As Thestrals and Bowtruckles arrive on screen yet again, there's one Fantastic Beast J.K. Rowling is refusing to let free - the big gay Elephant in the room.
Warner Bros. just released a brand new teaser for the hotly anticipated Fantastic Beasts 2. Thanks to the fact that this time it will be tying more heavily into the original Harry Potter films, The Crimes of Grindelwald has within its new trailer a few fun Easter eggs that are sure to please fans, so without further ado let's dive into 5 of the most exciting ones. If you want to head straight to the infamous 'gay Dumbledore' discussion, though, scroll past the following trailer breakdown!
1. A Return to Hogwarts
The most obvious reference to the original films is the return to Hogwarts. It looks just as cosy as always as high-profile Wizards and Witches apparate into the grounds to quiz a young Professor Dumbledore on what Newt Scamander is doing in Paris.
2. Delumination Entertainment
Talking of Dumbledore, in another shot we see the deluminator used in a foggy, London street. We saw this last in the hands of Ron Weasley to whom Dumbledore left the device in his will. Is the person using it Dumbledore or will The Crimes of Grindelwald reveal how Albus came to possess the magical artifact for himself?
3. Turn to Page 394
This is my favourite Easter Egg. When the Ministry of Magic's employees confront Dumbledore they find him in this classroom. Look familiar? It should. The room was used in the Harry Potter films as the base for Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. It is the same room in which Lockhart unleashed the Cornish Pixies in The Chamber of Secrets and the same in which Umbridge and Harry fought over the former's insubstantial curriculum.
Will Dumbledore's position as Head of Transfiguration be revised for the films and changed to Head of Defense Against the Dark Arts? Or is the sequel simply re-using an old set from the original franchise? It's all very thrilling stuff, but we'll have to wait until November to find out.
5. Welcome to Beauxbatons
In the final secret, it seems like we are getting our first glimpse of Beauxbatons, the France-based Academy of Magic, whose students compete alongside Hogwarts and Durmstrang alumni in the Triwizard Tournament every 5 years. Perhaps this hints to the idea that even more of the magical world will open up to audiences as Dumbledore and Grindelwald's game of cat and mouse reaches its violent finale in the fifth film.
Now, onto a slightly more disappointing note: the erasure of gay Dumbledore.
J.K. Rowling, writer of the Fantastic Beasts series of films and the novels on which the original Harry Potter franchise was based, created quite the press storm in October 2007. When asked by a fan whether Dumbledore had a romantic relationship with any of his female colleagues, the writer laughed and declared Dumbledore is gay. The social landscape in 2007 was very different to ours, 11 years later, and many were shocked and outraged at such a notion. Others, though, were confused. Why had Rowling not allowed the character to be openly gay in the novels? While her publishing company aimed at school children probably barred her from mentioning Dumbledore's queer-ness on the page, fans across the world hoped Dumbledore could become the first openly queer hero in a blockbuster franchise when his younger iteration was announced to join the Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander as a lead in the Potter prequels.
In January 2018, though, David Yates, the film's director, declared Dumbledore's sexuality was not "explicitly" referenced within the motion picture. This could make sense if, say, the character's story wasn't entirely about his growing conflict between his ex-lover Grindelwald, but it is. It's as if they released a Wuthering Heights film and, while maintaining Heathcliff and Cathy's relationship, never explicitly depicted them as lovers. It simply doesn't make sense, and yet Rowling disappointingly mocked queer fans via social media who felt frustrated at this example of 'queer erasure'. Multiple journalistic outlets came down on the confusing decision, with The Guardian, along with CNN, The Independent, The BBC and Vanity Faire all asking "Why won't J.K. Rowling let Dumbledore be gay?". The novelist did, though, hint that the pair's romantic relationship would be addressed in some form as the five-part series culminates in the books' legendary Dumbledore v Grindelwald battle (set in 1945 before the events of the Harry Potter franchise began).
Here's hoping Warner Bros. and Rowling actually deliver on the promise of a queer lead hero in the films to come. Black Panther just shattered expectations and records at the box office, proving minority heroes can still garner huge support from straight white audiences, and this year's Love, Simon hopes to introduce movie-goers to the first gay coming-of-age film produced by a mainstream Hollywood studio. If that goes well, Dumbledore might just finally be let out of the closet once and for all, for when it comes to gay Dumbledore and closeted Dumbledore, it seems neither one can live while the other survives.
Written by James Green
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