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S4:E1 Experiencing 3 Wuthering Heights Adaptations (For the First Time!)
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For our Season 4 premiere, we experienced Wuthering Heights for the very first time—both the book and three different screen adaptations. Each host claimed a different era of the moors—Crystal with the 1939 film, Lindsey with the 1998 adaptation, and Keri with the 2009 BBC miniseries—to see how Emily Brontë’s famously obsessive and unforgiving story has been translated across generations.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Wuthering Heights (1939 Film)
- Wuthering Heights (1998 TV Movie)
- Wuthering Heights (2009 TV Mini Series)
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Question of the Episode:
- Knowing what we know now about the differences in these adaptations, what are we wanting to see in the new movie?
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book—see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(02:24) Book Ratings
(13:19) Adaptation Introductions & Discussions (SPOILERS)
(56:21) Final Verdicts
(57:02) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast that decides firmly to keep things simple, then immediately plans the most extra season forever. We're so glad you're along for the ride because we have so much planned.
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm your host, Crystal, and I've hurt my own feelings. I'm Carrie, and I'm going to need someone to explain how this is considered the, quote, greatest love story of all time. And I'm Lindsay, and I would not consider it an insult if someone called me a saucy witch.
00:00:36
Speaker
right
00:00:40
Speaker
A new Wuthering Heights adaptation drops this month, and we're helping you prepare for by reading the classic 1847 novel by Emily Bronte and watching that one. Not two, but three adaptations from across the decades. But before we face plant into what we've watched, let's talk about what we've read, because I know we have a lot to say.
00:01:04
Speaker
First, Wuthering Heights is not a love story, no matter what anyone tells you. am I the only one who who like went into this thinking it was going to be a love story? oh I 100% went in thinking it was a love story.
00:01:18
Speaker
it's out I went in completely blind. I had no idea. only thought it was a love story because the new adaptations trailer was advertising it as a love story. And that was my only experience with it. I mean, i was ready to fall in love again and again. Yeah. No, no.
00:01:36
Speaker
If push comes to shove, I could maybe be convinced to call it a romance, a gothic romance. oh This is a gothic tale with hauntings, obsessions, violence, generational trauma, and of course, dark and stormy nights. Our tale is told to us by Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange.
00:01:59
Speaker
He heard it from the housekeeper, Ellen Dean, and she heard it from a collection of other people. She kind of saw some of it herself, though. Met by less than a, than a, who met by a less than personable landlord, Mr. Lockwood asks for the backstory of Heathcliff and his wife.
00:02:20
Speaker
And that starts out our tale. Emily Bronte originally published Wuthering Heights under her pen name, Ellis Bell. It is her only published novel and is considered an English literature classic.
00:02:34
Speaker
Carrie, I know Pride and Prejudice left you excited about classics. So I wanna start with you. What was your rating of Wuthering Heights and how much do you hate me for covering this one?
00:02:49
Speaker
Oh, I've been so excited to talk about this because we literally have not spoken whatsoever about our ratings and our feelings with each other on this. So we have no idea how each of us feel. um i'm not going to lie. This was rough.
00:03:06
Speaker
Emotionally draining. Exhausting. Because almost everyone sucks in this book and are kind of terrible. It has my worst fear come to life where everyone has the same name. This is like the final boss of everyone having the same name.
00:03:28
Speaker
is. That being said, i loved it. o I loved every second of it and I give it five ghosts. Nice.
00:03:40
Speaker
I gave it a five. Another classic. Even though like there was I like there were times where I struggled with it. I can't help that I like books that inflict pain on me. Exactly.
00:03:58
Speaker
And, you know, I was reading this with my mom and she, I kept stopping like every 10 seconds and like to talk about it with her because I was just like so stunned and shocked by everything that was happening in this book where I felt like I was trapped in this story and I couldn't get out. And she was like, it's because that there's no wins.
