Fantastic Beasts and the "Other"

Fantastic Beasts is a film series that enraptured audiences from around the world with its mystical creatures and wondrous magic. But more than that, its a series that encapsulates the superiority felt by empires and groups across history and their mistreatment of groups that they deemed different from them.

In the series, the main antagonist is Grindelwald, a wizard who believes that magic is "granted to those who live for higher things" and that therefore, as superior beings, it is the destiny and right of wizards to rule over non wizards. He preaches that wizards ruling the world will be better for "all of humanity". This concept seems straight out of the United State's idea of manifest destiny (and other colonial forces) who justified their violent takeover of native's lands by claiming that it was their God-given right and that the natives couldn't take care of themselves and therefore it was their burden to help them.

The movies reject this idea of inferiority by having a no-maj (non-wizard), Jacob, play a prominent role, aiding Newt in all of his quests and being romantically involved with the wizard Queeny. After the ministry captures Grindelwald, all the no-majs are suppose to have their memories erased. However, by a miracle, Jacob still remembers his adventures and relationships, proving that he is indispensable.

Newt himself is trapped between two worlds- those of his fellow wizards and those of the creatures he tries to save. This mixing of worlds causes Newt much misfortune. As a consequence of caring for misunderstood magical creatures, he is estranged from wizards around him, stating that everyone finds him "annoying." However, since he is not a magical creature, he can not truly fit into their world either. Because of one of his creatures, Newt is expelled from Hogwarts for “endangering” students. When he accidently lets some of his creatures lose in New York, he is blamed and sentenced for the destruction of the city, even though none of his creatures caused the damage. Newt's predicament reflects the challenges of many others who are trapped in the borderlands between cultures, countries, or languages. At the same time, it is this uniqueness that allows Newt to triumph where others (like the ministry) could not and help wizards and magical beasts understand each other.

After the destruction of the city, Newt's creatures are taken away from him by the Ministry of Magic, presumably to be killed for being “dangerous”. However, Newt asserts that none of his creatures are actually dangerous, simply misunderstood. He proves this fact several times in the movie by easily calming down endangered creatures that the ministry would have killed.

Newt recapturing the Occamy by luring it into a teapot

Similarly, in the novel Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate defends a group of “barbarians” that the townspeople are beating for fun, saying that they are human beings (like the townsfolk) and that they are all miracles of creation. These instances exemplify the practice of people fearing and doing horrible things to other living beings because they do not understand them.

Another unfortunate victim of this label of "other" is Credence. Having grown up among no-majs, he is forced to suppress his magic for fear of being persecuted. This leads to his magic running wild, causing destruction which Newt's creatures are blamed for. The ministry's solution? Kill him. To the wizarding world, Credence is no longer considered one of them since his magic is out of control and they fear his unknown power. They fail to recognize that he is simply a frightened kid.

It is this unfamiliarity that allows groups of people to draw lines between themselves and view others as different and inferior. From this man-made concept of superiority, they justify their horrific actions and judge them on a different moral standard, like how many people would not think twice about stepping on a bug.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is more than a simple fantasy film that you watch and subsequently forget about. Because it is fantasy, it can address issues in an implicit light, allow viewers to understand its reasoning, and then have them be more aware of the problems in the real world. Fantastic Beasts demonstrates many of the historical workings of prejudice and orientalism that people have and continue to fight against today.

Yates, David, director. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Warner Bros, 2016.

Yates, David, director. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Warner Bros, 2018.