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"

I Googled and found this quote: "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" has been edited in China due to references to a gay relationship in the film. A total of 6 seconds was removed from the 142-minute film....so much for being "openly gay".

— TuesdayGrey (@BlabTuesdays) April 13, 2022

2. MADE IT EASY TO CUT-OUT

translating : fantastic beasts 3 is so incredibly progressive they only had to cut 6 seconds of the movie in china to censor dumbledore's sexuality, which means it was made on purpose to make it easy to cut out and still post marketing around it (what a surprise) https://t.co/iw75OrhqYI

— LEHA ?️‍?✨ TOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHTOHT (@veegender) April 12, 2022

3. ONLY CARE ABOUT PROFIT

The movie is produced by @warnerbros. They made the choice to allow the content to be censored in order for the movie to be played in China, and profit from that distribution deal. They could have chosen not to. They decided that it's worth it to censor gay people. Consider that. pic.twitter.com/FxPxM4TTu8

— Daniel Camilo (@DanielOlimac) April 9, 2022

4. WHY ARE THEY BOWING?

5. DON'T PISS OFF CHINA

Warner Bros. Removes 'Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore' Dialogue About Gay Relationship for China - Yeah Hollywood, don’t piss off China! You hypothetical POS! https://t.co/wml1AIXIoL

— Steve Mudflap McGrew’s REMASCULATE Podcast! (@REMASCULATE) April 12, 2022

6. PUT A PRICE-TAG

It'd be great if Warner Brothers could put an exact dollar-figure price tag on selling out gay people, just for clarity's sake. https://t.co/kKRPG6e2jU

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) April 12, 2022

7. THEY DON'T REALLY CARE 

If Warner Bros really did care about the LGBT+ Fantastic Beast 3 would have never been released in China aka money over standing up for what's right hey WB? #FantasticBeasts #FantasticBeasts3 #HarryPotter #WarnerBros #ComicsFeel Free to Sub :DLink: https://t.co/N406c2Fetx pic.twitter.com/NFMsble9ko

— Retro-Cheating :D (@RetroCheating) April 13, 2022

8. OUTRAGEOUS

Warner Bros. censors own film to eliminate reference to a gay relationship so they can distribute it in China: “Historically we have faced small edits made in local markets. In ‘Fantastic Beasts’, a six-second cut was requested. WB accepted those changes.” This is outrageous.

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 13, 2022

9. UN-GAYIFY

It only took China removing SIX SECONDS of JK Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" movie to un-gayify it, by the way.What does that say?https://t.co/XxlhxdBTCe

— Wizarding News™ (@HPANA) April 12, 2022

10. ART CENSORED TO MAKE COMMUNISTS HAPPY 

You’re censoring your art to appease the communists in China ? Laughable!! #FantasticBeasts #FantasticBeasts3 #HarryPotter #China #censorship #China pic.twitter.com/eeK3NGuftC

— Taiwan Yeshua (@TaiwanYeshua) April 13, 2022

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.