00:04:21
Speaker
There are little to no wins in the story. So it literally feels like you're trapped. And yeah honestly, in my personal opinion, this feels like a horror story. This doesn't feel like a love story. This feels like something about obsession.
00:04:37
Speaker
yep And not affection. Right. You know, this feels like just a story about revenge. And um it's very savage. Yeah. And it's like revenge of epic proportions. And I think back on these moments in this book and it makes me sick to my stomach and I love it and I'll never forget it.
00:05:00
Speaker
Okay. Well, Lindsay, we all know that you love a good dark tale. What did you think of this one? I have to admit, i did enjoy... the The horror aspect of it, that the spirituality, the ghost tales. Like, I did enjoy how dark this book was. And it was very unexpected because, like I said, I went into this blind. I had no idea what the story was about.
00:05:25
Speaker
I barely knew the characters. and So I read the back of the book and I was like, clearly I have no idea what I'm getting into. Mm hmm.
00:05:36
Speaker
This story was obviously a lot darker than Pride and Prejudice, so I will say I did enjoy it a little bit more than that one. And then like Carrie said, all of the characters have the same name.
00:05:48
Speaker
And then we had some POV switches that got a little confusing in there. ah So with that being said, I gave this one three and a half spirits. Okay.
00:05:59
Speaker
Okay. Well, I thought really hard about my rating as well because I was mad through this whole book. There's not a single character that is lovable or enjoyable or enviable.
00:06:12
Speaker
I found myself basically like team, like hashtag team nobody, right? like yeah i I didn't care about anyone in this book.
00:06:23
Speaker
i I didn't care what happened to any of them. They were all miserable people. But there's no denying that I felt something. It was anger and hate and discomfort.
00:06:35
Speaker
And to me, the mark of good art of any kind is, does it make you feel something? And I did. So based on my new rating system, um so that I'm a little bit more consistent, I give this a solid four stars.
00:06:52
Speaker
The characters, although I didn't like them, they were super well developed and interesting. You know, the the plot, the plot is plotting, right? you know, the setting, like I felt like I was there a lot of the times. The vibes were not what I thought they were going to be, but they were there.
00:07:10
Speaker
You know, it a I'm not, i it's not quite a five star for me just because I was so angry through the whole thing and I didn't, again, there's no wins and I like for there to be at least something I can say about the book that made me feel good in some way, even if it's just by comparison, but like, hmm.
00:07:33
Speaker
These people were miserable people. Yeah. They were miserable. yeah So four stars for me. um And I kind of hate saying that because it really was a book that was so just dark and that's not a me thing, but I think that's why this new rating system of mine is going to work a little better, though.
00:07:50
Speaker
yeah I love that it was all of our first time reading it, too. Yes. Did any of us learn anything about um Emily Bronte that we wanted to share or anything about the Bronte sisters that you found interesting? Something I think is really interesting is the fact that, well, I didn't know it was published. Wuthering Heights was published a month, like I think a month after Jane Eyre, like super like soon, right after Jane Eyre. And it was being immediately criticized um and compared to Jane Eyre. And people thought that she was a male author. There's like, there's no way a female is writing this story because it's so savage.
00:08:34
Speaker
Yep. And I thought that was super interesting because it is like, I can't even like, that's the only way I can describe it. Like it is so dark and savage. Savage is a really good way to put it. Yeah. This,
00:08:48
Speaker
And honestly, you know, we've talked a lot in the past about how hard it is for male authors to write good female characters or convincing female characters sometimes. I think it goes the other way, too, that it's really hard for female authors to sometimes write really good masculine male characters.
00:09:10
Speaker
But this is this. like And I mean, obviously, I'm not a man. I don't know what it's like to be a man, but. of the men that I've known that were miserable men, Heathcliff fits the bill really well. You know what I mean?
