Recently, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about a character named “Nagini,” from the Harry Potter World. Ever since the trailer for “Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” was released, controversy centering the casting of Nagini has aroused. The movie cast Claudia Kim, a South Korean actress, as Nagini. So, what’s the big deal here? Why are fans freaking out about this?
Here’s why: In the Harry Potter series, Nagini is a cursed woman who is stuck in a snake’s body and is able to shift back and forth between snake and human. She’s also famous for being the pet of the main villain, Lord Voldemort. Her role throughout the story is to provide Lord Voldemort her venom milk to sustain his life. Even though people have always advocated diversity in films, the casting of Nagini has made many people feel uneasy. As the only woman of color in the movie, Claudia Kim is not only portraying a submissive character, but she is also a white man’s pet.
It’s quite clear that casting Nagini as Asian further perpetuates the “submissive” stereotype we have seen in the movie industry; throughout film’s history, Asian women have always been cast as servant-like or less-than characters. In Nagini’s case, she dies when Lord Voldemort is killed because her life is dependent on his, indicating that she’s property of her master, rather than an individual. Moreover, Nagini doesn’t have her own personality or voice throughout the series. Her whole life is defined as the subordinate of Lord Voldemort. Playing both a snake and a piece of property, doesn’t this narrative reinforce the ideology that Asian women are secondary, inferior, and weak?
After the controversy went viral, J.K. Rowling came out and explained through Twitter; she claimed that she got her Nagini inspiration from an Indonesian mythical creature, Naga, and how Indonesia is comprised of multiple ethnic groups, such as Chinese, Javanese, and Betawi. While some saw this as an adequate explanation, it actually isn’t–it only makes the situation even worse. First off, Claudia Kim isn’t Chinese or Southeast Asian, she’s Korean. This is a classic case of the West generalizing the East by lumping us into one big group. By explaining her stance like this, J.K. Rowling’s tone is both ignorant and disrespectful. Furthermore, Amish Tripathi, an author who has expertise in Naga, even pointed out J.K. Rowling’s use of false information. He corrected her by saying that Naga is actually a mythology rooted in India, and was only brought to Indonesia during the Hindu empire. Although Claudia Kim herself has also defended the movie by saying that she feels honored to represent Asia in a Hollywood movie, this is still an issue worth pondering.
While media has been the easiest way to represent minorities, it has also been the easiest way to misrepresent minorities. We know that every person’s heritage should be cherished, valued, and properly represented–we can only hope that Hollywood will one day learn the same thing.
Generasian 
No offense but I think that you and the rest of the fanbase that is upset about this is taking the story completely the wrong way and are focusing on the wrong thing. First of all, her character as Nagini in the Fantastic Beasts series is COMPLETELY separate from the Nagini snake character in the Harry Potter series. Her role here follows her journey dealing with her condition as a maledictus and how she feels shunned by society. She and Ezra Miller’s character as Credence become fast friends after meeting each other as they both feel alone and abandoned and take comfort in each other. Even Claudia Kim states that she is more than happy with her role and is glad to bring more exposure to asian women in prominent roles in Hollywood.
Even in the Harry Potter series, I think to say that Nagini is simply a pet to Voldemort is grossly oversimplifying it. Their relationship is more of a partnership, as he relies more on her to provide him with her venom for survival, and they both protect and look out for each other. She proves to be more powerful than most witches and wizards and is a very efficient assassin.
Also, since we just found out that Nagini is in fact a maledictus in the Harry Potter series, we don’t know what happens to her once she becomes a snake permanently. Is she still herself and have her humanity inside? Or is she a completely different character after her curse takes hold? We don’t know. This information if provided would again completely change our view of her character.
Her character is EXTREMELY complex and I for one am excited to see how it all unfolds in the upcoming movie.
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