Take a look at the recent controversy around the casting choices for Emerald Fennell’s interpretation of Wuthering Heights. The selection of Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff has not been universally well-received. Fidelity to the original text isn’t necessarily a commendable quality, yet if Fennell, the Saltburn director, truly intended to reflect Emily Bronte’s characters faithfully, perhaps less glamour and Australian influence were required. Additionally, without any intention of being discourteous, one could argue that younger actors were needed. The classic interpretation of the lead characters as “offspring of the tempest” by David Cecil doesn’t exactly fit these two stars.
More importantly, another issue that has stirred up the online community is the ongoing debate regarding Heathcliff’s race. Traditionally, white actors have most often been assigned the role, such as Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Timothy Dalton and even Cliff Richard. However, there are hints of racial uncommonness in the text, with Heathcliff referred to as a “dark-skinned gypsy” and likened to a “lascar”, an Indian or Asian seafarer. It’s also valid to acknowledge that although Heathcliff is described having a face “as white as the wall behind him”, it’s plausible he was a person of colour.
For her overlooked, forward-thinking 2011 reimagining of the tale, Andrea Arnold began by searching for an actor from UK’s Romani community, but ultimately chose a black actor named James Howson. This ignited a backlash from conservative naysayers who hadn’t yet adopted the term “woke”, but criticised it as ‘political correctness run amok’. Responding to these claims cited the textual references mentioned earlier, convincing the more open-minded viewers of the reasonable potential for such a portrayal.
Over the past ten years, there has been a significant shift in the way people talk about race and representation online. Many have moved from questioning if Heathcliff, a fictional character, could potentially be black to asserting that he is. One user even stated that Heathcliff is categorically black, indigenous, or a person of colour (BIPOC). Some have even compared Heathcliff’s racial identity to that of Othello and have criticised the decision to cast Laurence Olivier, a white actor, in the roles of these characters in 1939 and 1965 respectively. These developments have raised questions about how such perceptions change over time.
In a related vein, the issue of blackface in the context of popular culture has also come under scrutiny. Emerald Fennell’s casting decisions have sparked controversy due to her privileged upbringing and the resentment aimed at her. Meanwhile, a nearly 50-year-old altercation concerning a blackface depiction on an album cover was subtly resolved. Joni Mitchell’s 1977 innovative album, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, sparked controversy for featuring her in blackface as a pimp figure on the album cover.
It was something many did not realise was the singer herself. Mitchell claims the decision was influenced by seeing a black man whose ‘spirit’ she admired and wanted to emulate at a Halloween party. However, this raises various issues in today’s climate. While changing a book cover may be relatively straightforward, album covers have a more enduring impact. Iconic album covers like Sgt Pepper’s celebrity tableau by Peter Blake and Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures data plot by Peter Saville demonstrate this. For years, Mitchell and her record label resisted changing the questionable cover of Don Juan. However, without any formal announcement, the online cover was recently replaced with an image from a later photo shoot, and the version of the vinyl album available on Amazon now features the new cover.
Does this hold any importance? Minimal at best. It certainly doesn’t equate to the plan, a plan that has been slightly retracted, of exclusively releasing heavily censored versions of Roald Dahl’s pieces. That said, it indeed feels like the album is now somehow incomplete. The cover acted as a crucial element of the artistic ensemble. Could we then just tack on a disclaimer concerning the possible affront it may cause? This approach seemed to suffice for the instance of blackface in a Mad Men episode.
Our world would be rather dreary if we were in total consensus. Surely, it’s preferable to err on the side of excessive sensitivity rather than simply accepting prejudicial representation. However, it’s essential we permit a degree of uncertainty into the dialogue. After all, Heathcliff could indeed have been of Irish origin, considering he was discovered in Liverpool.