J.K. Rowling: ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Mirrors Cultural Trends; Dumbledore’s Sexuality Revealed? [VIDEO]
By"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling claims that world issues and trends influence her writing and these are mirorred in the movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." The author also openly talked about the sexuality of Albus Dumbledore, who will have his story unraveled in the five part prequel series.
The "Fantastic Beasts" is about the adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), whose search for magical beasts brought him to New York. This is still Harry Potter universe, but in a different era, 90 years earlier.
Novelist J.K. Rowling penned the screenplay for the "Fantastic Beasts." This is her first ever screenplay, but the author had extensive exposure to script writing while making the Harry Potter films.
She recently spoke with NY Times during the movie premiere of the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" in New York. Rowling affirmed that the rise of populism is very much reflected in her writing. She believes in the power of the regular people and their right to governance.
Many of her protagonists in the movie are regular people who are asked to do extraordinary things. This did not spare even the muggle Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who is an example of the regular person inadvertently thrust into an unknown world and must learn how to survive.
Only in the movie, Kowalski gets involved in the world of magic and encounters beings that he has never seen the likes of which before. The roaring twenties, where the movie is supposedly happening, is a tumultuous period in American history, which created a lot of conflicts not much different with the muggle versus wizard tension.
Moreover, Rowling is also open to exploring Dumbledore's backstory and his questionable sexuality according to Variety. She admits that there is much to unravel about the young Dumbledore in the movie who started out as a very troubled man.
Viewers will just have to see all five installments to know more. The "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" opens on Nov. 18.