Posted in: Harry Potter, Movies, Warner Bros, Wizarding World | Tagged: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, harry potter, movies, Warner Bros, wizarding world

WB Defends Cutting 6 Seconds From Fantastic Beasts To Make It Not Gay

China has a longstanding history of censoring and editing Western movies, and one of the things that get edited out the most is any form of LGBTQIA+ representation. The previous Fantastic Beasts movie, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, did the male equivalent of "gal pals" with Dumbledore and Grindelwald despite it being pretty much accepted and explained that they were in a relationship of some sort. The new movie, set to be released in North America this Friday, decided that they weren't going pussyfoot around the issue as much. Still, they didn't exactly make something in terms of landmark representation despite what some people on Twitter might be telling you. There is no greater proof that the representation is barely there as the statement from Warner Bros. defending their decision to allow China to cut six seconds worth of dialogue, yes, you read that right, a whole six seconds, in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore to make it not gay enough so it can play in Chinese cinemas.

"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," it said. "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," the statement adds. "We want 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."

It's exactly two lines of dialogue, one spoken in the first scene of the movie and another that is spoken in the latter part of the first to the second act, and nothing else in the movie was changed. So, now this begs the question if your representation was so paper-thin that all it took was cutting six seconds to make the text back into subtext, is that representation? [Answer: no, no it is not, you barely got any brownie points as it is]. It's still unclear whether or not there is going to be an audience for a third Fantastic Beasts film and there are reportedly still two more films on the way. Maybe next time we can get over ten seconds worth of representation, maybe even a full minute, if we're lucky.

Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches, and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald's growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?

The film features an ensemble cast led by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law (Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley), Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, and Mads Mikkelsen. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling & Steve Kloves, based upon a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. It will be released on April 15, 2022.

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