Justin Chang‘s review of Wuthering Heights posted four or five days ago. In the final paragraph he reaffirms his belief in woke presentism — in this instance diverse casting in centuries-old British settings.
“Over the years, the question of Heathcliff’s ethnicity has generated no shortage of debate,” Chang writes. “He is described in the book as ‘dark-skinned,’ a ‘gypsy in aspect,’ ‘a little Lascar,’ and ‘an American or Spanish castaway’ — all terms that have been deemed ambiguous or inconclusive enough that the character has been played onscreen, almost invariably, by white actors.
“Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights (2012), in which Heathcliff is played by the black actors Solomon Glave and James Howson, is a rare and worthwhile exception.
“[Director Emerald] Fennell has been forced to defend herself for casting a white male lead (Jacob Elordi), and it struck me that her deployment of two actors of color, Hong Chau and Shazad Latif, in key supporting roles could have been a calculated kind of insurance against criticism, a way of still laying claim to a token measure of diversity.”
That’s important, no? Inserting POCs in a film set in late 1700s England, I mean.