00:09:24
Speaker
So that was, that was really interesting to me to think of that. Lindsay, what did, did you find anything interesting or fun that stuck out to you? I just really felt connected to Emily Bronte. Apparently she was deeply introverted and reserved and she preferred animals to society. So yeah,
00:09:46
Speaker
That's right up your alley. I did read and I was really interested to learn a little bit more about Emily too. There is speculation, obviously nobody knows for sure that she might um have been on the autism spectrum because she had an incredibly rigid like structure schedule. Everything had to be a certain way and done a certain way. And if it fell outside of that, she had some anger management issues.
00:10:10
Speaker
And having family members on the spectrum, that's something that I totally get. and And yet, obviously, with that going on in her life, she still was able to contribute such a masterpiece.
00:10:24
Speaker
you know And that i always find that really interesting that people want to think that um you know autistic people might not have as much to contribute or might not be able to contribute. But look at this. You know what I mean? It's such a big thing that...
00:10:39
Speaker
you know, we're coming up on almost 200 years of this book. It's, it is a classic. It is a classic for a reason. So here it is somebody who, again, it's speculation. We don't know for sure, but somebody who was incredibly introverted, somebody who did prefer animals to people. And I kind of get that, you know, somebody who had rigid structures and, and anger issues when she was outside of that structure still was able to contribute something amazing to the world.
00:11:10
Speaker
So I think that's really cool. Yeah, absolutely. Let's dive into what we watched. There are over 30 film and television adaptations of Wuthering Heights in multiple languages. There are operas, radio programs, and even at least one graphic novel that I know of.
00:11:31
Speaker
We are just one podcast, though, so we picked three that we thought would be a good cross-section of audiences. I watched the 1939 Samuel Goldwyn production starring Merle Oberon and my silver screen boyfriend, Laurence Olivier.
00:11:49
Speaker
He's back. He's back. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Best Cinematography. Carrie, which one did you watch? I watched the 2009 two-part miniseries starring Tom Hardy as Heathcliff and as Charlotte Riley as Catherine and Andrew Lincoln as Edgar and which was actually very shocking. I'm like, I'm always getting with like the walking dead cast every single time, which was part is part of PBS's masterpiece theater programming. um This adaptation is actually really fun because this is where Tom Hardy met his now wife, Charlotte Riley. oh So they met playing these parts together.
00:12:37
Speaker
Very cool. Lindsay, which did you watch? I watched the 1998 film starring Crispin Bonham Carter, who we know as Mr. Bingley from the 1998 BBC Pride and Prejudice.
00:12:51
Speaker
Also making his film debut is Matthew McFadden, who is Mr. Darcy in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. So I just had all the Pride and Prejudice people in mind. Oh, wow. That's great. You just copy pasted. Yeah.
00:13:06
Speaker
Well, let's go ahead and compare these movies. They were made decades apart from each other with very different filming technologies available and very different audiences watching.
00:13:18
Speaker
I know we hinted to each other that our movies are all have all potentially started differently or our shows. So I guess that's where we'll start. But before we do, please, this is your spoiler warning. We are going to dive into the story now.
00:13:34
Speaker
If you don't know it already, and you want to, go read it or pick a movie to watch before you come back, okay? It's worth reading. But go ahead, let's start. ah My movie started with Mr. Lockwood walking through a horrible blizzard, stopping at Wuthering Heights, and asking for a guide back across the moors or a bed for the night.
00:13:55
Speaker
Heathcliff, of course, was an asshole, but has Joseph show him up to a room. In the night, Mr. Lockwood gets up to secure a banging shutter, And he hears a ghost. He looks out the window and he sticks his arm out to pull the shutter tight and something grabs his arm and yells, it's me, Kathy. And he screams and Heathcliff comes running and he goes, it was Kathy. And Heathcliff goes, Kathy. And he runs to the window, but then he runs out the front door into the blizzard.
