Fantastic Beasts 2isn’t going to explicitly address Dumbledore’s sexuality andIan McKellenis rather disappointed in that fact. Even though McKellen isn’t involved in theHarry Potterfranchise in any capacity, even if he would have made a great Dumbledore and, by his own admission, he gets confused for having played the part often enough, the actor is gay himself and has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community for years. Upon hearing that Dumbledore won’t be openly gay in the upcoming sequel, McKellen expressed his disappointment and went on a bit of a rant about Hollywood in general. Here’s what he had to say in a recent interview.
“Isn’t he? That’s a pity. Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world. Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don’t exist. ‘Gods and Monsters’ [1998], I think, was the beginning of Hollywood admitting that there were gay people knocking around, even though half of Hollywood is gay.”
It’s obviously an exaggeration to say that half of Hollywood is gay, but there certainly does appear to be a bit of a hypocrisy going on there. Regardless, it’s not hard at all to blame theLord of the RingsandX-Menstar for being irritated. Director David Yates revealed in January thatDumbledorewill “not explicitly” be gay inFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. “But I think all the fans are aware of that. He had a very intense relationship withGrindelwaldwhen they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology and each other,” added Yates.
Hollywood has released some movies recently, likeBlockersandLove Simonthat both prominently feature gay characters. But those aren’t blockbuster movies. The problem with Fantastic Beasts 2, specifically, is that Dumbledore is gay and creator J.K. Rowling has made that very clear. This isn’t likeStar Warseither where there is an entire story group. What Rowling says goes. This is her world. This movie has, or at least had the chance to prominently feature a gay character in a franchise that already has a massive and devoted fanbase around the world. However, it seems as though Warner Bros. felt it would betoo potentially risky to bring Dumbledore’s sexualityto the forefront.
Marvel and Disney have similarly chickened out of featuring agay characterprominently in movies likeBlack PantherandBeauty and the Beast, even though the opportunity was there.Deadpool 2, strangely, managed to be one of the first major blockbusters to feature a gay couple on screen, a decision which GLAAD applauded. Unfortunately, the latest movie in theHarry Potteruniverse, which arrives in theaters on November 16, won’t be taking that leap. So don’t expect Ian McKellen to shell out money to see it opening weekend. This news comes to us courtesy ofTime Out.
