J.K. Rowling Faces Intense Twitter Backlash for Alleged “Queer-Baiting”
J.K. Rowling is facing fire from fans on social media after a tweet regarding the sexuality of two of her characters.
Rowling is notorious for revealing information about her fictional universe via social media, interviews, or her website. However, she is currently under fire for her latest revelations.
Rowling was featured in an interview on the DVD of her newest endeavor “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” where she made comments regarding the characters of Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald, and their relationship as young men. Her comments were tweeted out by twitter user @rowlinglibrary on Sunday, March 17.
The author of the famous Harry Potter franchise said, “Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship.” She continues by saying that she is “less interested in the sexual side- though I do believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship- than i am the intense emotions.”
Rowling revealed in 2007 that one of the most important characters in her whole franchise, Albus Dumbledore, was in fact a queer man. However, this hasn’t been represented in any of the movies or books, including the Fantastic Beasts movies, where a young Albus Dumbledore and his relationship to the film’s antagonist play a very poignant role.
Fans have taken to all forms of social media in order to present their displeasure with JKR’s latest comments. Twitter user @EricDSnider tweeted “J.K. Rowling Confirms Some Characters in Her Books and Movies Are Gay Everywhere, Except in The Books and Movies.”
Most fans expressed their displeasure with J.K. Rowlings supposed “queerbaiting”, which is the practice of hinting at, but then not actually depicting, a same-sex romantic relationship between characters in a work of fiction, mainly in film or television.
Many fans are just displeased that Rowling is refusing to include this supposed relationship in the movie that’s centered around it. One twitter user, @femme_queer wrote “It doesn’t count if she’s telling us after the fact. That’s not being an ally. That’s trying to get Brownie Points.”
This isn’t the first time in recent years that Rowling has come under siege. In 2016 the media rushed in with claims that her representation of Native American culture was racist, and cultural appropriation. In 2017, her casting choice of actor Johnny Depp came as the subject of scrutiny after he made headlines over accusations of domestic violence.
