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When keeping it real goes wrong…
A couple of weeks ago it was revealed — by way of a new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — that a pivotal character in the world-renowned Harry Potter book series, a snake named Nagini, just so happened to be a woman. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a film adaptation of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is connected to the Harry Potter book series written by author J.K. Rowling. About 30 seconds into the trailer, South Korean actress Claudia Kim is shown transforming into a snake while saying her name is Nagini. At first glance, this revelation seemed harmless. However, many fans of Harry Potter felt otherwise.
Within the seven Harry Potter books written by Rowling — along with their accompanying movies — there was no mention of Nagini being a woman. Instead, this snake served the main antagonist of these books named Lord Voldemort, who is depicted as a cisgender White male — more on that later. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald reveals that Nagini is a maledictus, or a woman carrying a blood curse from birth which leads to them permanently shape-shifting into an animal. This retroactive change caused many to accuse Rowling of racism, most specifically because of how this now-Asian character spent her time as a snake serving a White man.
