Yorkshire Moors, Erotica, and… Backlash?
- annalikeswriting
- 14 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Emerald Fennell takes on a new creative challenge: a remake of the iconic Wuthering Heights
By: Anna Oswald
A mix of Emily Bronte’s writing and Fennell’s unique style: bold color, insane landscape shots, and unsettledness. While Wuthering Heights is already harnessing excitement from bookworms and Saltburn fans alike, it has also gained strong criticism for casting and wardrobe.
The release of the film Saltburn in the winter of 2023 had viewers experiencing a plethora of emotions while in their theatre seats: entrancement in the film’s combination of darkness yet bold color in both shots and costume, intrigue at the characters’ inner demons clashing, and some very unsettling scenes. Topped with lavish parties in a hypnotic, lava lamp like lighting, pristine views of the English countryside, and repopularization of Sophie Ellis-Baxter’s iconic song “Murder on the Dancefloor” -– Saltburn was a dangerous, yet beautiful risk to hit the big screens.
But who is the mind behind Saltburn? The British director Emerald Fennell is no newcomer to the big screen — she was first recognized for her portrayal as Camilla Parker Bowles in “The Crown” before adopting her passion for storytelling as a writer for the second season of “Killing Eve”. She then made her directorial debut in her movie Promising Woman (2020), a comedy used as a vessel for heavier themes, for which she won an Academy Award. Saltburn, while admired for its boldness and unique aesthetic, served as a satire for status and privilege.
Fennell’s newest project is her adaptation of Wuthering Heights — the highly acclaimed novel by the 19th-century author Emily Bronte. The passionate, yet destructive love affair between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in the dark, wild moors has been a personal favorite story of Fennell’s since she was a teenager.
“I’ve been obsessed. I’ve been driven mad by this book,” Fennell expressed during the Bronte Women’s Writing Festival. “I know that if somebody else made it, I’d be furious… [It is] an act of extreme masochism to try and make a film of something that means this much to you.”
While there’s no doubt Fennell’s daring style and intense storytelling will make the film memorable, the film has already been collecting backlash.
Fennell confirmed through the trailer that Wuthering Heights will be an erotic film — showcasing the deep desire between Catherine and Heathcliff as one of the pillars of the movie. While the trailer has scenes considered “aggressively provocative,” Fennell highlights the relationship between the two characters as “primal, sexual.”
The film has also received backlash for the casting of Catherine (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). Many fans are against Robbie (an actress in her thirties) portraying a freshly 18-year-old Catherine. Fennell defends her choice of Robbie for the role, however, stating that Robbie parallels the novel’s protagonist in that she is “not like anyone [Fennell]’s ever met.” The director describes Catherine as a “sadist” and believes that the character “needed somebody like Margot…somebody who has a power, an otherworldly power, a godlike power, that means people lose their minds.”
Elordi’s portrayal of Heathcliff has received criticism because of the character’s racial description in the novel. Heathcliff is described to have dark eyes, hair, and skin and an appearance similar to the Romani people. Some critics argue that a black actor should portray Heathcliff. However, Fennell justified her decision, explaining that seeing Elordi with sideburns while filming Saltburn gave him a resemblance to Dirk Bogarde, and reminded her of the image of Heathcliff on her first copy of Wuthering Heights.
Furthermore, a paparazzi photo of Robbie wearing a wedding dress for the novel’s wedding scene went viral and sparked further outrage among Wuthering Heights fans due to lack of historical accuracy in the wardrobe. The wedding dress is a large, puffy, glittery off-the-shoulder ball gown, accompanied by a huge veil, a diamond tiara, and a bright bouquet.
Regardless of your stance on the casting or wardrobe, this Valentine’s Day weekend will see lots of movie theater traffic — whether rekindling a love for literature, love for Fennell’s eccentric cinematography, or unmatched, passionate scenes between our two sultry Australian superstars.
Anna Oswald is a Microbiology & Cell Science Major and French Minor, as well as an online writer for Rowdy Magazine.