Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore Pitch Meeting
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Screen Rant's Pitch Meeting takes on Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in this week's installment. The latest entry in the ever-ballooning Wizarding World has been met with record low numbers for a Harry Potter film, with most critics lobbing their share of the blame at the feet of J.K. Rowling, noting that her skills as a novelist don't entirely translate to her skills as a screenwriter. But despite the many Harry Potter plotholes and retcons in Secrets of Dumbledore, audiences seem to be generally more positive about it than predecessor Crimes of Grindelwald.
The third film of a proposed five, Dumbledore finds its titular wizard (Jude Law) facing off against his old adversary/love interest Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen). Albus gathers a crack team of wizards, witches, and one Muggle to assist him in taking down Grindelwald, who faces a groundswell of support in his campaign to become Supreme Mugwump, the highest seat of power in the Wizarding World, and eradicate all Muggles. Because of a blood pact between the two wizards that permits them from doing outright harm to one another, Dumbledore comes up with a convoluted plan that politely asks audiences to not think about it too hard and just go with the flow.
This plan, which is less carefully constructed plot and more a series of "stuff happening" is one of the many points that get a ribbing in this weeks Pitch Meeting. Host Ryan George continues on his quest to lovingly poke holes in the logic of Hollywood's biggest films and franchises. The full video can be seen below:
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Most of the video's targets are plot-related, like how much of the of the film is focused on the nonsensical nature of the Wizarding world's political system. Also called out is how Albus uses Jacob, a Muggle, to fake an assassination attempt against Grindlewald by pretending to use magic, which would only seem to fuel anti-Muggle hatred all the more. Not to mention Tina's absence in the film. Tina (Katherine Waterston), an American witch and Auror who played a central role in the previous two installments, is written out of the plot with a rather lame excuse, not getting involved despite the fact her sister's become embroiled with the most powerful and evil wizard alive, and the fate of the world is in peril.
With such plot missteps making up the meat of the video and being audience's main grievances with the film, George's most pointed jab comes at another decision from the filmmakers. That long-teased exploration of Dumbledore as a gay man? It basically comes down to some brief exchanges between Grindlewald and Dumbledore that are "easy to edit out for China." This follows a consistent trend of big budget franchises from Disney, Marvel, Warner Brothers, and other companies wanting to tout inclusion to the LGBTQ community while actually being afraid of scaring off investors in foreign markets of countries that outlaw being a member of said community. In the face of her anti-trans views, J.K. Rowling majorly misses an opportunity here to make any small amends to the LGBTQ community by giving that facet of the character the time and importance it deserves. If a fourth film is greenlit, perhaps the secrets of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will be allowed more time in the light.
Source: Pitch Meeting