Fantastic Beasts 2 Reveal About Nagini Has Some Unfortunate Implications

[Skanky Vamp]

Reposted from TMS
for you @Taake

Today it was revealed by the latest Fantastic Beasts trailer and Entertainment Weekly that Claudia Kim, in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is playing none other than Voldemort’s future Harry Potter series pet snake/Horcrux, Nagini.

Kim has not been able to speak on this issue for a year, because this completely changes the way we view the character. In the interview with EW, Kim says, “It will be so interesting to see another side of Nagini. You’ve only seen her as a Horcrux. In this, she’s a wonderful and vulnerable woman who wants to live. She wants to stay a human being, and I think that’s a wonderful contrast to the character.”

According to this expanded universe, “Nagini can transform from human to snake at will, yet due to her mysterious blood curse she knows that eventually, she’ll become a snake permanently,” which is why she will eventually be the serpent who helps Voldemort gain strength and becomes his constant companion.

J.K. Rowling said on Twitter that she had been keeping this secret for 20 years and that Nagini is a Human Maledictus, not an Animagus. The difference is that a maledictus is a “female individual whose blood was cursed from birth, eventually leading to them turning into a beast. The curse is passed down from mother to daughter,” and being an animagus is a learned, non-gendered skill.

In the books, it has been said that the Voldemort/Nagini relationship is unusually close, even for someone like Voldemort, who can talk to and control snakes. Dumbledore told Harry, “I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything. He certainly likes to keep her close and has an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth.” Nagini has been considered the only living thing he ever cared about, and knowing about her human side casts a totally different light on the relationship.

Now, this means that, at best, Voldemort was in love or had feelings for a woman-turned-snake, and he was her only mode of human contact that could understand her. At worst, and what is fundamentally kind of squicky about this whole thing, is that Voldemort was keeping a woman of color … as a pet?

I’m not exactly sure what it will add the to world of Harry Potter for us to know Nagini was a person, unless we are going to examine the fact that Neville Longbottom killed someone, along with the implications of Nagini being turned into an “it” and an object for a white man’s use—especially since her role in Crimes of Grindelwald is apparently to feel bad and support another sad white boy in Credence Barebone, who Kim describes as being the one who “encourages her to use her power.”

This is Rowling’s world, and she is allowed to expand it however she wants, but this feels like the second fourth? coming of the Native culture appropriation in Pottermore, when she explored the American Magical school Illvermorny. Yes, we have a new woman of color in the universe of Harry Potter … who is destined to lose control, turn into a serpent forever, and become the tool of one of the most powerful white wizards of all time?

 

[Ethan Reigns]

No, Nagini is destined to meet up with Aluwyn, fall madly in love, reject Voldemort and in the ensuing pursuit, Willow and Voldemort join forces to try and get their respective partners back. But then the wizard and the witch grow to appreciate each others' point of view and Willow becomes her true bisexual self and takes up with Voldemort. It becomes a new comic book series were Aluwyn and Nagini set up a snakepit together and Voldemort and Willow buy up a magic shop and plan to rule the world together.

 

[nightshade]

It also means that Neville actually killed a human

 

[thetopher]

We should all try and remember that nothing bad can ever happen to women of colour in fiction. Otherwise it becomes problematic.

 

[nightshade]

@Spanky Nagini has always been female though, so how has she turned into an it, she's female human turning into a female snake.

I love the idea of this, giving us a whole new level of history and magic. Blood curses being hereditary, only affecting the females.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

@Spanky Nagini has always been female though, so how has she turned into an it,

I don't know. Reading the article I assumed it was referred to as an it. And not a she by others. As it was a snake.

 

[nightshade]

Animals have pretty much all been referred to as a gender, Nagini and Hedwig were female. Fawkes, Fang and Pig (Ron's owl) male. If it was named it was referred to as he/she.

Knowing that Nagini doesn't die until later hopefully means that she will feature in the future films too.

 

[Taake]

I didn't like the first Fantastic Beasts Movie, I thought it was a waste of time and had no intention of seeing the second. Then I saw a clip of the cast talking where the actress who plays Nagini got to reveal her role (which she said was very emotional for her and she seemed super proud) and I was stunned and immediately went to look at the trailer - I thought she looks aaawesome. I think the whole idea is awesome. It was the only thing that got me excited about the movie actually, I genuinely feel like this is the biggest reveal since the actual horcruxes were explained in the books!

In the books, it has been said that the Voldemort/Nagini relationship is unusually close, even for someone like Voldemort, who can talk to and control snakes. Dumbledore told Harry, “I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything. He certainly likes to keep her close and has an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth.” Nagini has been considered the only living thing he ever cared about, and knowing about her human side casts a totally different light on the relationship.

