lou's library

So, the upcoming, already very controversial and probably soon to become infamous Wuthering Heights movie starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi has got me thinking about the art of adapting books for the big screen and why it is such a contentious subject for lots of people. For me, the answer to the latter question is quite simple: I love stories, whether on page or screen. And for me, there is a lot of joy in getting to see characters from books portrayed by actors. If it’s done correctly, that is….

And that’s exactly where the problems begin, of course. Because what I might deem a perfect adaptation of a novel might not work at all for you. Maybe the actor playing the protagonist has a voice that doesn’t fit at all, or your favourite moment in the book doesn’t make it on screen or the soundtrack is all wrong. It can literally be the smallest things that can ruin a book adaptation.

Expecting authenticity isn’t fair

I guess that goes to show how dearly lots of readers hold the books they love. They care about those characters and what happens to them, and more often than not, they will have had images of the world and characters in their heads for years. If those mental images don’t line up with the ones on screen, of course there’s going to be disappointment. And while I’ve been there many a time, I’ve also learned that expecting an ‘authentic’ adaptation isn’t really fair to the movie-makers. Movies and books are different forms of art, and what works for one doesn’t automatically work for the other. I have read books with a thousand pages that I have adored, but I don’t think I’d enjoy a ten hour long movie which would still not include every single scene of the book.

Similarly, the pacing in a book is different to that in a movie, and budget limits might result in necessary choices that mean that not every aspect of the book can be done justice. And sometimes, the director just has a very special version of the book in mind and intends to do justice to that and only that (looking at you, Emerald Fennell). And that’s actually fine. A director should get to make exactly the movie they want, even if it means perhaps disappointing some fans of the book the movie is based on. You simply cannot please everyone, and so while I would have loved a different Wuthering Heights adaptation to the one we seem to be getting (unless the trailer is very misleading), I’m sure lots of people will love it and it will most certainly draw people to the book who otherwise never would have picked it up.

You don’t need to love it to have fun engaging with it

At the end of the day, book adaptations are fun, even if they’re hardly ever perfect. I like comparing the two, wondering what I might have done different, who I would have cast in the lead roles, which songs I would have chosen as the soundtrack. But of course, it can be heartbreaking to wait years for your favourite book to be adapted, only for it to be not to your taste. I just think that we could all do well with keeping in mind that there is such a thing as artistic freedom and that even if something isn’t your cup of tea, it can still be insightful and fun to engage with it and the people who have also consumed that piece of content. I don’t expect to love Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, but I’m very open to her proving me wrong and, should she fail to do so, I can’t wait to engage in the discourse surrounding it anyway.

I don’t have to love a book adaptation to have fun engaging with it, and I always think it’s great to see how opinions can vary among fans of a book. What I will say though is that sometimes there are greater issues at play with these things, such as diversity. In the case of the new Wuthering Heights, I think they should have cast a non-white actor as Heathcliff, as that character’s colour of skin is one of the main reasons he is continuously being othered throughout the book. If we already had lots of Wuthering Heights adaptations starring non-white Heathcliffs, casting Jacob Elordi might have been fine. But the opposite is the case, and I just think that in the year 2025, we should really try to diversify art. And in the rare case of a non-white protagonist of a 19th century classic, for God’s sake, don’t cast a white dude. It should go without saying, really.

Anyway, on that tangent I would like to know which adaptations of books are perfect, in your opinion? For me, Little Women (Greta Gerwig’s edition) comes to mind, but of course, the Percy Jackson movies are simply flawless too (I am KIDDING, although I will defend Logan Lerman till my dying day). And do let me know if you’re looking forward to the new Wuthering Heights or if you think you’ll skip this one. If you would like to know my thoughts on this iconic classic, I have a review here. Happy reading!