We saw Ghostbusters and whoo boy do we have some thoughts!
Topics Discussed and/or Spoiled
Does Leeman play too many videogames? Mario Teaches Typing, Joel McHale on the TV, Ghostbusters (2016), Bridesmaids, Airplane! Sisters, Intersectionality episode, Ernie Hudson, Dr Who, and My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Our outro is Debs & Errol’s If I Were an Undead Crawler
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As I’ve mentioned, I share your thoughts on the joys of little girls busting ghosts. I’m looking forward to this one.
I have to raise three points of protest in defense of Dumbledore, two of which are pretty straightforward and one of which yanks on my queer chains.
1) In fairness to Rowling, she didn’t go “Btdubs, guys, Dumbledore’s gay” out of nowhere; she was at a Q&A and a fan asked if Dumbledore had a girlfriend. I don’t know that she would have outed him if the series were still going on, but I don’t know that she wouldn’t have, either.
2) In further fairness to Rowling, it was 2007 and a queer character in a children’s book was a lot more controversial.
3) Queer chains ahoy: Dumbledore was really, really meaningful to me as a queer woman who chooses to live in accordance with Church teaching. I get that it’s a lot easier for me as a bisexual woman than it would be if I were a lesbian because I can live in accordance with Church teaching and have a fulfilling romantic relationship, but at the same time, choosing not to fully embrace my queerness is a sacrifice that’s stereotyped as cowardice or self-loathing by the left (and will never, ever be good enough for the right because my queerness is still a thing that exists). I find the celibate gay community (Eve Tushnet, Gabriel Blanchard, Ron Belgau, et. al.) to be a source of inspiration and comfort because they do something similar on a much, much, MUCH larger scale and are the people that I dearly hope I would be if I were a lesbian, and Dumbledore is basically the celibate gay poster child. He isn’t a gay man who just happens not to have romantic relationships because that’s controversial; he’s a gay man who has chosen to have a non-romantic vocation and lives an incredibly rich and fulfilling life in spite of it.
I’d prefer it if he were out and actually expressed this stuff at some point in the books, of course. But again, it was 2007. That wasn’t going to happen.