Correct and I love it. We get to see Harry seeing through Nagini's Eyes, which is explained as her being part Voldemort and Harry too and it's all connected yadi-yadi-yada… but it actually makes 100% more sense to me if Nagini was an actual human/maledictus because her being a horcrux never explains why she seems capable of intelligent thought and reasoning. I love this new level to the Voldemort/Nagini relationship.

Now, this means that, at best, Voldemort was in love or had feelings for a woman-turned-snake, and he was her only mode of human contact that could understand her.

I wouldn't necessarily say love, and also, hey so what if he had feelings for a "woman-turned-snake", aren't we all about diversity these days and respecting people's chosen identities? Just saying. I know you've heard about "otherkins" and that's not even in a magical universe. 😛

At worst, and what is fundamentally kind of squicky about this whole thing, is that Voldemort was keeping a woman of color … as a pet?

Personally I always viewed Nagini as his companion, but even with that… no he's not keeping a woman of color as a pet. If she was still a woman, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care much about her. Look at how he treats Bellatrix, he tolerates her sure, but he does not confide in her as he does Nagini. He is drawn to her as a snake and as a snake only, because look at him, he basically looks like a snake himself. You can barely call him a man anymore, so I imagine that he's drawn to Nagini because she is, in fact, not a woman anymore. They have both crossed the boundaries of what is "human".

That said. Would it be better if she wasn't an actress of color? Though then it would still be subjugating a woman.
I suppose Rowling really made her first mistake when she made Nagini a "her" in the books, which she's very clear about, and should've kept her a genderless so they could've cast a white man Nagini, because no one would care then.

I’m not exactly sure what it will add the to world of Harry Potter for us to know Nagini was a person, unless we are going to examine the fact that Neville Longbottom killed someone, along with the implications of Nagini being turned into an “it” and an object for a white man’s use

A) It might explain how Voldemort hooked up with Nagini in the first Place
B) It adds another layer to the worldbuilding to know about maledicti (if I was really picky here I'd point out that "maledictus" is actually a male gendered word and grammatically, for Nagini, we should probably call her a "maledicta").

Also, Neville... Mrs. Weasly killed Bellatrix Lestrange… is that problematic? Nope. So I guess it's not that a woman was killed that's the problem. Or that someone was killed that's the problem. It's that a woman of color was killed, even though she's on the side of evil (a big taboo in itself?), by a white man. Sure. You know, when people see everything through the lense of races, it actually makes them seem kind of racist because you're reducing Claudia Kim to her skincolor.

I would also say that the fact that Neville killed someone makes the ending even better. It adds a layer of tragedy. They were fighting a war, lots of characters were dying left and right, that's what happens. The fact that Neville, by consequence of having to kill the snake-Nagini, also killed the woman Nagini, is a bit like Giles having to kill Ben to prevent Glory from returning. It's not pretty, but we can understand why it had to be done. But then, Ben was a white male, so clearly, again Rowling's mistake was making Nagini a woman.

Maybe it's because I tend to like the evil characters the most that I'm so jazzed though. If I was an actress I would throw myself over any "she's the villain" role because they're usually more complex and dynamic. So way to go, Claudia Kim! Can't wait to see you portray Nagini!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

To see Newt being friends with Bellatrix Lestrange in school. If he had gone forward in time then gone back to his school days, would he have called her Bella?

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

Despite declaring Dumbledore gay and Hermione's ethnicity ambiguous, Rowling shows no interest in telling the stories of marginalised groups in any of her very long books. The Harry Potter franchise is a juggernaut of inexplicably-special-magic-white-boy blandness, eclipsing almost everything else in the young adult fantasy genre. If you want different kinds of stories, I suggest looking for them elsewhere, because Rowling ain't gonna write them.

 

[Taake]

@Spanky I think so, I read the books this summer and while they're obviously from Harry's perspective, so you get very limited Voldemort crooning over Nagini, but I do think that there is enough there in the books to suggest that she was always more than a pet to him.

She is
a) the only living thing he intentionally made a horcrux (so she's literally carries a portion of his soul in her. I realize some people get very intense about their pets, I'm pretty nuts about my dog, but I don't want to merge my life essence with her… that's a different ballgame.)
b) it's the hardest one to get to because Voldemort rarely goes anywhere without her. Compare to the other horcruxes - he makes these things, and then he hides them in some pretty advanced places. As soon as he is made flesh again, Nagini is almost always with him. Also, when he sends her on missions, it's pretty much the "if you want something done, better do it yourself!" things she gets to do, i.e. he trusts her more than anyone else.

All in all, I think he treats the snake as a part of himself, not just as a pet. But there is room for interpretation I suppose. As mentioned, some people have very close relationships to their pets, who am I to judge.

 

[nightshade]

Tom Riddle wasn't born yet when this takes place, or was only just born, so I'm thinking he met her when she was no longer able to turn back into a human. He never new the human woman she was, although she could have told him about herself.