well i think i almost died in this house, that was... not my favorite. yes classics are classics for a reason but no one ever said they were easy breezy lemon squeezy to read. i can see this being ✨ tea ✨ at the time of publication but in 2026 the year of the fire horse i'm looking for passion and intensity. dare i say the exact energy fennel's theatrical release is waving around? wildly controversial i know. i'm of course not blind to the already significant issues the movie is facing (heathcliff's whitewashing, no hindley, complete change in catherine's father, basically no second half of the book just to name a few off the top of my head) BUT i have to recognize that the marketing is going balls to the wall and it's going to be financially successful because i fear it knows what the people of this day and age want. in the same vein as heated rivalry, sex does sell. i think as a stand alone movie it's going to be a visual delight, but it's clearly a far cry from an honest wuthering heights adaptation. i'm incredibly torn that i think i'm going to really REALLY like the movie at face value but it's completely erased the complexities from the novel. but i'll wait to develop my thoughts until i actually see the movie. for science of course. has nothing to do with seeing jacob elordi sucking on some fingies.

back to the book. it's got a number of beautiful haunting passages and it has wonderfully complex themes including but not limited to: race and classism, generational trauma, obsession, simmering rage and torment, and revenge. but the writing style was incredibly difficult for me to get through and i didn't enjoy the narration choice of effectively a gossip session. i can't help but imagining reading through heathcliff's eyes and how rich that would be. by experiencing the story through nelly, i'm of course hesitant that she is a reliable narrator and constantly trying to read between the lines and infer things that happened outside of her purview. combined with a very old style of writing i'm not used to (my fault, not bronte's obviously), it just made the whole read unpleasant for me. the characters have no redeeming qualities and no redemption, and are overly childish which made it impossible for me to care about them. the plot is uninteresting yet convoluted and unfortunately just not the type of story i enjoy from the get go. i like watching things like pride & prejudice and bridgerton but i have trouble reading it, something about the visuals and the nuances in acting are more enjoyable for me. there were definitely some parts i enjoyed, namely the first half and the interactions between catherine/heathcliff, but it truly lost me in the second half. it's unfortunate i didn't enjoy this as much as i hoped being a lover of gothic romances but what can you do?

🎬 (2026) ok wow ok there’s a lot to think about about here. as expected, i really liked it. the good first: i give a lot of respect to fennel for being able to create works that are a feast for the eyes, the ears, and the heart. there’s no question it is a visually STUNNING. and the soundtrack/score worked with this campy movie and toggled between haunting, fun, and soul-crushingly sad (dark eyes sailor are you kidding me?!). i thought the acting was good and am so glad cathy and heathcliff’s personalities were kept as being obsessive and cruel. ok now the “idk how to feel”: yes there is a lot of controversy regarding this movie, some of which i agree with and some of which i do not. i see some of the themes from the book peeking through but ultimately, choosing to be a romance-forward telling, there’s a lot glossed over or left out. who am i to tell people what to think but i do recognize that sometimes you just can’t cram everything into 2hrs. i actually think my thoughts are pretty well summed up by a tiktok made by jahjah and she makes a really good point that it would’ve made her sick to see cathy’s cruelty pointed towards a POC and (to add my thoughts) the resulting power dynamic and manipulation from heathcliff. without taking a deep dive into why heathcliff is the way he is, just throwing in that personality with a POC actor could’ve gone south incredibly quickly. in a similar vein it does feel a bit uncomfy still that the two external obstacles to C&H’s love are POCs but i think the conversation pre-release was a bit misdirected; they are not the villains of the story (i’d argue C&H are), they’re sources of kindness and stability that ultimately get pushed by the insanity of the MCs. tbh i give them serious credit for sticking around and helping for as long as they did. but did the only POCs in the movie have to be in those roles? not so sure about that. there’s obviously so much to unpack but there’s my initial thoughts. ultimately, i enjoyed the hell out of this lil fanfic. i was worried (pre-watch) that it was taking itself too seriously but now i think it knew what it was. it didn’t aim to be profound, it was a fun and beautiful take that got the girlies going. i have to remind myself that adaptations are just that, adaptations. if i hate on this for being inaccurate that means i also can’t like hugh jackman’s van helsing, hamilton, 21 jump street, the friggen shining. it’s certainly not without its faults but i can’t just immediately hate it because someone got creative; i’m glad i gave it a try, researched both sides of the arguments, and formed my own opinions. it’s all still a bit complicated to think about in the grand scheme, but i’d be lying if i said i didn’t have a good time in the theater with the girlies.