A contributor to
The Glasgow Guardian lingers on in the subject of the trailer for
Wuthering Heights 2026.
This isn’t to say that sexual liberty is a bad thing, but I do believe it has to make sense in the story, and personally, I don’t believe it makes sense in the story of Wuthering Heights as told by Brontë. Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship is intense and formed on an emotional connection of solidarity with each other as they both feel ostracised from their respective places in society. By sexualising their relationship, it not only diminishes their connection but also romanticises it. Wuthering Heights is not a romance, and by adding a sexual component to this otherwise complex, toxic, and dangerous relationship, I think it likely that viewers will ignore the toxic and dangerous foundations and instead view Cathy and Heathcliff as romantic and passionate, maybe even a relationship ideal- a trend already on the rise with the increase of “dark romance”, especially considering the movie’s release date being Valentines Day, clearly trying to capitalise on the date night crowd.
Considering this is a Yorkshire novel set in the Yorkshire moors, the trailer- which admittedly lacks dialogue in favour of a Charli XCX song- lacks any form of Yorkshire accents. This might be a non-issue for some, however, the erasure of northern accents from film and TV has been an occurring pattern for years, dating as far back as the transition from silent film. Considering the movie has been filmed in Yorkshire and they casted [sic] big name stars celebrated for their talent, I don’t understand why a Yorkshire accent has not been attempted by the main stars- especially considering accent is also a large indicator of class, a theme which is heavily present in Wuthering Heights. Neither lead actor is British, never mind northern, however I do find it disappointing that in comparison to American movies, an American accent is always attempted and based on regionality, so why can’t the same treatment be given to British characters? Yes, this is a period movie set in the late Georgian era, but northern accents still existed just as they do today. [...]
White-washing has always been an issue in regards to adaptations of Heathcliff, most notably Tom Hardy’s portrayal in the 2009 series adaptation. Heathcliff’s race has been systematically removed so much that James Howson was the first black actor to play Heathcliff in the 2011 movie. Why are we now going backwards?Understandably, this trailer has sparked online discourse between not only book fans but also people excited to see the movie with no knowledge of the story. Whilst I’m not filled with hope that this will be a good adaptation of Wuthering Heights, I am aware that, as of now, any real criticism cannot be made based on this two-minute trailer alone. Ultimately, we won’t know the truth behind these judgments until the movie is released next Valentine’s Day. (Anna Conway)
Most of this--except the accent thing--was explained by the director herself at this year's Brontë Festival of Women's Writing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment