Can you, and Should you, Look at The Secrets of Dumbledore Objectively?
Recently I rewatched Edgar Wright’s 2017 film, Baby Driver. It was a film I adored when it came out but now it has a complicated legacy due to the unfortunate involvement of Kevin Spacey. The film got lucky and was released a few months before everything came to light about Mr. Spacey. It begs the age old question, can you separate the art from the artist?
In the case of Baby Driver it can be uncomfortable to watch but it’s hard not to admire the craftsmanship, the other actors and the soundtrack. Maybe, because we are five years removed from its release date but it’s a little easier to watch now. The real world consequences still loom large but it’s hard to deny it’s a well made film.
Then we reach Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, a film so marred by controversy that one scandal wasn’t even present when I saw the film a few weeks ago. So can we, and should we, look at the film through an objective lens? Can we separate the scandals from the film and view it only as a stand alone piece of cinema? Let’s look at the issues surrounding the film.
The Rowling in the Room
One of the biggest controversies surrounding Harry Potter and the Wizarding World is series author J.K. Rowling’s frankly, bigoted views, on transgender people and more specifically trans women. If you aren’t in the loop on that give a quick search, I’m not reprinting her comments here.
Since her remarks and multiple times where she doubled down on those comments, Warner Brothers has done what they can to distance themselves from Rowling. From not inviting her to the HBO Max reunion special (using archive footage), to keeping her off of red carpets and having Steve Kloves rewrite the latest screenplay. But it’s not enough. Warner Brothers wants to have their cake and eat it too. Rather than fully firing her (I’m not sure they can anyway) they continue to work with her but keep her away as much as possible. This way they can try to appeal the base that disagrees with her and the base that agrees with her. Instead they have just alienated everyone.
This is franchise that was based on love and acceptance of who you are. Now it’s forever synonymous with Rowling’s comments. Which are hard to look past when her name is all over the franchise. This new installment is being billed as “Return to the Magic” which feels like “Return to the Magic” unless you are trans.
Out of Their Depp
Looking past the creator’s comments this is a franchise that has now weathered a major casting change. The franchise bad guy Gellert Grindelwald has now been played by three actors, Colin Farrell (technically he was in disguise), Johnny Depp and now Mads Mikkelsen. Johnny Depp was famously replaced after he lost a libel case against publication The Sun calling him a wife beater.
Warner Brothers decision to replace Depp was a blessing in disguise as he was terribly miscast from the beginning. His Grindelwald was cartoonish, one dimensional, and too much for the franchise. Mikkelsen should have been the first choice from the beginning. But how do you reckon with such a public recasting? One that not even a movie featuring magical transformations and potions doesn’t acknowledge?
There is a small but very vocal group of people who wish to see Depp reinstalled in the franchise but trust me, we are better off with Mads.
Gone in a Flash
Lastly we have Ezra Miller who has been a major player in both this franchise and Warner Brothers’ DC Comics properties as well. Ezra plays Credence in the Fantastic Beasts and the Flash in the DC movies, has been running around beating up people and threatening couples in hotel rooms in Hawaii. Just bad press all around for them.
Miller has been getting in so much trouble apparently Warner Brothers had to have an emergency meeting about them. Things aren’t looking great for Miller continuing on with either franchise.
Beasts of Burden
So when you sit down to watch The Secrets of Dumbledore do you take this baggage with you? Do you look at Mads Mikkelsen and compare him to Depp? Do you roll you eyes at moments of inclusion that creator doesn’t share? Do you see Credence and picture the things Miller has done? Or do you turn it all off and just enjoy the film?
I’m not here to give you the answer. I’m here to let you make that decision yourself. In a world of cancel culture I think you need to take a critical look at the film. It stands on its own as a somewhat decent film, one that will play well to Potterheads who won’t turn their back on the franchise no matter what. But to the general audience is the film too marred with real world controversies to be enjoyed?
I don’t think you can view it without thinking of everything surrounding the film and maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe you should approach it knowing everything behind it and knowing that it’s a film trying to sweep it all under the rug, that does too little to make it right. With all art, it is subjective, and Dumbledore is no different. You can view it through whatever lens you want to but I believe you should be informed and make the decision yourself.
Personally, it was easy to accept the new Grindelwald even though the lack of in-universe acknowledgement was jarring. It was harder to move past Rowling though. Her comments have forever tainted Harry Potter for me, and I don’t mean it’s unwatchable or unenjoyable, it’s simply now part of what the franchise is now. It will never be able to be what it was.
Much like Baby Driver or those unfortunate episodes of Parks and Recreation where Louie C.K. shows up, that will forever be associated with these terrible men, you can still see the art for what it was intended for but not what it should have been.
J. Scott Sibley is a filmmaker, and writer and produer of Instant Movie Reviews. You can find more of his writing on instantmoviesreviews.com
