Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald seems to be in the news for all the wrong reasons.
First the makers of the film courted controversy for casting Johnny Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore's friend and a powerful dark wizard, despite accusations of domestic abuse against the actor by his former wife Amber Heard.
Now, with the release of the film's final trailer, it seems there are more controversies in store for the film.
The trailer revealed that South Korean actress Claudia Kim would be portraying the role of Nagini. Yes, the infamous snake and Lord Voldemort's seventh 'horcrux' - that contained a part of his soul - in the Harry Potter series.
Excuse me...? Is our Parselmouth rusty? Did Credence just say 'Nagini?! Previously only known as 'the Maledictus', Claudia Kim's character has been named and it seems we're getting a Nagini backstory... pic.twitter.com/cPtYJuwENc — Pottermore (@pottermore) September 25, 2018
Although the internet celebrates any and every case of inclusion in movies, it has not been kind to Claudia's portrayal of the iconic character from the Potter series, with several users slamming it as a case of misrepresentation and, in fact, racism.
JKR's Fantastic Beasts universe was truly the most disgusting thing to ever happen to Harry Potter and Harry James Potter (the character)'s legacy. — Natalie (@wednesdaydreams) September 25, 2018
besides her fascist domestic abuser casting, she has a queer coded character that becomes a source of evil in the first film and is literally being //groomed// by fascist evil big bad. — Natalie (@wednesdaydreams) September 25, 2018
im still so disgusted by the way she wrote Credence and his condition and turns out her writing can get worse! Nagini is basically Voldemort's SERVANT and PET forced to do his bidding for life because it's a giant evil snake right — Natalie (@wednesdaydreams) September 25, 2018
now it turns out Nagini is a giant evil Asian snake woman jesus christ and don't forget Nagini is also a horcrux???????????????? like... what the FUCK. — Natalie (@wednesdaydreams) September 25, 2018
jk rowling: "wow im so liberal for having nagini actually be an enslaved asian woman who has a curse that can only be passed to women!! also, even though nagini is stolen from south asian mythology, we cast an east asian woman!! ha ha hashtag progress :^))))) — eggslut (@eggnuggets) September 25, 2018
issue isn't that nagini's a villain, but that she's barely a character at all. presumably enslaved, as humanoid pet & before as circus act, but w/no redemption arc as her death in DH is a fun victory for Good. & nagini is SE Asian iconography used as EAsian snake/dragon lady — ryen (@RyeriLim) September 26, 2018
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) September 25, 2018
@jk_rowling listen Joanne, we get it, you didn't include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage. Representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation. https://t.co/UIrR7yiKQD — Jen Moulton (@J_A_Moulton) September 26, 2018
Perhaps tired of receiving the brickbats by the dozen, J.K. Rowling decided to stage an intervention and offer her side of the story.
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) September 26, 2018
However, Rowling was targeted for being misinformed about the origin of nagas by none other than the author of the bestselling fiction series Secret of the Nagas, Amish Tripathi, who schooled Rowling about the true origin of the nagas.
Actually @jk_rowling the Naga mythology emerged from India. It travelled to Indonesia with the Indic/Hindu empires that emerged there in the early Common Era, with the influence of Indian traders and Rishis/Rishikas who travelled there. Nagin is a Sanskrit language word. https://t.co/cXHSlDD7Kc — Amish Tripathi (@authoramish) September 26, 2018
Amish's take-down led to several users calling out Rowling's ignorance and pointing out the hypocrisy of white culture which appropriates minorities.
What ? Nagas are Indonesian ? They are in Mahabharata. https://t.co/7wsYwVMO2y — Arnab Ray (@greatbong) September 27, 2018
Waiting for Rowling to acknowledge your tweet and recognise her inadequate awareness about Asian mythology. — Monica (@TrulyMonica) September 27, 2018
Don't I know that she won't. I see scholars in my field flocking to read about South Asia from shoddy books produced in the west. We are the subject, we are the market but they have the power to tell our stories :) — Monica (@TrulyMonica) September 27, 2018
JK ROWLINGS bigotry & whitewashing of ancient cultures and practices is disgusting. Naga concept originated via ancient(yet living) culture for Hindus and you totally omit that I formation. Why continue you to use your white privilege to whitewash hindu culture. #nagini — The Chakra (@ChakraNews) September 26, 2018
Surprised at her ignorance - Nagini is pervasive in India/ and she named a character in her book after this — Nishka Krishna (@NishkaK) September 26, 2018