years. I felt like I'd just had the best 2 hour and 38 minute period two old friends could have and that friend has up and gone, of course promising to come back but not for awhile. Surely, I will watch this 5th installment at least 20 more times before...this year ends. I will pick apart every detail, I will analyze every single DVD extra offered on the DVD that will surely (IT MUST!) come out in time for Christmas shopping, I'll even read the book again. But yesterday, as I was assaulted by glaring reality as I exited the movie theater, I realized that the line between fantasy and reality has become blurred for me: I strongly identify with Harry and his crew...I feel like we're friends. What I wonder is whether or not I should be worried.

I'm pretty sure I'm not insane, but I also don't feel normal admitting that a character out of a book (and now movie) actually informs the way I act. I left the movie feeling all of these emotions: sadness, worry, a sense of triumph and empowerment. I also happen to be reading book 7 right now and even as I write this I'm worried for Harry, Hermione, and Ron even though I know how the book ends (if you're going to chastise me for skipping to the end of almost every book I read, get in line). I get that sense of fulfillment--admiration really--in ways my real life does not provide. It has real consequences outside of the movie. But is that a bad thing? Is it because I've become so sensitive and socialized into a world of pop culture (in which I've admittedly immersed myself) that "everyday, ordinary reality" seems just that--not extraordinary. And, if movies/books/tv can influence people in a positive way (make them feel empowered and even emboldened) should we be okay with that? Of course, the flip side is the negative impacts on which we always seem to focus. And at what point, then, does the creation of pop culture become something of morality--an embodiment of a certain value system "hidden" within the media of film or novels?

I feel lucky that J.K. Rowling seems to endorse a value system governing society that can be read as a "tolerant" view of the way the social world should work--Dumbledore and those who follow him seek what is "right" (which in her case means "equality" and "democracy") and those happen to coincide with my ideals. For me, Harry is the model of a freedom fighter, answering the call to accept and fight a war on the side of justice as opposed to fascist, racist Voldemort. What about those items of pop culture that spew and endorse hate? Should any of these producers be held accountable for the value systems inherently injected into their art if we sense that those items become the basis for action based on those value systems within?

Okay...too heavy...come back. I'm just saying...I love Harry Potter. The series, yes, but also the character. And Hermione and Ron and Lupin and Sirius. James and Lily. Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonigle. Ginny, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I feel their pain, their worry, their joy. I've watched Harry (through Daniel Radcliffe) grow from a boy to a man--and I still like him. And maybe that's why J.K. Rowling is a genius. She's allowed me an every other HP Fan to be part of the family and part of the fight. And I love that. This is only the 5th movie--imagine what will happen to me when the 7th movie (the final, final installment of anything Potter to ever be created) is over and done with. I'm already planning Harry Potter Marathon Screenings just to keep the dream alive.

Muggles Unite

What do an African-American male nurse, a 40-something red-haired mother of a 12ish daughter, a white male marathoner, several 20ish women with blond hair and beach wear, an African-American mother of 3, and a 30ish woman with a severe platinum hair-cut and a pin-stripe power suit have in common?

They were are reading this on the train the other day:
This would be "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," (the highly anticipated 7th of 7, in case you've been living in a cave somewhere off the coast of Fiji). All I have to say is I've seen a huge number of people toting this 743-page behemoth wherever they happen to be going without guilt or apology. I've heard strangers talk about it on the train, there was someone reading it in church on Saturday...I haven't seen this kind of unity of the masses in awhile.

Given this, it seems we've been going about this "World Peace" thing in a way that's all wrong. Clearly, what we need is a lovable wizard to lead the charge...and now that Harry's finally got some time on his hands, who knows what could happen...