00:14:27
Speaker
And of course, Mr. Lockwood goes downstairs and it's like, what is that all about? And that's when Ellen Dean goes, it started 40 years ago. and that's that's how we dive into our story. Okay. Carrie, you were the most excited to talk about the starts. So I need to hear yours. Because i don't have a Mr. Lockwood.
00:14:50
Speaker
What? Honestly, okay. Yeah, I don't have a misplot. Okay, for context, for everyone, like the three of us, we did not touch each other's adaptations. We did not watch each other's adaptations. I've never seen another Wuthering Heights adaptation. This is my first time watching Wuthering Heights.
00:15:10
Speaker
and I don't know. Is that the same for you guys too? Yeah. Yeah. We've this, this is the first time we've watched weathering heights. So my adaptation has no Mr. Lockwood, which is okay. I'm totally fine with, you know, taking that character out of here.
00:15:25
Speaker
So my adaptation does not go in the order of the book. We start out with Heathcliff calling out to Catherine where it's like near the end of the book. It's like a little glimpse of how it's going to end calling out to like her ghost.
00:15:40
Speaker
And then it like kind of goes back and then it goes to where it's skipping to where Linton is just arrived at where i think he's not arriving at wuthering heights he's arriving at the other location thrush thrush cross great range yeah thrush the grange we're gonna call it the great the heights and the grange the heights and the grange he just arrived at the grange and he's being called to the heights by heathcliff
00:16:14
Speaker
And there's obviously like a lot of tension there. We're all like, oh, what if you didn't read the book? You're like, why is there so much tension? Like everyone's angry. And, you know, Heathcliff is like super mad. ah We'll get into Tom Hardy in a second as Heathcliff. But I'm just going to talk up a touch on what's happening in the beginning.
00:16:32
Speaker
And it goes to like Kathy Jr. where she sees Heathcliff for the first time and, you know, he's trying to get her to the Heights and then, you know, traps, you know, her there at the Heights with Linton.
00:16:44
Speaker
And then... Which Linton? The young one Just making sure. Don't get me started. The young one who's trying to marry young Kathy. Okay.
00:16:56
Speaker
So traps them there at the house. And then Heathcliff- Wait, that's yours starts? That's where it starts. And then Heathcliff is like walking like- on like the road out in like the area of the Heights and looks up in the window and sees younger Kathy and Kathy's like so angry, right? Sees younger Kathy in the window and it reminds him in his memory of, you know, what it was with Catherine. And then we're going like backwards to the beginning.
00:17:27
Speaker
And that's how it starts. Oh, that's weird. your Mine started kind of at the end and then we go back, but yours starts... But even the book kind of started at the end and then we go back. Yeah. Yours starts in the middle. Yeah, mine kind of starts in the middle. But like we also get a glimpse at the end of like Heathcliff at his very end calling out to Catherine's ghost kind of thing.
00:17:49
Speaker
Okay. Lindsay, how yours start out? I have a Mr. Lockwood. Okay. He is traveling from the Grange to the Heights. It's not a blizzard. It's just raining really hard.
00:18:02
Speaker
So I don't know why he couldn't make it back. But whatever. And it's basically the same as crystals. um You know, he meets Heathcliff. Heathcliff is an absolute jerk. He looks rough. He's been through it.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah. Heathcliff looks rough in mine too. Yeah. Well, you can tell they like tried to make him look worse. They aged him. They put bags under his eyes to emphasize what he's going through. Okay. um Yeah. And then you just, you get the story from the beginning.
00:18:34
Speaker
Okay. ah This is where it's going to get interesting for me. Because I want to know, i want to talk about the characters. First, before we talk about like whether or not we think they were cast well or or played well.
00:18:48
Speaker
Fair. I need to know who was left out of yours. Like we already know Carrie didn't have a Mr. Lockwood. I'm missing quite a few characters. Lindsay, were you missing any?
