Has BookTok tarnished historical romance, or is Emerald Fennell just out to torture us?
*MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!*
Going into this movie, I was certain of two things: I had not read the book, and the trailers gave me the highest level of ick known to man. Still, I was curious about all the buzz and decided to see if the movie was worth it.
It was not.
If you are familiar with Emerald Fennell’s latest work, you know it’s erotic-driven and shocking. Some have joked she spins everything into a lesser, more BDSM-centric version of the original material (Talented Mr. Ripley vs Saltburn). Unfortunately, this can be said about her take on Wuthering Heights. The amount of erotic, painfully horny yearning scenes left me feeling both very embarrassed to be in that theater and also inclined to believe she missed the point of the book.
Despite all of this, I would argue that she betrays her audience by not making it kinky enough! If you are going to advertise a movie as salacious, there is no room to straddle the line. By hesitating to commit to the bit, the scenes feel forced, off-putting, and plain wrong. I fear this may be why the hype died so soon…
As I have said, I never read the novel. However, hearing everything omitted for the sake of her “teen girl edgy” adaptation was sad to me. The abuse Catherine endured was completely overshadowed by her sick entwine with Heathcliff. Heathcliff’s wife’s abuse was turned into a sad fetish. And his struggles with being dark-skinned were completely omitted. Instead, Fennell decided to cast Jacob Elordi, a very obviously white man. I love you, Jacob Elordi, but this was not it.
Speaking of, this movie has fully convinced me that Jacob Elordi has a humiliation kink. Why, oh why, does he subject himself to starring in horrid movies where he has to act out the most degrading things? The stardom is secured, I promise you do not need to be doing this!
Overall, maybe I can thank this movie for reaffirming what I already knew about myself: I do not like smutty romance. I do not like Fennell’s directing. I do not agree with the opinions she formed from the novel. Most of all, I did not like sitting in a theater wondering what everyone else was thinking when Catherine was touching herself. But, hey, at least it didn’t feel long!