Mood: disenfranchised
Watching:
Reading: The Blood Canticle

Potter Commentary
2007-10-22, 9:36 a.m.

With as much enthusiasm as I can muster, being only halfway through the morning and just more than halfway through my coffee, I'm ready to comment on Harry Potter.

My sudden interest is sparked by finally getting a look at some of the news stories that came out recently about the revelation that Dumbledore was gay. I saw it in Nikki's blog, but didn't follow the link, and Jeff mentioned it later that day, but it wasn't until just now that I read the MSN.com article in which it says that this piece of extra details came from none other than the author, herself.

My opinion on that... It was unnecessary, especially in a book series directed at children. It really just kind of taints it for me. I'm glad I finished the book before I heard the statement. It's one of those things that I think should've been left up to the readers' interpretations of the stories. I'm glad it doesn't say it in print, because if I were to someday read it to my children, I wouldn't want to have to explain it. Is there nothing in today's world that isn't skewed by sexuality. Nothing innocent and whimsical? Perhaps I should find another fantasy series to get my children into.

To be fair, I was a little disenchanted even before this latest part when the characters, as they grew into young adults started to swear more and "snog." I still found that to be something I wouldn't usually look for in a children's series. However, it's all part of being a teenager and something that I'm going to have to accept that my children will someday do, probably way before I think they should. The whole gay vs. straight thing though... I just think it was unnecessary. If we wanted to think of Dumbledore as a celibate monk-type who was totally devoted to his magical teachings and bringing down the Dark Lord, then I think it should've been our option to do so. If we wanted to believe that he was a young man who had had an experimental fling with Grindewald in his wreckless youth, then that's fine too. We didn't need the label. Totally unnecessary...

As to the rest of it, I enjoyed the book. Out of what might've been stupidity, I did read the ending very early on so I knew who lived and who had triumphed. While it took some of the excitement out of reading the details, it also enabled me to take my time and enjoy the other 770 pages or so prior to the epilogue. I prefer to take my own pace rather than race to the climax. I think she's truly done with the story, and while I'd like to read more about Harry or maybe the next generation of Hogwarts, I'm not sure what kind of story it would make without a Voldemort character and sans Dumbledore as the grand mentor, etc. etc.

I believe that it's over.

I don't think I'll be reading anything else by J. K. Rowling either, actually. I heard right after Potter was released that she may have been researching to write a murder mystery or something in the vein of crime novels. Not my thing. If she wrote something else in fantasy, I might check it out, but otherwise probably not.

I think I'm done here...

last - next

Women... And stuff... - 2012-08-19
Sniffles - 2012-08-18
Time to kill while waiting for a late dinner... - 2012-08-11
0.0 - 2012-08-05
Locked and Isolated in BlogLand - 2012-08-03

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