00:18:59
Speaker
Not really. I've I basically had everyone. that I think the only people that were technically missing were... the The Linton parents, Edgar and Isabella's parents, because i know they're briefly in the book. Yeah. But they're not in my adaptation at all. So I'm missing the Linton parents. i am also missing young Kathy, young Heathcliff, and young Linton.
00:19:24
Speaker
That storyline is gone. Wait, what? Yeah, it is gone. They have one Heathcliff, one Kathy, one Linton.
00:19:35
Speaker
That's it yeah I know. Wait, so their entire like young, like their entire storyline of when they're younger? not even there.
00:19:46
Speaker
Not even there. Oh, i heard ah I'm watching this movie at home and I'm like, I don't know, an hour into it. And I was like, I thought this movie was only like an hour and a half long. where Where we got to get some kids popping out. These kids are going to like, what's happening? No kids.
00:20:05
Speaker
Nobody has kids. it It doesn't happen. So what about Mr. Earnshaw? Is he in there? No Mr. Earnshaw? The Kathy, Catherine's father or her brother?
00:20:18
Speaker
Catherine's father. Catherine's father is not, well, he is for like a few minutes in the very beginning, but he dies really quickly. And then her brother, of course, inherits the heights. Uh-huh. um And he never gets married. So he doesn't have his son.
00:20:33
Speaker
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Back it up. He's not married. He's not married. He doesn't have a son. He is just a drunk. He, like, the minute their father dies, he starts treating Heathcliff like shit. And that's when everything kind of just goes to hell. you know, Heathcliff gets really moody and angsty. And yeah. So you have no Francis. No Francis. No Francis. No Harriton. Nope.
00:21:00
Speaker
Nope. What? Yep. Honestly, y'all should be jealous. My movie was very simple. What? I know I'm looking at the family tree right now because that's just helps me. You have to have a family tree for this book. Yeah. You have to have a family tree for this book because the names are crazy. And obviously it's on purpose to confuse you on purpose. Yeah.
00:21:25
Speaker
it's, yeah especially in the beginning when you're getting these names and then you're going in the past and then you're like, wait, I thought we just saw them in the future or at present day.
00:21:37
Speaker
Young. So this is weird. So putting it all together, it makes sense. But except naming someone Linton when everyone else's last name is Linton is crazy work.
00:21:52
Speaker
it's Well, because that means his name was Linton Heathcliff. I know, but like, can we not do this right now? I'm already stressed. I was so confused. And then like Ellen Dean, they call her Nellie through half of the book. But so I didn't realize we had a Nellie and an Ellen. They were the same person. Literally whenever we had, because they were calling her Nellie for so long. And I was like, finally getting like the Kathy, Catherine situation down. And then someone said Ellen. And I was like, who's Ellen?
00:22:22
Speaker
Who is Ellen? Yep. Who is that? There was a part in the book where there were they were talking about Catherine and Kathy. And i don't remember Nellie was talking about Heathcliff and Catherine, but she was like, no one ever called her Catherine. They called her Kathy. i was like, where? When? it was always Catherine. And then then Kathy Jr. Yeah.
00:22:50
Speaker
Because unreliable narrator, because we have so much he's telling us, he's here, he's telling us the story, Mr. Lockwood's telling us the story that he heard from Nellie slash Ellen, that she heard from other people, and she also fully admits that she didn't like Catherine.
00:23:11
Speaker
right? That she she thought Catherine was a nasty child. And so she kind of, I think, is unreliable because she colors a lot of her story with not liking Catherine. But also, she kind of half wants Mr. Lockwood to maybe go save Kathy at some point.
00:23:32
Speaker
Who's, you know, so she's trying to like talk up Kathy. You know, like poor Kathy. Whatever. I don't know. though So it's, it's, The whole time, she's some of her stuff just doesn't make sense when she's telling the story. like it It's like you said, like nobody called her Catherine. Everybody's been calling her Catherine, Nellie. Are you not paying attention to the the story that you're telling? Mm-hmm. You know?
