J. K. Rowling. (Photo by Daniel Ogren.)
J. K. Rowling, the celebrated author of the Harry Potter series of novels, shocked the world in 2007 when she revealed that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was gay. This was celebrated as a progressive move back then — a prominent children’s author made a key character LGBT, even though the books were already done. It gave a message that the world of witchcraft and wizardry that she crafted was inclusive and modern, not held back by conservative cultural mores.
But then she never stopped.
Hermione became retroactively black. Nagini, Voldemort’s pet snake, was once human. Harry Potter would have boycotted Israel.
And now, she says that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a sexual relationship.
At that point, Potter fans mocked her not for the changes themselves, but for the inept way she handled them.
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To date, none of the books, plays, or films have directly depicted Dumbledore’s homosexuality. However, Rowling’s attempts to make her already-written series more woke has become comical.
While she has always been progressive, she couldn’t have anticipated woke culture becoming the gold standard for young adult fiction. Her attempts to keep up with the trends make her look like an elderly person desperately trying to be young and hip…and failing at it.
Some choice tweets:
And my absolute favorite:
