Jude Law shares his thoughts on the “explicitly gay" controversy.
Earlier this year, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald director David Yates was criticized after he shared that Dumbledore’s sexuality wouldn’t be “explicitly explored.” Many fans were upset by this because they assumed his sexuality would be a focus of this fall’s upcoming film.
As for where they got this idea, author J.K. Rowling shared in 2007 that the character had always been gay. But, it seems that his sexuality was never important to the story of Harry Potter, so it was never addressed in the actual text.
That said, she did share that Dumbledore’s backstory involved falling in love with his boyhood friend Grindelwald. Unfortunately, the two would later grow apart as Grindelwald became a world-despised terrorist.
The disapproval by fans towards David Yates was then turned towards Harry Potter author and Fantastic Beasts screenwriter Rowling. Rowling then pushed by through a tweet saying that she didn’t deserve all of the complaints.
Back then, Jude Law stayed out of the crosshairs, but he has now shared his own thoughts on the whole situation in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.
In the interview, Jude Law shares that Dumbledore is only being introduced to the Fantastic Beasts franchise in this sequel film, but implies that his sexuality may be explored at a later date.
“Jo Rowling revealed some years back that Dumbledore was gay. That was a question I actually asked Jo and she said, yes, he’s gay. But as with humans, your sexuality doesn’t necessarily define you; he’s multifaceted. I suppose the question is: How is Dumbledore’s sexuality depicted in this film?”
The actor continued: “What you got to remember this is only the second Fantastic Beasts film in a series and what’s brilliant about Jo’s writing is how she reveals her characters, peels them to the heart over time. You’re just getting to know Albus in this film, and there’s obviously a lot more to come. We learn a little about his past in the beginning of this film, and characters and their relationships will unfold naturally which I’m excited to reveal. But we’re not going to reveal everything all at once.”
This is a constant conversation we seem to be having as of late. Many LGBTQ, and ally, fans of large properties, like the Wizarding World and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are growing more agitated and aggressive in their demands for LGBTQ characters and visibility.
While the MCU’s Kevin Feige has shared that he has plans for LGBTQ characters, it seems that Rowling and co. want to keep their plans more secret. That said, they have reminded us that there will be five movies in this franchise, so the implication that Dumbledore’s sexuality might be explored hangs in the air.
The question is, can implication hold off angry social media users for four more movies?
h/t: Entertainment Weekly
Looks terrific. If the
Looks terrific. If the naysayers are unhappy, too bad! They can write their own damned movie script.