With the upcoming release of “Wuthering Heights,” starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, I have been getting a lot of advertisements for it, specifically on TikTok. There are already very clear problems with this adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel. I’m not going to go too much into that aspect of it, but the main problem is that it strips the social critiques present in the novel and reduces it to a love story. This is made increasingly clear in the advertisements for the movie.
On the official “Wuthering Heights” and Warner Bros. TikTok pages, the movie is being marketed to people who “love close proximity,” “friends to lovers fans,” and “jealousy trope lovers” to name a few that I’ve seen. The movie is disregarding very important elements from the novel, succumbing to the recently established trend of selling things through popular tropes rather than actual content.
I have nothing against tropes. They are a fun way to categorize events and relationships in media and can be very helpful when people are seeking out their next show or book. However, the second tropes diminish the subject’s complexity or only allow itself to fit exactly into the trope mold is when I have a problem with it. Tropes can be really helpful tools when used correctly, but the constant reliance on it makes me wonder if tropes are draining certain media of their complexity before they even have a chance on the market. Does the reliance on these tropes when it comes to marketing media dilute the overall message and themes or summarize it in an efficient and audience captivating way?
As a reader and a writer, my TikTok for you page constantly finds itself on BookTok, a genre of TikTok videos where readers discuss books. I have seen so many videos of people telling others to read their favorite books based on the tropes present. I see it used most often for romance and fantasy books (especially with the rise of romantasy recently). This makes sense because tropes in these are very central to the plot, and readers often have preference. But it is kind of funny when someone recommends tropes like “enemies to lovers;” the relationship loses its element of surprise.
This now brings me to writing. While tropes can be really helpful tools and starting points for building complex relationships, I believe it is essential that these tropes are not set in stone. While writing, you should allow your characters to outgrow their starting trope. Let them be unique. When it is not fleshed out and personalized, when a writer forces their characters to stay in a certain box, it becomes a cliche.
It’s important not to overly rely on tropes while reading or writing. This allows a new generation of media that can get away with being devoid of complexity. Where relationships and situations no longer have to be nuanced as long as they fit into this cookie-cutter idea. While it’s not super notable currently, with releases of movies like “Wuthering Heights,” it is quickly becoming our reality. Complex stories are being reduced and changed to fit into new standards tropes have created.