Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights has been a topic of conversation since it was announced. The Saltburn writer and director adapted the Emily Brontë novel with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi playing her Catherine and Heathcliff.
Many fans of the novel have pointed out that Brontë did not write Heathcliff as a white man. Fans also commented on the costuming we’ve seen from filming. And while their criticisms are valid, there is one thing that has me wondering what Fenell is actually bringing to fans. Because while it is “Wuthering Heights,” I don’t think she’s just giving us an adaptation of the Brontë novel.
The first poster and trailer for the film were released this week and what many fans instantly noticed was the use of quotes in the poster for the film.
You might think that the quotation marks don’t mean anything and they might not. It might simply be something as simple as an aesthetic choice but I do think it is interesting that, so far, what we know about Fennell’s take on the novel does seem very different from the original work.
Then the trailer was released and the explicit sexual themes and imagery makes it feel like this is less of an actual adaptation of Wuthering Heights and more of an exploration of romance stories an our collective obsession with them.
And if you notice, the quotation marks are also in the trailer. What does it mean? Is Fennell planning on doing something different with our ideas of Wuthering Heights? Or am I looking too much into the use of punctuation? Whatever it is, I do think it is an interesting choice nonetheless.
Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, which she also wrote, is set to be released this coming Valentine’s Day so at least we have a romance to consume our holiday, right?
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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