Fantastic Beasts producer responds to diversity criticism.
You might think the controversial news that America’s Muggles are to be known as “No-Majs” would be more than enough JK Rowling-related revelation for one week. The forthcoming “Harry Potter” prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” doesn’t come out until next year, but it is already receiving criticism for the lack of diversity among the principal cast (lead actors Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Ron Perlman are all white).”Eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander (Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne) comes to New York (for a reason we won’t disclose) with his trusty weathered case. We shot Oscar winning star Eddie Redmayne on a mammoth Warner Bros. stage outside London that contains the movie’s enormous MACUSA set (that’s the Magical Congress of the United States of America, as you should know by now if you’ve been following our blow-out Fantastic Beasts coverage this week). As part of Entertainment Weekly’s package about the film, executive producer David Heyman spoke to the magazine about these criticisms, which also dogged the Harry Potter franchise.
This case is one of those way-way-way-bigger-on-the-inside magical devices, and within are expansive habitats for a collection of rare and endangered magical creatures from Newt’s travels around globe. There’s more contained in this photo (full size below, or click the above version) than you might realize, and below is your breakdown guide to several subtle details: 1.
The EW story characterizes the backlash as “ironic, because ‘Fantastic Beasts’ is actually a story about acceptance.” “Like all of Jo Rowling’s works, [‘Fantastic Beasts’] is populated with a variety of people and that will be the same in this series over the course of the films,” Heyman explained. “There will be people of various types of ethnicities,” he continued. “In New York in the 1920s, there was a segregation between white and black, the neighborhoods were largely separate, and that is reflected in [the film]. He discovers the American wizarding community is fearfully hiding from Muggles (who are called “No-Maj” in the States … ) and the threat of public exposure is an even graver concern than in the UK (remember the Salem witch trials?). When news broke that Rowling was to pen her debut screenplay for the first in a new trilogy set in the wizarding world 70 years before Harry Potter and co turned up at Hogwarts, most imagined Fantastic Beasts as a sort of magical Indiana Jones-style adventure in which the swashbuckling wizard set off to track down a different colourful nastie in each film. But it now reports that the movie’s storyline will be deeper, richer, and possibly a lot more like the plot of the original Ghostbusters – with a little bit of X-Men thrown in. While this Fantastic Beasts stage is a rather massive 250 feet long and 50 feet high, the ceiling will be extended with special effects to reach nearly 700 feet to represent “an empty cathedral of light, a hugely impressive, brilliantly lit space,” says production designer Stuart Craig. 2.
But given that the film is about a group of Wizarding world outcasts in 1920s America who are subject to persecution and discrimination by non-Wizards, it’s disappointing that the filmmakers opted to make all the principal characters white, while people of color are left to fill in the background “organically.” Heyman’s appeal to historical housing segregation patterns might make more sense if this was a period film and not a movie about goddamn wizards, where presumably all sorts of magical events might occur, like an actor of color — or even more than one! — being tapped to star in the latest installment of this beloved blockbuster franchise. At best, they are patronised (by the more benevolent denizens of the wider wizard world) as moronic curiosities; at worst, they are treated as impotent subhuman imbeciles (by the death eaters and their ilk). But America’s Muggles appear to be a far more threatening breed – and it suddenly makes sense that Rowling has handed them the new moniker “No-Maj”.
Entertainment Weekly reveals that America’s witches and wizards, far from manipulating helpless Muggles from behind the scenes, live in fear of persecution from their No-Maj counterparts. GOLD, NOT JUST FOR SNITCHES ANY LONGER: Loosely based on the interior of the Gothic art-deco American Radiator Building in midtown Manhattan, the MACUSA design includes a heavy use of gold to “bring a richness to the decoration.
The images represent our first proper look at Redmayne’s Scamander, who has a dandyish Doctor Who look about him, with bow tie, colourful long coat and waistcoat. Chief among the anti-magic brigade will be Samantha Morton’s Mary Lou, leader of a group known as the Second Salemers, who are out to “expose and destroy wizards and witches”. Also seen is Katherine Waterston as Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, Scamander’s likely American love interest, and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). Earlier this week, we caught our first glimpse of Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne as Scamander, showing off a look that might easily have been inspired by Doctor Who.
Now it appears that reference might not have been entirely accidental, for we’re told that Newt’s old-fashioned briefcase is really a repository for storing various beasties in life-sized environments. Studio Warner Bros will be hoping the film can repeat the staggering success of the eight Harry Potter movies, which have grossed more than $7.7bn (£5bn) worldwide.
After all, any witch or wizard in his or her right mind would, presumably, be able to escape the clutches of Mary Lou and her brigade with a simple disapparation spell?
