Harry Potter and the Silly Revelations

(Before I begin, I must point out that I have not read any of the Harry Potter series, nor have I seen any of the films based on the novels. Yes, I know, that's strange to many of you. But the point is, I have no strongly negative or positive opinions towards Harry Potter in general)

The great thing about books, especially popular ones, is that they are open for interpretation. The author may swear up and down that the book is not meant to represent a certain something, but that doesn't stop people from thinking it does. J.R.R. Tolkien said that The Lord of the Rings was not meant to evoke thoughts of World War II, but there certainly are people who read the books and think about World War II. As Lex Luthor put it in Superman: The Movie, "Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe."

The Harry Potter series is certainly popular. It's definitely, single-handedly caused a resurgence in reading novels - especially in children. Yet in the decade or so that the books have been released, I've never really heard any serious debates about concepts, characters, or plots in the book. Save for religious diehards denouncing the books, saying they promote Satanism, no one has really discussed brought up the novels in the media. No one has come forward saying, "what these books are really saying, is that..."

Well, the final novel has been published, and this event seemingly has shot the starting gun for Harry Potter debate and interpretation.

Perhaps the biggest revelation to come out recently is from the author herself, J.K. Rowling, who announced that a major character in the series, Professor Dumbledore, is gay. I guess if the deeply religious didn't have enough a problem with the books being "Satanic," imagine what this will cause. Fans applauded when the author announced this. Now the great debate has begun.

My question is, relevant is this revelation to the plot, or to one's interpretation of the novels? Is this really something of great debate? Someone at Entertainment Weekly thinks so. I have no opinion either way about it. If at some point I get to actually read one of the books, I certainly won't be scanning the text for hints of the character's sexuality. I might as well be trying to discover if a certain character is an alcoholic, or a drug abuser. Gee, maybe such-and-such character is manic depressive! Really, things like this just confuse me - situations like historians going and digging up dirt on great figures from history (the subject of another blog). Let everyone make their own interpretation about things like this. By the way, Watson from the Sherlock Holmes novels - TOTAL kleptomaniac. I'm just saying...

Now, there is someone who did make their own interpretation about the novels - philosopher Jean-Claude Milner. A search on Google or Yahoo! News will find will reveal this man's thoughts on Harry Potter. He interprets that Harry Potter is "of the Left." That's right - Harry Potter is a left-winger, and he's out to get the establishment. Harry and his cronies at Hogwarts are wholly against the values of profit-seeking market economies. He's Anti-American, I tells ya!

I can't agree one way or another with this man's views, but I do admit, anyone who can take a novel about a boy going to a school to learn magic and turning it into a statement against capitalism - well - that someone certainly has a vivid interpretation of things. J.K. Rowling has become a gazillionare because of Harry Potter, she's certainly gotten a lot of profit - does this mean that she wrote a series of novels that are negative towards her lifestyle? Because that would be kind of weird.

Schools in the United States are banning Harry Potter; first editions of the novels are selling for tens of thousands of dollars; and debate rages on about the fact that Rowling will never allow anyone, not even herself, to write another Harry Potter novel. The Harry Potter series has become the subject of great discussion. It's a good thing for printed media. Honestly, when was the last time people discussed a novel with such passion, outside of book clubs?

And for the record, in no way is the subject of this post a comment on global warming and its reprecussions on the environment.