There's an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book': Emerald Fennell defends her Wuthering Heights adaptation

"The production has received backlash for the casting of Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, with critics calling for a Black actor to play the latter character, described in the book as having dark hair, dark eyes and dark skin. Fennell explained her decisions, recalling the moment she wanted to scream when she saw Elordi with sideburns on the Saltburn set, as he reminded her of Dirk Bogarde and looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read."

"It's an emotional response to something. It's primal, sexual, she said. Fennell added: [It is] an act of extreme masochism to try and make a film of something that means this much to you. There's an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book. There's a reason people were deeply shocked by it. Working on it has been a kind of masochistic exercise, she said, because I love it so much, and it can't love me back, and I have to live with that."

The Wuthering Heights adaptation is primal, sexual, and emotionally driven, rooted in a teenage obsession with the novel. The film foregrounds the intense, illicit relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, emphasizing sado-masochistic elements and personal investment in the source material. The production is described as an act of masochism motivated by love for the book and the impossibility of reciprocal love. The project has provoked backlash over casting choices, particularly the decision to cast Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, with critics calling for a Black actor to reflect the character’s original description.

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