The Harry Potter fandom has turned on Fantastic Beasts writer J.K. Rowling, however temporarily, after her latest comments on the sexual relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. It doesn't seem to be a torches-and-pitchforks kind of backlash, more of an eyeroll "here she goes again" kind of frustration from fans tired of the author adding extra details on characters outside of the books and movies. Show don't tell, Jo!
Some of the fan tweets tried to make serious points on sexuality and inclusion, and actually practicing what you preach. Like this one:
But most of the tweets tried to make the same points about oversharing and pseudo-representation through jokes, often using the same format -- no one asking anything, followed by J.K. Rowling revealing something pornographic about a Harry Potter character. Like this:
J.K. Rowling was trending over the weekend as fans tried to outdo each other with sex-related jokes, mocking Rowling's habit of revealing new information about characters outside of the books and movies. Her latest comments mentioned a "sexual dimension" to the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald when they were younger.
Some fans weren't happy because they want to keep sexuality out of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts stories. But many more fans weren't happy on the opposite side -- because they see it as cheap for J.K. Rowling to keep adding details like this in interviews while never actually putting any real representation in the books or movies. If Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a sexual relationship, why keep talking about it now instead of adding it to the books or making it more clear in the current movie series?
So we get tweets like this:
And this:
It keeps going:
Some fans took the sexuality out of it and just mocked J.K. Rowling's continued changes to canon after finishing the Harry Potter book series:
Some fans did have J.K. Rowling's back, appreciating her latest comments on the sexual relationship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore:
It's too late for J.K. Rowling to write Dumbledore's sexuality into the Harry Potter books, but we are not even halfway through the Fantastic Beasts film series. There are meant to be five films in total, leading up to the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Johnny Depp and Jude Law didn't actually share any scenes together in the second movie, but Dumbledore saw Grindelwald's reflection in the Mirror of Erised, showing his greatest desire. Their relationship is still at the heart of the series, and we know they'll have to face off by the end of the franchise.
Fantastic Beasts 3 just delayed production because it's said to be bigger than the previous two films combined. Here's what we know about the movie so far. Keep track of everything headed to theaters this year with our 2019 movie schedule.
