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« Also, don't bring this pumpkin... | Main | Taking Things Seriously -- the NY party » Tuesday, October 23, 2007Dumbledore PrideYou've undoubtedly already heard the news -- on Friday, October 19, "Hary Potter" author J.K. Rowling outed Albus Dumbledore, the kindly and wise headmaster of Hogwarts. Potter readers had speculated about Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past... but now it is official. Dumbledore is gay. Or is he? Columbia Law professor Michael Dorf uses this bombshell to explain "originalism" in Constitutional interpretation. His essay, "Harry Potter and the Framer's Intent" asks: Does J.K. Rowling's intent to make Dumbledore a gay character without ever mentioning it in the text in fact mean that the character is, in fact, gay? An Originalist, like Justices Scalia and Thomas, who believe that the Constitution should mean what its writers intended it to mean, would say yes. Not an Originalist? Then you can go ahead and argue -- as Salon's Rebecca Traister seems to do, when she writes, "In [Rowling's] desire to control and describe [the Potter universe], she's turning a modern assumption about what authorship means inside out" -- that no one, not even the author herself, can insert new meaning into an old text. I'll stay out of this complicated philosophical argument. While we wait for it to be decided, here's another stumper for you: How should originalist "Harry Potter" fans cope with this news? My answer: Celebrate, of course... by sporting an awesome t-shirt!  Available at DumbledorePride.com. UPDATE: Bush Seeks to Ban Marriage Between Fictitious Gay Characters. Posted by Joshua Glenn at 09:35 AM
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