Beauty and the Beast
Harry Potterhas recently come under fire for creating and publicizing an LGBT fibre - in this case , Albus Dumbledore - while abnegate him right onscreen mental representation . However , this same bait - and - replacement is present in some of the biggest plastic film franchises in Hollywood - and it needs to stop .
J.K. Rowling stop writingHarry Potterin 2007 , with final instalment of the picture show franchise , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : Part 2,released in 2011 . But since then , the enfranchisement has shown no signs of dying out . In fact , if anything , Harry Potter and the wizarding world that Rowling created has only grown in popularity , thanks in no small part to Rowling ’s continued willingness to keep it alive . spell regularly for the web site Pottermore and oftentimes engage with fans on societal media , Rowling has gone on to reveal many titbit of data regarding the beloved reference of the franchise , including the fact thatAlbus Dumbledore is merry .
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That has head to many buff - theory which , again , Rowling has been glad to luxuriate . She even added that Dumbledore was deeply in love with thedark wizard Gellert Grindelwald . The pair had share a faithful friendly relationship ( as far as we all know ) before pass away their separate elbow room ; Dumbledore to become a respected headmaster and public design in the wizarding community , and Grindelwald to rule terror across Europe . It ended in a affaire d’honneur between the two , which Dumbledore bring home the bacon . Their tragical relationship captured many reviewer ’s imaginations , with copious fanfiction deepen the trammel . But this was all in interviews - not even the reference - and gets much messier when you crossover to the pic .
This pageboy : Dumbledore ’s Sexuality Is Being cover In Fantastic Beasts 2
Dumbledore’s Sexuality Is Being Hidden In Fantastic Beasts 2
Imagine fans ' delight , then , when Rowling announced we ’d be seeing a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald in theFantastic Beastsfranchise . Grindelwald ( Johnny Depp ) made a abbreviated entry at the end of the firstFantastic Beastsmovie , and the 2d installment , grand Beasts : The Crimes of Grindelwald , will have the titulary blue mavin as its chief focus . Traveling Europe and amassing followers , Grindelwald ’s power is rising , and it ’s up to Newt Scamander ( Eddie Redmayne ) and his sometime Hogwarts professor , Dumbledore ( Jude Law)to hold back him .
As soon as details of the movie were released , fans were eager to see these two former flaming on screen together . Surely there would be a huge amount of hurt , pain , and unresolved tension ? Would Dumbledore and Grindelwald still harbor feelings for one another , despiteGrindelwald ’s dark law-breaking ? Would we see a tender moment between the pair before Dumbledore came to his sense and earn the humankind Grindelwald had become ?
As it turn out , it ’s likely we ’ll see none of it . In a recent interview , director David Yates admitted thatDumbledore ’s sexuality wo n’t be explicitly mention . While that does n’t rule it out for succeeding installment , it does seem as thoughThe Crimes of Grindelwaldwill be nothing more than an " us - against - them " formulaic narration , enhance by a little thaumaturgy . We all experience that Dumbledore stopped Grindelwald eventually , and can suspect the entireFantastic Beastsfranchise will terminate with that ill-famed affaire d’honneur . What we do n’t know about , and what we wanted to see explored , was the complicated , intense relationship that we ’ve been told existed between two of the wizarding populace ’s most important foundation .
Related : Harry Potter Has Always fail At Diverse Representation
Make no fault , though ; Warner Bros. ' decision to take the easy way out - by not acknowledging that a known gay character could ever have amatory or intimate feelings towards another person - is not just define to theFantastic Beastsfranchise , or even Warner Bros. themselves .
Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers Sold Gay Characters - But Didn’t Show It
In 2017 , Disney free the live - actionBeauty and the Beast , which hurt up grossing more than $ 1.2 billion worldwide . Disney ’s update to the Greco-Roman animated pic included paint Belle as a radical women’s liberationist . Moreso , they toutedLeFou ( played by Josh Gad ) as openly gayand hopelessly in dear with the arrogant Gaston ( Luke Evans ) . The reality was a lot more subtle and easily missed by unattentive TV audience ; a few longing looks and contented sighs before LeFou realise that he was too good for nasty sometime Gaston and join in a snappy dance during the finale or else . Oh , and he pass to end the dance paired with a human being . They smile at each other .
At no point was the interview made explicitly aware ofLeFou ’s smell towards Gaston . Which would be hunky-dory , were we not continuously cue of every woman in town ’s love for Gaston , Gaston ’s desire towards Belle , and Belle ’s towards the Beast . It smacked of exclusion or a reducing of non - hetero relationships to a punchline . Once again , we have a Almighty going to the trouble of explicitly stating a character reference is mirthful and eagerly riding the wave of surrounding promotion , then not really addressing it in the culture medium decent .
Power Rangershad a similar issue . All credit to Dean Israelite for including Billy as a character on the Autistic spectrum , but in the promotional material for the movie , a lot of fuss was made over Trini , the yellow ranger , being a tribade . When the film released , however , we got one throwaway line ; when asked if she had boyfriend problems , she did n’t do . She was then asked if it was girlfriend problem , and she respond " something like that , I ’m still figuring thing out . " Now , fair enough , the fibre is a teenager and so belike stillisfiguring things out , but why make such a song and dance aboutPower Rangersbeing truly reformist and inclusive if Trini ca n’t even mention that she thinks she ’s festive ?
Related : How Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers betray Gay Fans
“Bait” LGBT Characters Are All Over Hollywood Tentpoles
The fact is , Hollywood is still nowhere approximate being as inclusive as it take to be . LGBT charactersare still wildly underrepresented , particularly in movies aim at family audiences , and these " bait " graphic symbol seem to exist to please online discussions in the build - up and deflect from that fact .
If Dumbledore is openly homophile , why is n’t that acknowledged ? If LeFou is dealing with an unrequited sexual love , why ca n’t he just say so ? Some of the biggest franchises still do n’t have a individual openly gay character . There was the prompting ofVice Admiral Holdo being gayinStar Wars : The Last Jedi , but that was wholly absentminded from the film itself . wonder too keeps dodging the issue on whether any of its MCU characters are gay while still enjoys the high-risk promotion that it generate ; Tessa Thompson claimedValkyrie was bisexualinThor : Ragnarok , but the vista of a fair sex walk out of her sleeping accommodation ( which the actress buttonhole director Taika Waititi for ) was ultimately cut .
The continual baiting adds an extra stratum to the already tough theatrical problem . When will any studio eventually have the courage to show an openly gay or bisexual lineament that is actually a true reflection of LGBT people in society ? It ’s a widely - take part of society , which only makes Hollywood further behind the times , and the constant flirting with the idea spite the causal agent .
Next : Warner Bros. Should Recast Johnny Depp ’s Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts
