There is a lot of discourse surrounding Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Some of it is valid. Some of it is not. Like the criticism of Charli XCX doing the music for the film. That’s not really the hill to die on here.
Many theories have popped up about Fennell’s film, which is wrote and directed, since the debut of the poster and first trailer. My own being that this isn’t an adaptation of Wuthering Heights at all and there will be some twist in the film about it. But that’s my own thought on it. And if this is a straight forward adaptation, I understand the criticisms that many have been lobbying at the film. Primarily with the casting of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, who in the Emily Brontë novel is not a white man.
The complaint that I have seen that I don’t agree with though is the use of Charli XCX music. Personally, period pieces that use modern music are a bit more fun to me and it isn’t a new concept. I think that people are taking the rightful criticisms of Wuthering Heights and diluting the conversation by picking on anything they can.
But more than complaining about this one film in particular, we’ve done it in the past in a frustratingly boring cycle. Whenever a creative takes a chance with the music of a piece, people have something to say about it. Oh do you want a period piece that we’ve seen done over and over again instead of having some fun with the music? Go watch an older adaptation.
We can’t go back to The Great Gatsby discourse
A director who often loves to play with the time periods in his films is Baz Luhrmann. From Moulin Rogue to Elvis, he brings a little bit of fun into the music of his work. But one movie in particular really had people in an uproar. I am talking about his take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The 2013 film featured music by Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and more.
The way I saw the use of modern-ish music for it was that, much like jazz music at the time, Luhrmann was using our own modern equivalent. Artists like Jay-Z and Beyoncé have consumed the modern music scene just as jazz did the party scene of the 1920s. So why not allow yourself to have some fun with an adaptation of The Great Gatsby seeing as we have a picture perfect period piece with the Robert Redford take on Jay Gatsby?
It is the same with Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet as well. Basically, he relates period pieces to modern time through the music of it and I think that’s a lot of fun! Which is why when I saw that Charli XCX was doing the music for Wuthering Heights, I got excited. It isn’t about just honoring a time period. These novels were of a certain time but we can make it work for a more modern audience through the score and music.
Again, there are things to criticize and talk about in regards to Fennell’s Wuthering Heights but the music is, frankly, not one of them.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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