‘Fantastic Beasts 2’ sparks controversy for racial insensitivity
Images via Warner Brothers
Words by Tara Smith
Problematic.
This week we received the final trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and while this is usually cause for celebration, the release was met with mixed reviews from fans.
The trailer revealed a huge twist, something that J.K. Rowling has kept secret for 20 years. Nagini was once a human, cursed to transform into a snake for increasingly long periods of time (before the transformation eventually became permanent).
But fans were quick to criticise the casting of Nagini as Claudia Kim – a Korean woman – citing the representation as racially insensitive.
Think about it: a woman of colour playing the role of evil (and a white man’s pet).
I feel like this is the problem when white people want to diversify and don’t actually ask POC how to do so. They don’t make the connection between making Nagini an Asian woman who later on is the pet of a white man. So I’m going to say it right now. That shit is racist.
— Ellen “Call Me General” Oh (@ElloEllenOh) 25 September 2018
wait so nagini is being played by an asian woman and she like…. becomes voldemort’s ”’pet”’???? is she…. is she a Fantastic Beast newt must Find???? oh this is bad. this is very very bad
— ✍ (@neonacropolis) 25 September 2018
Do…do the people behind Fantastic Beasts really not see the issue with having Nagini, Voldemort’s *pet* who is *beheaded* in the final book, actually be an Asian woman? *That’s* the Asian representation?
— Morgan York ??? (@morganyorkwrite) 25 September 2018
Let’s not forget that Wormtail milked Nagini to bring Voldemort back to power in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is a disturbing thought in its own right.
Rowling defended the casting with the below tweet:
The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’ They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day ?
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 26 September 2018
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Claudia Kim revealed her excitement in playing the role:
“It will be so interesting to see another side of Nagini. You’ve only seen her as a Horcrux. In this, she’s a wonderful and vulnerable woman who wants to live. She wants to stay a human being and I think that’s a wonderful contrast to the character.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is set for release on November 17.
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