Harry Potter has recently come under fire for creating and publicizing an LGBT character - in this case, Albus Dumbledore - while denying him proper onscreen representation. However, this same bait-and-switch is present in some of the biggest film franchises in Hollywood - and it needs to stop.

J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter in 2007, with final installment of the movie franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, released in 2011. But since then, the franchise has shown no signs of dying out. In fact, if anything, Harry Potter and the wizarding world that Rowling created has only grown in popularity, thanks in no small part to Rowling’s continued willingness to keep it alive. Writing regularly for the website Pottermore and frequently engaging with fans on social media, Rowling has gone on to reveal many tidbits of information regarding the beloved characters of the franchise, including the fact that Albus Dumbledore is gay.

That has led to many fan-theories which, again, Rowling has been happy to indulge. She even added that Dumbledore was deeply in love with the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. The pair had shared a close friendship (as far as we all knew) before going their separate ways; Dumbledore to become a respected headmaster and public figure in the wizarding community, and Grindelwald to reign terror across Europe. It ended in a duel between the two, which Dumbledore won. Their tragic relationship captured many reader’s imaginations, with copious fanfiction deepening the bond. But this was all in interviews - not even the source - and gets much messier when you crossover to the movies.

This Page: Dumbledore’s Sexuality Is Being Hidden In Fantastic Beasts 2

Dumbledore’s Sexuality Is Being Hidden In Fantastic Beasts 2

Imagine fans’ delight, then, when Rowling announced we’d be seeing a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) made a brief debut at the end of the first Fantastic Beasts movie, and the second installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, will have the titular dark wizard as its main focus. Traveling Europe and amassing followers, Grindelwald’s power is rising, and it’s up to Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his old Hogwarts professor, Dumbledore (Jude Law) to stop him.

As soon as details of the movie were released, fans were eager to see these two former flames on screen together. Surely there would be a huge amount of hurt, pain, and unresolved tension? Would Dumbledore and Grindelwald still harbor feelings for one another, despite Grindelwald’s dark crimes? Would we see a tender moment between the pair before Dumbledore came to his senses and realized the man Grindelwald had become?

As it turns out, it’s likely we’ll see none of it. In a recent interview, director David Yates admitted that Dumbledore’s sexuality won’t be explicitly mentioned. While that doesn’t rule it out for future installments, it does seem as though The Crimes of Grindelwald will be nothing more than an “us-against-them” formulaic tale, enhanced by a little magic. We all know that Dumbledore stopped Grindelwald eventually, and can surmise the entire Fantastic Beasts franchise will end with that infamous duel. What we don’t know about, and what we wanted to see explored, was the complicated, intense relationship that we’ve been told existed between two of the wizarding world’s most important creations.

Make no mistake, though; Warner Bros.’ decision to take the easy way out - by not acknowledging that a known gay character could ever have romantic or sexual feelings towards another person - is not just limited to the Fantastic Beasts franchise, or even Warner Bros. themselves.

Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers Sold Gay Characters - But Didn’t Show It

In 2017, Disney released the live-action Beauty and the Beast, which wound up grossing more than $1.2 billion worldwide. Disney’s updates to the classic animated film included painting Belle as a radical feminist. Moreso, they touted LeFou (played by Josh Gad) as openly gay and hopelessly in love with the arrogant Gaston (Luke Evans). The reality was a lot more subtle and easily missed by unattentive viewers; a few longing looks and contented sighs before LeFou realized that he was too good for nasty old Gaston and joined in a merry dance during the finale instead. Oh, and he happened to end the dance paired with a man. They smiled at each other.

At no point was the audience made explicitly aware of LeFou’s feelings towards Gaston. Which would be fine, were we not continuously reminded of every woman in town’s love for Gaston, Gaston’s desires towards Belle, and Belle’s towards the Beast. It smacked of exclusion or a reducing of non-hetero relationships to a punchline. Once again, we have a creator going to the trouble of explicitly stating a character is gay and eagerly riding the wave of surrounding publicity, then not actually addressing it in the media properly.

Power Rangers had a similar issue. All credit to Dean Israelite for including Billy as a character on the Autistic spectrum, but in the publicity for the movie, a lot of fuss was made over Trini, the yellow ranger, being a lesbian. When the film released, however, we got one throwaway line; when asked if she had boyfriend problems, she didn’t answer. She was then asked if it was girlfriend problems, and she replied “something like that, I’m still figuring things out.” Now, fair enough, the character is a teenager and so likely still is figuring things out, but why make such a song and dance about Power Rangers being truly progressive and inclusive if Trini can’t even mention that she thinks she’s gay?

“Bait” LGBT Characters Are All Over Hollywood Tentpoles

The fact is, Hollywood is still nowhere near being as inclusive as it claims to be. LGBT characters are still wildly underrepresented, particularly in movies aimed at family audiences, and these “bait” characters seem to exist to please online discussions in the build-up and deflect from that fact.

If Dumbledore is openly gay, why isn’t that acknowledged? If LeFou is dealing with an unrequited love, why can’t he just say so? Some of the biggest franchises still don’t have a single openly gay character. There was the suggestion of Vice Admiral Holdo being gay in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but that was completely absent from the film itself. Marvel too keeps dodging the issue on whether any of its MCU characters are gay while still enjoys the speculative publicity that it generates; Tessa Thompson claimed Valkyrie was bisexual in Thor: Ragnarok, but the scene of a woman walking out of her bedroom (which the actress lobbied director Taika Waititi for) was ultimately cut.

The continual baiting adds an extra layer to the already problematic representation problem. When will any studio finally have the courage to show an openly gay or bisexual character that is actually a true reflection of LGBT people in society? It’s a widely-accepted part of society, which only makes Hollywood further behind the times, and the constant flirting with the idea hurts the cause.

Next: Warner Bros. Should Recast Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts

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