We Need To Talk About Wuthering Heights
Episode description
This week on the pod we dive into Wuthering Heights - both the 179-year-old novel and Emerald Fennell’s chaotic, glossy new adaptation that somehow got Abby and I lightly cancelled for… liking it.
We start with the book. Abby found the opening chapters borderline unreadable, SparkNotes essential, and the characters hilariously bad at socialising. I, meanwhile, loved it. It felt like fantasy to me - dramatic, transportive, completely immersive.
Then we split the film into two parts: “It’s not that deep” and “It is that deep.”
On one hand - the costumes, the set design, Margot Robbie’s bratty Cathy, the toxic romance front and centre. It felt intoxicating and intentionally reimagined.
On the other - casting choices matter. Heathcliff’s racial background in the novel is significant, and the decision to sidestep that raises real questions. We talk adaptation, fan outrage, Brontë purists, and why women directors are treated differently when they take creative risks.
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