Do authors really have the right to gossip about their characters behind their backs?

Glenda Larke — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:24:00 +0000

There’s a lovely pix here of a suitably mystified Dumbledore asking the above question.

And I am mystified. Just what is the big deal?

As one indignant reader said on another forum:

Is it ok for a children’s author to bring up a potentially age inappropriate issue, after the fact (and after the receipts are in), for no apparent reason (except perhaps a bit of grandstanding)? Doesn’t this constitute a breach of trust toward parents of young children who bought the book for their kids (the primary market for the books)?

To be quite honest, I am puzzled that the appropriateness of an author making a comment about their own book should ever be questioned. (Free speech anyone?) But quite apart from that, the book is exactly the same as it ever was. You buy the printed word, not the author’s right to voice her thoughts, or to answer a question. A “breach of trust”? How? The book did not change. You bought the book, not what people say about it after the fact.

And what is “age inappropriate” about the words “Dumbledore is gay” anyway?
It is hardly a pornographic statement. How is it different to saying “Cinderella married the prince”?

If a child then asks you: “What does married mean?” do you blush and curse Hans Christian Andersen, or whoever wrote the fairytale? No, you make an age appropriate remark to explain the word to their level of readiness.

For the life of me, I can’t understand the problem.

People are weird. Or is it me?

dumbledore gay –

Do authors really have the right to gossip about their characters behind their backs?