5 reactions
The new adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" and the commodification of classic literature
When Dante Gabriel Rossetti read the novel Wuthering Heights, he wrote to a friend: "The action takes place in Hell, but the places, I don't know why, have English names " -Borges
The Mods could delete it if it's not the appropriate place to post or if people don't like it. First of all I don't say that I hate people enjoying this take on Wuthering Heights or enjoying Emerald Fennell. I do think that this movie would be atleast fun to watch. It's just my general thoughts about this topic and my opinions on a growing trend across social media.
Now I am probably not the target audience of this movie (like at all) and tbh I never had any expectations to even begin with. But Wuthering Heights is my favourite classic British Novel outside of perhaps some Dickens or Eliot so it's something I kind of care about. I am all out for freedom of expression and novelty when it comes to adaptation of classic literature(one of my favourite Shakespeare adaptations is Ran by Kurosawa) a lot of them are free public properties and one is free to publish,adapt or do anything with but, I guess I have one criteria, it should be faithful to the basic heart of the work(until or unless it's some sort of parody or satire). Ran is great because Kurosawa understood King Lear. He wasn't simply interested in a story about the political struggles of a family; he was more interested in the sheer tragedy which is at the heart of King Lear the man. Kurosawa understood that the very base of the character is what made King Lear a transcendental work of literature. Unfortunately, Emerald Fennell isn't Akira Kurosawa. Many people would say stop judging a movie from it's trailer but it's pretty evident that Miss Fennell is more interested in making her "Wuthering Heights" erotic, outrageous, hot and without the poetry or shakespearean qualities which made Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights special. One often wonders why even she wanted to adapt Wuthering Heights when it is almost only taking the name, Characters and Setting only. If Emily Bronte had the freedom She might have added more eroticism to the book but I doubt it would have been like this in a "50 shades of Grey" sort of way. The way it seems to be presented in the trailer. She could have just adapted a Sarah Waters novel or write her own erotic victorian gothic movie script, if she wanted that. If anything, it would have been better and without a lot of baggage of expectations and criticism. I can't help but sneer at it because I feel like it is another example of the trend of a growing commodification of classic literature. I have been thinking about it since Dostoevsky and Kafka sort of became Instagram sweethearts. I like people discovering these writers and stories but I cannot help but feel like people are trying to dilute and simplify these works of literature to cater to a larger audience’s palate. Thus, Dostoevsky and Kafka is reduced to “Sadboy, Nihilism, pessimistic etc.” and wuthering heights is being reduced to, “erotic, gothic,dark,victorian story” when in reality these works are much more complicated, multifaceted and not to mention foundational to so much art after it. But well whatever. This movie is probably going to make a Gajillion dollars and probably going to generate thousands of thirsty tiktoks who would care about the authenticity of a piece of literature. Who cares about authentic qualities when we could have Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi doing softcore bondage(not complaining). Ultimately my problem is probably not the movie but this growing trend of turning the classics into uncomplicated consumer product. I will still watch the movie but I doubt it would be anything more than forgettable fun.
#entertainment
source
When Dante Gabriel Rossetti read the novel Wuthering Heights, he wrote to a friend: "The action takes place in Hell, but the places, I don't know why, have English names " -Borges
The Mods could delete it if it's not the appropriate place to post or if people don't like it. First of all I don't say that I hate people enjoying this take on Wuthering Heights or enjoying Emerald Fennell. I do think that this movie would be atleast fun to watch. It's just my general thoughts about this topic and my opinions on a growing trend across social media.
Now I am probably not the target audience of this movie (like at all) and tbh I never had any expectations to even begin with. But Wuthering Heights is my favourite classic British Novel outside of perhaps some Dickens or Eliot so it's something I kind of care about. I am all out for freedom of expression and novelty when it comes to adaptation of classic literature(one of my favourite Shakespeare adaptations is Ran by Kurosawa) a lot of them are free public properties and one is free to publish,adapt or do anything with but, I guess I have one criteria, it should be faithful to the basic heart of the work(until or unless it's some sort of parody or satire). Ran is great because Kurosawa understood King Lear. He wasn't simply interested in a story about the political struggles of a family; he was more interested in the sheer tragedy which is at the heart of King Lear the man. Kurosawa understood that the very base of the character is what made King Lear a transcendental work of literature. Unfortunately, Emerald Fennell isn't Akira Kurosawa. Many people would say stop judging a movie from it's trailer but it's pretty evident that Miss Fennell is more interested in making her "Wuthering Heights" erotic, outrageous, hot and without the poetry or shakespearean qualities which made Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights special. One often wonders why even she wanted to adapt Wuthering Heights when it is almost only taking the name, Characters and Setting only. If Emily Bronte had the freedom She might have added more eroticism to the book but I doubt it would have been like this in a "50 shades of Grey" sort of way. The way it seems to be presented in the trailer. She could have just adapted a Sarah Waters novel or write her own erotic victorian gothic movie script, if she wanted that. If anything, it would have been better and without a lot of baggage of expectations and criticism. I can't help but sneer at it because I feel like it is another example of the trend of a growing commodification of classic literature. I have been thinking about it since Dostoevsky and Kafka sort of became Instagram sweethearts. I like people discovering these writers and stories but I cannot help but feel like people are trying to dilute and simplify these works of literature to cater to a larger audience’s palate. Thus, Dostoevsky and Kafka is reduced to “Sadboy, Nihilism, pessimistic etc.” and wuthering heights is being reduced to, “erotic, gothic,dark,victorian story” when in reality these works are much more complicated, multifaceted and not to mention foundational to so much art after it. But well whatever. This movie is probably going to make a Gajillion dollars and probably going to generate thousands of thirsty tiktoks who would care about the authenticity of a piece of literature. Who cares about authentic qualities when we could have Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi doing softcore bondage(not complaining). Ultimately my problem is probably not the movie but this growing trend of turning the classics into uncomplicated consumer product. I will still watch the movie but I doubt it would be anything more than forgettable fun.
#entertainment
source
| 11,000 mlx | |
| 17 | |
| 5 |