00:23:57
Speaker
awful. also feel like she she really only had to state facts. Like, if she wanted people to look bad, she just had to tell them what happened because their actions were speaking. Mm-hmm. Oh, my God.
00:24:08
Speaker
Oh my God. But okay. So let's, I'm trying to stick to my my outline here. guys We could get, we could talk about this book for days. So now that you know that half of my story was not in my movie. I can't believe that.
00:24:24
Speaker
but Let's talk about your cast and whether or not you think it was done well. ah Let's start with Lindsay since she already told us no. but Yeah, no. Just no. That's all there is. just i just Just the main people. So Heathcliff was played by Robert Cavanaugh.
00:24:43
Speaker
m And you know, there's the line in the book, they kept in the adaptation as well, ah where I believe Edgar says something to Heathcliff about how He could clean himself up, but he couldn't clean the brown from his skin or whatever. Heathcliff was white in my adaptation, and they kept that line in there. It's a Scotsman playing Heathcliff, and they kept that line in there. I was like... I think... And there's... I can't remember where I read it, but somebody had referred to
00:25:26
Speaker
Heathcliff as ethnically obscure because they definitely refer to him in the book. Cause he's, you know, he's like a foster brother, right? Like, you know, Mr. Earnshaw brings him home randomly one day and says, I found this kid in the street. We couldn't find his parents anywhere. So I'm bringing him home with us.
00:25:45
Speaker
You know, that way he at least can have a ah nice life. And then of course he promptly dies leaving Heathcliff at the mercy of his shitty son. But Heathcliff is described as dark.
00:25:58
Speaker
He is described as dark hair, dark eyes, and brown skin. Now, in my movie, he's obviously Laurence Olivier.
00:26:09
Speaker
They kept... I don't even know how to say it. It's in the movie. It is a slur, but they kept calling him a dirty gypsy the whole time, like repeatedly through the movie. And so in that movie, they obviously interpreted it as somebody like of Eastern European descent. Right.
00:26:29
Speaker
And it really makes me wonder, and I didn't look it up and I probably should have like, do we even know what Emily Bronte actually meant you know what i mean was it somebody with more like olivey skin are we talking a black man are we talking you know what i mean but it's clearly not somebody from the moors you know it's it's clearly not a white anglo-saxon you know wasp from the moors you know so i think it's really interesting how it gets cast and how different adaptations
00:27:06
Speaker
interpret that how did yours do Carrie with Heathcliff I mean had Tom Hardy but so but had Tom Hardy that's an interesting choice yeah and really what you think about it yeah I think his first of all he's wearing a wig the entire time that was driving me absolutely insane I wanted to tear that wig off and throw it in the trash all right it was horrific it was absolutely horrific i hated it and he just like his mannerisms for hecliff were just doing too much he was doing too much it like started off in the beginning i was like what is he doing like and tom harney's not a bad actor you know, and I, I don't know, i just did not like whatever he was trying to do. Like, there would be moments where I could see the potential that they were trying to do, because, you know, obviously, you know, he is a white man casted in this role, and
00:28:18
Speaker
You know, not exactly what I'm picturing, but I think like I'm more at this point thinking of like the attitude, the mannerisms, you know, the almost like the essence of Heathcliff. And he's like he's trying too hard and just not getting it. well And also with I feel like they're too nice. Heathcliff, it gets wild in this book.
00:28:49
Speaker
yeah Absolutely wild. And still too nice, in my opinion, in this adaptation. Also for Catherine, too. Like, y'all are making them way too nice.
00:29:01
Speaker
They get nasty in this book. Yeah. they're they're They're literally like, I don't want to say like pulling pranks on people. They are literally causing physical harm to other people.
00:29:14
Speaker
They are not good people. At all. they They manipulate the people around them. to For their own gain. They manipulate try to manipulate each other. It's awful. What they do to each other. i think there was like one point where. um Catherine was being.
