Nerd Out with Jessie Gender: Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Queer-Baiting
Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Queer-Baiting
J.K. Rowling continues to disappoint her queer fanbase by playing up an LGBTQ character who may not actually be gay.
The long awaited Fantastic Beasts sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald opened up this past weekend, giving viewers the first appearance of fan-favorite Albus Dumbledore (played by the "fantastic" Jude Law) in his heyday.
Yet, despite announcing Dumbledore’s gayness over a decade ago and Dumbledore’s love interest Grindelwald literally being the titular character of the film, Rowling and the filmmakers still refused to make Dumbledore explicitly gay. Instead, Rowling and director David Yates opted to queer-bait, tiptoeing as close to the line of revealing Dumbledore’s queerness without actually saying it.
In her latest Nerd Out video featured above, Jessie Earl breaks down the history of what queer-baiting is, why it happens, and how it appears in Rowling's wizarding world. Watch the rest of the Nerd Out series here!
