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Wuthering Heights<\/strong><\/a><\/em> is out now in theaters, but there was a casting decision that still has fans confused. <\/p>\n Jacob Elordi<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s casting as Heathcliff in the new adaptation from Emerald Fennell<\/strong><\/a> was first announced back in September 2024<\/a> and it was met with quite a lot of backlash<\/a>. <\/p>\n With the movie now playing, we\u2019re taking a look at just why Jacob<\/strong>\u2018s casting for the character has ruffled feathers with book fans. <\/p>\n Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In the original Emily Bront\u00eb <\/strong>book, Heathcliff is described as a \u201cdark-skinned gipsy in aspect,\u201d per Variety<\/a><\/em>, and is often depicted in a derogatory way by other characters.<\/p>\n Many experts throughout the years have questioned the character\u2019s origin, as it is not explicitly defined, though he gets many different derogatory terms thrown at him and is described in various ways. <\/p>\n \u201cThe ambiguity is really inclusive, because he, as a character, then speaks to a range of people, cultures and communities who were impacted by colonialism and who were othered and abused and oppressed,\u201d Claire O\u2019Callaghan<\/strong>, a senior lecturer in Victorian literature at Loughborough University, shares. \u201cSome people have said, \u2018Well, maybe Emily<\/strong> didn\u2019t know exactly who or what he is.\u2019 I\u2019m not sure I agree with that. I think that she\u2019s been deliberately powerful in how she is representing everything, because that\u2019s what novelists do.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob<\/strong> is also not the first white actor to portray Heathcliff on screen. Other stars who have played him include Laurence Olivier<\/strong>, Richard Burton<\/strong>, and Ralph Fiennes<\/strong><\/a>. In 2011, James Howson<\/strong> was the first person of color to play the character.<\/p>\n There are many fans, of course, who find it as a missed opportunity for a POC to play Heathcliff. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a response to an individual case, but really a cumulative response to decades of erasure,\u201d Soraya Giaccardi Vargas<\/strong>, a senior researcher at the USC Lear Center\u2019s Media Impact Project, said. \u201cThe reality is that BIPOC communities overall are severely underrepresented in media. Regardless of the historical context of the storyline, any time in which there was an opportunity to showcase an actor of color and the decision is made against that, it raises a lot of feelings about whether or not the worthiness of those communities is really understood.\u201d<\/p>\n Just recently, an actress dropped out a movie<\/a> after a lot of backlash and finding out her character was originally written as a POC. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n