Withering Heights by Emerald Fennell (director of the raunchy Saltburn) has released another controversial film, this time tackling a classic more head-on. Fans of the 1849 classic by Emily Bronte are up in arms (and quite rightly so, it seems) about the adaptation, but I myself haven’t read the original source material or watched other versions of the film.
My initial reaction/ thoughts:
Critical views:
This is all to say that it’s not as simple as it was “good” or it was “bad”. Or the book was better. Or it wasn’t the book. This misses the nuance of a more complex and thoughtful analysis of media, art, storytelling, adaptation, and artistic intentions. We do ourselves, our brains, and creators a disservice to limit our thoughts to good and bad. To not take some time to think more deeply about something we have consumed, the context it sits in, and what it achieved or didn’t achieve, it’s purpose, genre, target audience etc.
Think more critically about the art you consume!! It takes more time but it’s worth it!
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Sincerely,
S. xx
S. R. Crawford 