Much of the discussion around Wuthering Heights has focused on Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie’s bizarre PR ‘showmance’.
The pair of A-List celebs have been telling anyone who will listen about their ‘obsession’ with each other as a result of the film, with many suggesting it might simply be some pretty good marketing to get people out to see Wuthering Heights.
Since the film’s cast was first announced, however, the decision to make Jacob Elordi the film’s Heathcliff has been a hugely controversial one.
Wuthering Heights has been accused of white-washing the character by casting Elordi – leading to a major online backlash.
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Whilst many iterations of the film over the years have seen the character played by white men the book character is widely understood to be a person of colour, with many calling for the role be played by someone of Romani descent.
The book describes him as having dark skin and being of ‘gypsy descent’. In addition to this he is compared to a ‘Lascar’, a term for sailors from the Indian subcontinent, South-east Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In other words, not a white Australian man.
Emerald Fennell was asked about this casting decision, and the criticism around it, by The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s premiere last night.
She said: “I think the thing is everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it and so you can only ever kind of make the movie that that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.
“I don’t know, I think I was sort of focusing on the kind of sado-masochistic elements of it… that’s the great thing about this movie is that it could be made every year and it would still be so moving and so interesting.”
The film’s casting director Kharmel Cochrane spoke about the decision to cast Elordi during a Q&A session at the Scotland’s Sands Film Festival.
She was slightly more direct than Fennell in hitting back at the criticism, saying: “There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot.
“But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not.
“But you really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book. That is not based on real life. It’s all art.”
The debate around the casting decision was revitalised this week too due to Odessa A’Zion pulling out of an upcoming film after backlash to her being cast as a Latina character as a white woman.
A’Zion posted to Instagram insisting she would not be taking the role anymore, admitting that she hadn’t read the book when she accepted it.
One tweet said: “Jacob Elordi had plenty of time to respond to Wuthering Heights backlash the same way Odessa A’zion handled the Deep Cuts situation. He didn’t.”
Another said: “i think jacob elordi should be getting the same backlash odessa is getting for playing heathcliff.”
Wuthering Heights releases in cinemas February 13.
Topics: Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie, Film, TV and Film, Celebrity, Books, Social Media
Michael Slavin