J.K. Rowling has come under fire for comments made on the special features for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Blu-ray.
According to the interview, which was unearthed by Radio Times, Rowling delved deeper into the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald and revealed that the two men had an “incredibly intense” relationship with a “sexual dimension” in their youth.
Rowling casually confessed Dumbledore’s sexual orientation during a Q&A session with Harry Potter fans in 2007, despite never having in any way alluded to it in the Harry Potter series. The revelation later morphed into her admitting that Dumbledore’s love for Grindelwald became his “great tragedy,” cementing Rowling as an author infamous for adding details about her characters years (decades!) after publication.
(In fact, a Twitter meme went viral in January trolling Rowling’s retroactive and often sexual additions to the Harry Potter canon.)
“Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship,” said Rowling. “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.”
Rowling adds that unlike the rest of us, she is “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 accusation that Rowling was employing “half-assed inclusivity” in never once explicitly stating the sexual orientation of the two men in her books is not novel, but it it one that returned with a vengeance in the wake of her commentary.
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
us: actual queer representation in the books!
jk rowling: https://t.co/MT9YFYKMzd
— . (@captinmarvel) March 17, 2019
J.K. Rowling Confirms Some Characters in Her Books and Movies Are Gay Everywhere Except in the Books or the Movies https://t.co/Y5gcbMWNB9
— Eric D. Snider (@EricDSnider) March 16, 2019
Like, way to miss the pointand undermine everything you COULD have done to rectify the mistake of leaving Dumbledore’s orientation out of canon. This further reduces queer relationships and queer characters just to sex in media commentary. Which is the last thing we needed.
— Exorcising Emily (@exorcisingemily) March 17, 2019
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
sorry but does no one realise JKR is sexualising grindelwald and dumbledores relationship and furthering the narrative that homosexuality is inherently nsfw, inappropriate and sex centred ?? let gays be gay without them obsessing over dicking each other only
— amy (@rlandsbindaclub) March 17, 2019
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore and Grindelwald had an intense sexual relationship
Readers: That’s cool. Would you mind elaborating on your views regarding the transgender community? It’s problematic based on your history and we’d love clarification.
J.K. Rowling: Dobby is gay, too!
— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) March 17, 2019
Somehow the only thing worse than JK Rowling not including explicit queerness in the narrative is JK Rowling including explicit queerness in the narrative.
— Queer Eye for the Animorphs Reboot (@JacksonEflin) March 17, 2019
No one: ….
Jk Rowling in 2030: Voldemort was a depressed gay man of color
— HOOD VOGUE (@itskeyon) March 17, 2019
Director David Yates explained that “This is a story about two men who loved each other, and ultimately have to fight each other. It’s a story for the 21st century,” adding that he “wanted” to “try to suggest that Dumbledore still held this affection for Grindelwald.”
“There was not just regret, but there was still a love that existed between the two men.”
However, the intimate history between the two wizards was not even remotely hinted at in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
(Skip to ~ 6:49 to hear Rowling’s commentary.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKxuMe8PhCg
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be released March 18 on 3D, 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD.
h/t BuzzFeed