00:29:35
Speaker
Mean. To Isabella. In the at my adaptation. And Heathcliff was like. Trying to scold her. For being mean to Isabella. And i was like.
00:29:47
Speaker
Sorry. yeah Not the Heathcliff in this book that I just read. That's crazy. no That would have never happened. They would have been playing off each other because that was their big thing. Catherine was always saying that I'm Heathcliff. I'm literally Heathcliff. I literally act just like him. We are each other. We do the same exact things. okay you know And he would have never scolded her for being mean to her.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah. He would have loved it Yep. My adaptation, the the characters that were there were well cast.
00:30:29
Speaker
Heathcliff was done so well. Laurence Olivier pulled no punches. He was an asshole. He was straight up mean. Everyone knew he was mean. He didn't try to sugarcoat anything. Even when he shows up after being gone for, what, three years and comes back looking like a gentleman. He looks like a gentleman, but he's he pulls no punches. He's still a jerk, you know?
00:30:57
Speaker
um Merle Oberon as Catherine was... in turns perfect and then you almost kind of liked her for a minute but then she'd flip on a dime so it was like exactly the Catherine in the book who could be that perfect lady for you one minute and nearly scratching your eyes out the next you know what i mean she it was she did it so well even like her death making sure to you know
00:31:32
Speaker
like kind of make sure that Heathcliff was there, but also miserable about it, like make him feel awful. You know, she just dug it in just right. It was really well done. Really well i love that. Because I was like, are all the adaptations like not going as far as it needs to when it comes to how mean and like angry that they are? Because they're too nice in this.
00:31:57
Speaker
they They were absolutely mean and cruel. And I would have loved to have seen how Heathcliff did. For the next 15 to 20 years after her death. But that's basically where my movie ends. is She dies.
00:32:11
Speaker
They rent out Thrust Cross Grange to someone else. And then Heathcliff runs off in the snow. I'll tell you more about end later. oh There's a little bit more. A little a little bit more.
00:32:23
Speaker
But we'll get to that after we get to everything else. Because I want to ask us all about our endings. Okay. What about the settings? Like of the Heights and the Grange...
00:32:34
Speaker
Did they look like what you thought they were going to look like? What about you, Lindsay? You go first. um I really had a hard time picturing... both the Heights and the Grange. I know they said that the Grange was nicer than the Heights. I did not expect the Heights to remind me so much of the Bennett's house in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, where they've got like pigs running around and bunch of dogs and they had it really muddy. And I don't know.
00:33:07
Speaker
um It kind of wasn't what I was expecting, but also just didn't know what to expect. And then on top of that, The whole place is like full of dogs. So every scene, there's like multiple dogs barking. So this was very much a horror movie for my cats because they were freaking out the entire movie. Poor babies.
00:33:32
Speaker
Yeah. What about you, Carrie? How did yours look? I think mine was pretty well done. i just remember, I don't think mine had a lot of dogs in it. And that was like a very big ah thing in the story. But I mean, I'm not super worried about it. But the setting was, i think, pretty well done. i think I imagined the heights to be a little more like messier.
00:33:58
Speaker
Also a little smaller. pictured it to be small. It was very big. It was a very, like, big, like, estate whenever they showed it. But I think maybe that's just me not, like, picturing it correctly. But it was definitely, like, the atmosphere, like, the vibes of it being, like, very dark. Like, the filming of it was a very, like...
00:34:24
Speaker
dark gloomy atmosphere yeah whenever they were filming like the heights and everything so i really like that they captured that well in mine the you know the like like lindsey said the heights is supposed to be smaller than the grange the grange is supposed to be the larger estate in mine the grange was like don't know if you guys have ever been to like the White House or the Capitol.
00:34:51
Speaker
it was like that size. Right. It was big and like chandeliers everywhere and columns and marble. it was very 1847.
00:35:03
Speaker
Wars, you know what i mean? Like it it seemed out of place. And the Heights was like barely larger than a stone cottage. Yeah.
