Fantastic Beasts goes through the orthodox China cut. Warner Bros says it's a minor edit
The third installment of the Fantastic Beasts series, starring Eddie Redmayne, Callum Turner, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol, titled Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore released in India and the UK on April 8. The movie also hit theatres in China on April 8.
Why are we telling you this? You'll come to know in the next 5 seconds.
spoiler alert
If you've watched the movie, you know that Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, confirms in the first 15 minutes of the movie that he was in love with Mads Mikkelsen's Gellert Grindelwald. And Dumbledore, being in love with Grindelwald (the main antagonist), is mentioned twice in the movie.
If you didn't know this, now you do. (sorry for breaking it like this, we can assure you that there's a lot of other reasons for you to still watch the movie)
Here is the official trailer of the movie:
WHAT HAPPENED: China's censorship laws are legendary (remember The Simspons edit and the controversial Fight Club edit?) and this time too have played out. All mentions of a past romance between Dumbledore and Grindelwald have been edited out of the movie.
About six seconds of the movie, including the dialogues, "because I was in love with you" and "the summer Gellert and I fell in love" were cut from the official release. Back in 2007, Harry Potter series' author JK Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was gay, but, until the Secrets of Dumbledore, the movies had never mentioned the character’s sexuality.
Dumbledore is the first character from the Wizarding World that has now been confirmed as a member of the LGBTQA+ community, a big news and a reason for celebration in the community.
Warner Bros accepted China's removal request and in a statement to Variety said, "As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors. Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators, but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets."
Talking about the edit, the studio said, "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 the requirements, but the spirit of the film remains intact. We want our audiences everywhere in the world to see and enjoy this film, and it’s important to us that Chinese audiences have the opportunity to experience it as well, even with these minor edits."
This is one of the big dialogue moments that have suffered through the China cut:
While Warner Bros may call editing out an important arc of a universally beloved character a minor edit, fans are absolutely not happy with the decision.
Here is what the fandom is saying:
1. "OPENLY GAY"
2. MADE IT EASY TO CUT-OUT
3. ONLY CARE ABOUT PROFIT
4. WHY ARE THEY BOWING?
5. DON'T PISS OFF CHINA
6. PUT A PRICE-TAG
7. THEY DON'T REALLY CARE
8. OUTRAGEOUS
9. UN-GAYIFY
10. ART CENSORED TO MAKE COMMUNISTS HAPPY
NOT THE ONLY CONTROVERSY: The China edit isn't the only controversy Warner Bros finds itself knee-deep in. One of the lead characters, Ezra Miller, who plays the role of Credence Barebone, was recently arrested in Hawaii on multiple charges, which led the studio to pause all future projects with him.
Unlike complying to the China edit, Warner Bros decision to pause projects with Ezra has been appreciated by fans and now they have been demanding for Grant Gustin to replace him as Flash in the DCEU.
Not only Ezra, but author and producer of the Fantastic Beasts series, JK Rowling is also well-known for her transphobic comments. Back in June 2020, JK Rowling sparked controversy when she reshared an article and wrote, "'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
As expected, Twitter and other social media platforms did not take this positively and called it a 'transphobia manifesto'. Her repeated incidents of transphobia has also led to two US Quidditch teams announcing a name-change in order to distance themselves from the author.