Like nails on a chalkboard

The Wall Street Journal has a video of an interview with Jacob Elordi in which he mentions his work in Wuthering Heights. He says, 'Emerald's a genius'. There's also an article with a paywall, but US magazine sums it up:

Jacob Elordi knew Wuthering Heights would elicit a reaction among fans — and according to the actor, that’s a good thing.

“I think what [director Emerald Fennell] has done is really perfect and super beautiful,” Elordi, 28, shared in a Tuesday, September 30, interview with WSJ. Magazine. “It’s electric. And it’s also like nails on a chalkboard. It does something. It moves you in some kind of way, good or bad, but it will move you.” (Kat Pettibone)

Aptly enough, Screen Rant continues ranting about the casting:

However, Brontë's novel has evidence that Heathcliff is actually a person of color. In the very first chapter, he's described as "a dark-skinned gypsy," and when he's first introduced to the Earnshaws as a child, Mr. Earnshaw declares, "it's as dark almost as if it came from the devil." [...]

Because of that, Fennell's decision to avoid digging into the racial subtext around Heathcliff's character is disappointing. As she is white herself, Fennell might not have been the best creative to do this anyway, but it seems that despite her desire to modernize and update the story, she's once again following the steps taken by past adaptations.

It's hard to truly gauge what Fennell's Wuthering Heights will be like since we've seen so little of it. There is a very good chance the film could surprise us with its take on the iconic novel; there's already a theory that the quotation marks surrounding the title Wuthering Heights in the promotional material mean this is somehow a fictionalized version of the story.

On the surface, though, it so far looks like the adaptation is attempting to appear fresh and original while ultimately copying the same misunderstood interpretation of its most prominent character. In ignoring the way Heathcliff is portrayed on the page, Fennell is avoiding one of the novel's strongest themes and seemingly focusing instead on the romance and inherent sexuality of the story.

The trailer plays up the smoldering tension between Cathy (Robbie) and Heathcliff. It's filled with quick bursts of erotic imagery; critics have been quick to point out this looks like a surface-level, stereotypical depiction of Wuthering Heights' story. Though the footage could be misleading, Elordi's casting only furthers the impression that this will not be an adaptation that truly wrestles with its source material. (Rachel Labonte)

Again, it's not so self-evident that Heathcliff is a person of colour. There are scholars who have argued successfully that he was Irish. As for Emerald Fennell not being 'the best creative' to tackle Wuthering Heights as 'she is white herself'--seriously, WTF?! Emily Brontë was 'white herself' too. Please, get off your high horse and think about what you are writing/arguing.

Daily Mail is indignant because France O'Connor's Emily--a ''ravishing and magnetic' period drama'--won't be on Netflix after October 22. Funny because they were also indignant when it was being made.

Fine Books & Collections recommends some recent releases, and one of them is

The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life by Graham Watson

A darker biographical take on the author Jane Eyre, including new archival material by Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell Watson. Published by Pegasus Books.

The Times reviews the new performances of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Noel Coward Theatre in London:

Hardcore Monty Python fans will recall the team’s mischievous version of Wuthering Heights in which Heathcliff and Catherine declare their love for each other via semaphore flags. Max Webster’s ultra-camp take on Oscar Wilde’s witticisms is so loud, he might as well have given the actors megaphones: almost every line is delivered with a shriek, a shout or an elbow dug into the audience’s ribs. It’s fun at first, but by the end you begin to feel bruised. (Clive Davis)