The latest film entry in the general Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is now out on home release and with it, a bonus feature in which author J.K. Rowling took the time to reveal that beloved Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore’s youthful relationship with the dark wizard Grindelwald had a “sexual dimension”. It’s a reveal that may offer more information about the characters, but it’s not one that’s making fans very happy.
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In the feature, Rowling, who surprised fans by revealing Dumbledore’s sexuality back in 2007, explains that while Dumbledore and Grindelwald did have sex, she’s more interested in other aspects of the relationship.
“It was passionate, and it was a love relationship,” Rowling says. “But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows really what the other person is feeling. You can’t know, you can believe you know.
“So I’m less interested in the sexual side — though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship — than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships.”
The problem with that, according to vocal fans on social media, is that this latest reveal feels less like a genuine explanation of the character and more like manufactured attempts at attention. While that estimation of the situation seems harsh, for many, the fact that Rowling hasn’t managed to translate her assertions about Dumbledore’s sexuality into the books or the films — and has now only given sensational details — feels tone deaf. For many, it’s fan service that fans didn’t want leading to an assortment of humorous memes as wells genuine discontent with Rowling, so much so that there are some who think she needs to be “cancelled”.
Want to see the details on why fans are upset with Rowling over her latest reveal about Dumbledore and his sexuality? Read on for some of the voice in the conversation.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is available on home media now.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments at the end.
Profits first
jk rowling can log on here and tweet “dumbledore was a dom top” all she likes but the fact remains she actively leaves out any LGBT rep in her books and films so her profit isn’t affected
— laura (@lauraw97_) March 17, 2019
Glossing over queer charactrs
The thing that bothers me most about Rowling going into the “intense sexual relationship” of Dumbledore and Grindewald is that after being criticized for glossing over queer characters except in interviews, she reduced calls for real queer rep to “give us kinky sex details!”
— Exorcising Emily (@exorcisingemily) March 17, 2019
Boycott Rowling
Why doesn’t J.K. Rowling write a new novel with actual queer characters?
— cybernetic wife (@ellieisalright) March 17, 2019
Oh wait, she did, and said queer character was an angry, overly masculine trans woman whom the protagonist makes prison rape jokes about.
Why have we not boycotted her yet?
Cringe
ok jk rowling actually didn’t say anywhere in the bluray feature that it was incredibly horny or anything but like…..the sheer cringiness of her damage control rn that she offhandedly mentions a “sexual dimension” is just….off the charts
— Klaudia Amenábar #SaveODAAT (@kaludiasays) March 17, 2019
Rowling’s the villain of her own story
imagine writing a series that deals with the way the adults you look up to can turn out to be actually Not Great People who actively harm kids with by clinging to and reinforcing problematic views and then…………deciding to be living example of that. amazing.
— Rebecca Mix (@rebeccarmix) March 17, 2019
Sick of it
I’m sick of Rowling and her half-assed inclusivity. It doesn’t count if she’s telling us after the fact. That’s not being an ally. That’s trying to get brownie points. She loses nothing this way. Put it in the text or don’t talk about it all. Same thing with Hermione’s race.
— ? Lucky Femme | Not a woman ? (@Femme_Queer) March 17, 2019
Still waiting.
Still waiting for her to put it in a bloody movie though.
— Inside A Mind (@InsideAMindYT) March 17, 2019
What kind of attention-seeking is next?
No one:
— A West (@ayyy_west) March 17, 2019
JK Rowling *chasing a reporter down the street*: “Hagrid was a furry, you know! I didn’t mention it in the books, but it was understood. Representation!!” https://t.co/zVxnr1oAFx
Literally no one asked for this.
No one:
— Kelsy (@kelsytime) March 17, 2019
JK Rowling: pic.twitter.com/80EQXHi93V
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