The news is a horror show. Yes, perhaps it has always been this way, but these days, the horrors pour nonstop into our lives thanks to the technology we created to improve our lives. Ahem.

Anyway. I’m going to write about something with no real stakes. Because frankly it’s nice to be distracted by something that doesn’t matter. A movie adaptation.

Yes, that’s right. I’m wandering into the “Wuthering Heights” fray.

I’ve watched YouTube videos and read think pieces about this latest movie even though I am indifferent to the book (I read it in college but didn’t love it–grim books about terrible people aren’t my thing) and have no plans to see the movie (watching beautiful people be obsessive about each other is also not my thing).

One columnist was clearly annoyed with the book lovers sharing their rage over this film. She said, “It’s a book. Grow up.” I mean, yeah, but also, isn’t responding to art part of the point. A filmmaker takes a beloved novel and makes a film based on it, why shouldn’t people voice their reaction? It’s part of the conversation. Can be be overwrought? Sure. But this is Wuthering Heights we’re talking about. I wish more people were that passionate about books and film. They’ve taken things to heart. I find the statement grow up to be a thought-terminating cliché. It misses an opportunity to have interesting discussions. So if your response is grow up and it’s just a book/movie and don’t be so sensitive, well, okay. Those things are kind of true, but I’m writing for the people who care, who want to have those literary discussions that warm my English-major heart. (I enjoyed listening to the two academics discuss the film, and it made me wish I could take one of their classes on adaptations.)

Now we shall sit in a circle in our internet classroom and discuss.

• What makes a good adaptation? Do you have examples?
  • Lord of the Rings
• What adaptations have you seen that you love even when it strays far from the source material?
  • For me, Howl’s Moving Castle. I have friends who disagree vehemently, but nonetheless, I love both versions.
• What adaptations have infuriated you? Why?
  • Netflix’s Watership Down. They took out the heart and kept only the action.
• Assuming the filmmaker is making the adaptation because they love the book, what does that filmmaker owe the author or the lovers of the book?
  • My own thoughts so far–sometimes it feels as if the filmmaker has betrayed the original, but what if the original can be improved, its racism, misogyny, transphobia can be removed? Is that okay? Can we save a work? Should we?
• Who gets to make the adaptation? (I admit to being annoyed upon learning how posh Emerald Fennell is.)
  • I think of all the works by lesser known authors–or work never actually written because of various systemic issues preventing some writers from getting their story out there–should we be attempting to salvage problematic work?
• Why do people become so attached to a novel (or song or artwork) that they can’t countenance any adaptation that isn’t exactly what they imagine?
• If the author is living, should they just take the money and run? Should they fight over changes? Should they badmouth the final film? If the author hates the film, can they be wrong?
• Does a generation get the adaptation they deserve? Or rather, how does an adaptation reflect the time its in? Why this adaptation now?
  • Fennell has talked about wanting to capture how she felt reading the book at 14. I’m just not sure how I feel about that. They’re her feelings and its her film, so okay. I don’t know…I’m not her therapist. And this movie isn’t for 14-year-olds, is it?
  • I fell in love with Watership Down at the age of 11 or 12. But readings later in life taught me more about the story, valuable things about the characters and the world. I was thrilled to understand the story more deeply.

I don’t care about the incongruous hairstyles or dresses. Hey, I loved Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. Sue me. (My feelings about his Great Gatsby are more mixed, but the music was terrific.) And I love weird sets and landscapes. It seems the movie has that going for it.

Ultimately, Fennell made the movie she wanted, and we need more women directors making big movies that get lots of attention. That said, I’m disappointed in the casting choices anyway. No shade on the actors, but I feel something important has been lost. It’s not as if we have so many Romani characters in stories that we should blithely erase the ones we have so that handsome white actors can play sexy roles. (Maybe Heathcliff isn’t Romani, but he isn’t white.) And can we stop making abusive men into brooding romantic heroes? Can abusive men be held accountable somewhere?

Oh well. That’s enough of that. It’s just movie, right? It doesn’t have to be the book. No movie can be the book. And any retelling–whether fanfiction, song, movie–should bring something new. Otherwise, why make it?

I still have no interest in “Wuthering Heights.” Book aside, nothing I’ve seen in the trailer makes me want to see it. Maybe if it had been Wuthering Heights in Space? Or Cathy turns to witchcraft? Or Heathcliff time travels. Then maybe…

Anyway, if you see it, have fun!