Emerald Fennell’s newest film, “Wuthering Heights,” is taking the world by storm. Starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, the movie has been a worldwide success. However, criticisms of Fennell’s adaptation stem from the movie being a glorified fanfiction of the original literary work.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë was published in 1847, telling the jarring story of dysfunctional families, relationships, and the reality of racism and prejudice set in the Moors of England. The majority of criticism that first came when the casting was announced surrounded Jacob Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff. In the novel, Heathcliff’s entire storyline centers around the racism and abuse he faces due to his skin color. While his race is never specified, it is stated very plainly that Heathcliff is not white, and his abuse is caused by racism from his adopted family.
Fennell’s adaptation loosely follows the events in the first half of the novel, but it does not have the same effect as the original story. When Linton proposes to Catherine, she approaches Nellie with her predicament. While in love with Heathcliff, she states that it would demean her to marry Heathcliff, despite stating that their souls are the same. In the film, the assumption is that because Heathcliff has been forced into servitude by Hindley, Catherine cannot marry him, as he has no money of his own. The reality is that Catherine will not marry Heathcliff because it would demean her to marry a man who is not white. Remember, this is the 1800s in England, and the Earnshaws and Lintons are very wealthy, very white families.
Heathcliff’s rage does not just stem from being treated as less than because he was adopted and neglected, as Fennell’s adaptation portrays, but because his abuse comes from racism. When he leaves, joins the military, and gains his wealth, he is still not accepted by the Earnshaws or the Lintons, and he never will be because he is not white. His abuse of Isabella, Cathy, Hareton, and more is not justified but comes from years of being abused due to a simple fact about himself that he cannot change. Catherine will never accept her love for him because she cannot marry a man who is a person of color.
This is why I describe the 2026 film as a fanfic of the original work. Brontë wrote a novel that was revolutionary for the time. It being written by a woman was subversive in its own right, but writing a story focusing on the prejudice that many people still hold in our present day was incredible. There is no happy ending to Wuthering Heights, because it is not really a story of love. It is a story about the realities of the treatment of people of color.
Despite all these criticisms, I still enjoyed the film. I separate it from the actual story of Wuthering Heights and view it similarly to how I view the majority of bad book-to-movie adaptations. Fennell had a chance to make a statement by casting someone who would have been accurate to the story of Heathcliff but instead chose Jacob Elordi (who I love as an actor; this was just not an appropriate role for him). In the current political landscape of the United States, there was an opportunity to further the discussion of our government’s blatant abuse of people of color, but instead she chose to create a fantastical twisted romance.