Is Dumbledore gay?
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
In this brief article we are going to answer the question ‘’Is Dumbledore gay?’’ If you are a fan of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, here we will explore Dumbledore and his sexuality according to J.K Rowling.
Is Dumbledore gay?
Yes, Dumbledore is gay. Many fans had been thinking about it for years, but it was in 2007 when JK Rowling confirmed it: Dumbledore is gay. “I always thought Dumbledore was gay. If I had known this would have made you so happy, I would have told you years ago.” the author declared.
Incredible as it may seem, this statement provoked several critics and the writer has been defending the character’s homosexuality for years.
J.K. Rowling has given more details about two characters appearing in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In the DVD extras of the film, the writer has described the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald (played by Jude Law and Johnny Depp) as “incredibly intense”.
The creator of the Harry Potter saga has delved into the subject: “It was passionate and it was a loving relationship. But as with any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label you want to put on it, you never know what the other person is feeling. You can’t know, you can think you know.”
Although the author was not so interested in the sexual side of this couple, she has confirmed that there was love and intimate relations between her characters: “Although I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship, in the end, the most important thing is the emotions they felt for each other”.
David Yates, director of the second installment of Fantastic Beasts, added: “This is a story about two men who loved each other and eventually had to fight. It’s a 21st-century story.
Queerbaiting?
“Because I was in love with you,” Albus Dumbledore admits to his dangerous enemy in the trailer for the third film of the new saga after Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), which will continue with two more installments after The Secrets of Dumbledore. And that is an official certification of J. K. Rowling’s claims about him.
J. K. Rowling has confirmed again what many fans expected to see in the movies and could not, that between Dumbledore and Grindelwald there was love. In the second film installment of Fantastic Beasts there are only too subtle references to this gay couple. The only thing that the Hogwarts professor comments on the matter is that they had a closer relationship than that of two brothers.
When the director of the feature film said in early 2018 that there would be no explicit reference to Dumbledore’s homosexuality, fans of the saga expressed their outrage on social media. On Twitter they have charged again against Rowling, talking about queerbaiting. It’s the practice of suggesting a gay love relationship between fictional characters but not representing it, with the aim of attracting the ‘queer’ audience.
Warner removed a “gay dialogue” for China
Warner Bros. confirmed that they removed some dialogue from Fantastic Animals: The Secrets of Dumbledore so that the film can be shown in China. They are some phrases that refer to Hogwarts professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) being gay and having a relationship with dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen).
The cuts are six seconds into the film’s 143-minute running time. “As a studio we are committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release and that extends to circumstances that require making nuanced cuts to respond sensitively to a variety of factors in the marketplace,” Warner Bros said in a statement, published by The Hollywood Reporter.
They add that “Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets. In the case of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, a six-second cut was requested and Warner Bros. accepted those changes to comply with local requirements but the spirit of the film remains intact.’’
References
Haasch, P. (2022, April 15). “Fantastic Beasts” addresses Dumbledore’s sexuality, gay relationship. Retrieved from Insider website: https://www.insider.com/dumbledore-gay-relationship-grindelwald-addressed-in-fantastic-beasts-3-2022-4
Sharf, Z. (2022, April 12). Fantastic Beasts 3 Gay Dialogue Removed in China, Warner Bros Explains. Retrieved from Variety website: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/fantastic-beasts-3-gay-dialogue-removed-warner-bros-explains-1235230373/
