Letters to the Editor
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Exactly right
Thanks, Ms. Traister, for a dead-on analysis of Rowling's strange lapse in judgment. Thanks also for pointing out the textual hints about Dumbledore. I overlooked them because (1)I was reading the final book mainly to know what side Snape was on and (2)I thought I remembered a mention in a previous book of Dumbledore having fathered a son, so it never occurred to me to wonder if the matter was more complex than that.
When I first read of what Rowling had done, it struck me as a rather silly mirror image of the flap over Murphy Brown some years ago. I thought, "But Dumbledore is fictional, and the book has already been written. What in the world is Rowling thinking?"
I understand now that she must be piqued that readers didn't take her hints and missed a subtle point, but she would deserve our respect much more if she respected her readers enough to let them gradually discover some things for themselves--particularly since she must know that many of her readers will return to the Potter books over and over and then eventually read them to, or with, their kids. Your comments are exactly right, and Rowling really needs to button it. I could cheerfully watch an episode a night of "Upstairs Downstairs" if they had kept making them. But I wouldn't care to read a steady stream of post mortem comments from Jean Marsh telling me about Mrs. Bridges' repressed longings for Ruby.