The Mary Sue: Last Wednesday, the internet reacted to a new crucio curse courtesy of Director David Yates, who revealed to Entertainment Weekly how the upcoming sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindelwald will handle the sexuality of young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). The reveal? It won’t. At least “not explicitly,” according to Yates. No mention at all was made of Grindelwald’s sexuality, who, as the other half of a romantic pairing with Dumbledore, we could have also have assumed to be queer.
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I am utterly disappointed with the queer erasure in the upcoming sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindelwald. While this sequel was supposed to address young Albus Dumbledore’s sexuality, this article reveals that this sequel will simply suggest and imply but never explicitly reveal the truth about Dumbledore’s sexuality. There are a lot of problems with this upcoming sequel. Apparently the film has hired Johnny Depp, who has abuse accusations resting against him. I am also extremely disappointed in J.K. Rowling for how she has gone about addressing Dumbledore’s sexuality. Not only did she choose to not include any information about it in the books, she decided to leave it out of the movies as well. Now, when she finally has the opportunity to express one of the most fan favorite characters and their hidden and undiscussed storyline, the movie that is coming out about it doesn’t do it justice. This is so so so frustrating.
This article makes me happy to see that queer characters are put into mainstream stories that are loved. It is even better that sexuality in the subtext is being recognized. It bothers me to no end when authors introduce nuances to characters like his or her sexual orientation or issues of race and don’t address them. It bothers all the time when mainstream popular culture shows don’t bring up the sexuality of its characters if he or she obviously not straight. This is quietly allowing homophobia to exist as it says that its okay to not accept someone. The only way a television show should deal with sexual orientation is by acknowledging it. This doesn’t have to be big but it shows that the production team or producers or whoever makes the final decision about scripts are accepting of queer culture.
The article brings up the idea of there never being a gay hero and this isn’t just a queer culture problem it is a minority issue as a whole. There are so many minorities whose characters aren’t given heroic or even featured roles and this needs to be addressed in the script writing and film and theatre community.
The complete disregard of the queer storyline surrounding Dumbledore and Grindlewald in the upcoming movie is extremely frustrating and disappointing to me. Although minor characters in a children’s novel may seem trivial, the issue of gay representation in television and movies is so utterly important especially in this generation. Although many of the recent year’s most popular movies such as Call Me By Your Name and Moonlight featured queer storylines, it is critical to give this representation to younger kids who aren’t watching these movies and instead are eagerly awaiting things like the newest spinoff of the Harry Potter series. I remember watching interviews with J.K Rowling as a seven or eight year-old and hearing her talking about how Dumbledore is gay-- this was one of the first times I can remember being exposed to a gay character in a story I loved. It’s also frustrating to read about the producers and J.K Rowling’s neglect of the controversy surrounding Johnny Depp’s alleged abuse of his wife and having him continue to be a part of the franchise. Among all the heated debate of abuse in the entertainment industry right now, this feels like the exact opposite move that needs to be made.
I think queer erasure in film and television is so prevalent and something that needs to be heavily discussed, but I also think that queer baiting by the use of trying to force the underlying relationship of Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Mainstream media tries to give hints of gay subplots when they fear they are not being inclusive or not diversifying their show enough, which is incredibly problematic from many standpoints. While I can see in some instances from watching Harry Potter, the subtleness of trying to make Dumbledore seem queer, I feel it is forcing a LGBTQIA aspect into the film, particularly because even after acknowledging Dumbledore’s sexuality, still “not explicitly showing… anything”. Shows are constantly queer baiting to pull in the LGBTQIA community but usually fail by not truly having queer representation but just leaving some small instances of potentially gay relationships. I truly hope we can see more true queer inclusion in films where they are not just used as bait for an under represented group or completely snubbed out from the scene as a whole.
I found this article made a good point about the lack of representation for same sex relationships. I can think of about a lot of movies where I questioned if the director was hinting a relationship being more than just platonic friendliness and sometimes I enjoy the mystery but most times I find myself wishing there was more. Our society might not be consider to be completely ready to be exposed to same sex couples in our films and shows but what better way to expose the country and get them adapted to the idea that any kind of relationship is perfectly acceptable and should all be represented equally. I didn’t actually know that Dumbledore was considered queer, I vaguely remember a “hint” during the books but like the author said if I didn’t do research I wouldn’t be aware. What bothers me is that Rowling admits to this, as if she wants the public to know, yet does nothing to actually push for this side of Dumbledore to be represented. I question why.
I think that I found the audience’s obvious disappointment in the queer erasure going on in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald. I find it really upsetting that the creative teams, led by J.K. Rowling, still refuse to address Dumbledore’s sexuality. It has bothered me a lot that the entire Harry Potter franchise has hinted about presence of people from the LGBTQIA+ community in their films for so long, but they always hesitate to commit to it. There are a lot of young people who are watching these films, and I think it is a major disservice to them that they do not see themselves reflected anywhere in a movie that supposedly represents an entire society of people. It is so critical to show kids that you can be happy and yourself. It is important that the entertainment industry is willing to represent LGBTQIA+ people and healthy relationship. I hope that the voices of disappointment are heard in this matter, and that the industry works to change their ways.
This is the first I am hearing about the hereto-wash of Dumbledore’s character in the upcoming Harry Potter movie is coming out. But I hardly flinch at the news. I have become numb to discrimination and gun violence and everything in between. What kind of world are we living in. I am already frustrated with just try to feel like a normal person for a moment. It is so disheartening to see a franchise that I love, crack the door of hope open for the queer community and then as I put my hand through, my hope through this door, JKR slams it shut, smashing both. The article didn’t say what JKR’s reasoning was only that the producer of the movies may have used the ‘it might loss us money over seas’ card. There is always an excuse. Their not humans, the Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman, they are not of the pure race… When will it stop? What will it take to get to the futuristic utopia where we have found a way to abolish war and create peace among all others?
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