00:35:16
Speaker
And not so much with like pigs and wild and you know or farm animals wandering around, but it was like muddy. You could see the stable in the background kind of thing.
00:35:27
Speaker
And even inside, like the ceilings were low, whereas the Grange had like, you know you couldn't even see the ceilings in a lot of shots. And the Heights was very like close and tight and dark and not very well lit. So like the vibes of the Heights were darker and sadder and more.
00:35:47
Speaker
um claustrophobic and the Grange felt like you could breathe and there might be happiness here and there like there was a very clear differentiation in like the the atmosphere of each um and the type of life that they had there because the Heights was miserable originally you know Keith Cliff and Kathy with Kathy's older brother the alcoholic making everybody miserable and not paying the bills and Whereas the Grange had Edgar Linton and their dances and their, you know, society life and just happiness and love for the most part.
00:36:26
Speaker
it was really well um foiled each other, but also like so much so that it seemed a little bit shocking to me.
00:36:38
Speaker
Because I was like, I didn't realize that the Grange was a freaking palace, you know? Yeah. Yeah. What about the costumes? Did you guys feel any kind of way about that? Because i did.
00:36:51
Speaker
I mean, about that wig, man, that freaking wig needs to go, man I hated that freaking wig. I can't stop thinking about it. And I need it to never cross my path again. and honestly, I was like looking at pictures like of like whenever I was writing up my notes for this and I was seeing the pictures again of the cover of the movie. And I was like, i I got to get away from this wig, man. This is horrible.
00:37:23
Speaker
Lindsay, anything about the overall look of yours that kind of stood out at all? don't think so. No. It's just really hard to get past the pretty bad acting and the interesting cast choice. but Oh, no. Mine did have, like, whenever... You know how there's... Whenever they're younger, like Catherine and Heathcliff, and they're...
00:37:47
Speaker
They're trying to show Catherine, like, basically, like, causing havoc, you know, with Heathcliff all the time. And then, you know, when she goes to and has to stay at the Grange for a certain amount of time, and then she comes back and she's dressed all formal and she looks really different. They made, like, the costume change for Catherine from that point.
00:38:12
Speaker
to the Grange point, like very drastic where she's just like in completely different clothing, like where it's almost kind of funny where I'm like, oh, this is interesting. They did that in mine too. Yeah. It was was like, that's not even the same woman. it was.
00:38:30
Speaker
Yeah. It was. Yeah. I do i want to say when Mr. Earnshaw, Catherine and Edgar's father, when he passes away and Edgar comes back to take over the Heights...
00:38:45
Speaker
Catherine and Heathcliff are supposed to be children. Yeah. They're they're young. yeah They're like grown adults in my adaptation. Oh, same.
00:38:55
Speaker
And they're like straight up trying to act like children. And it is the most awkward thing. They were kids in mind. Different actors, obviously, because they had to be kids. So they were kids in mind.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah. Nope. It's like 30 year old people. Yeah. No. Wow. Even like Kathy's older brother was a child still in in my adaptation. Not like, so like there was obviously like a four or five year age difference or whatever, but he is still like,
00:39:25
Speaker
barely old enough to be considered an adult and now you know the master of the house or whatever and Heathcliff and Catherine are kids they're like 12 10 or 11 something like that wait I want to hear about your costumes Crystal and then I have a question for everybody okay well first of course my movie was black and white because why not and the costumes were in my mind 1939 fashion
00:39:55
Speaker
oh in a black and white film yeah basically there were a few times when like Heathcliff is supposed to look like the dirty stable boy where he's obviously wearing like dirty trousers and with suspenders or whatever you know but other than that like the dresses that we see like Isabella and Catherine wear are very 1939 fashion.
00:40:19
Speaker
like I distinctly remember seeing pictures of my grandma wearing a dress exactly like that. You know what I mean? So I was like, wow, they didn't even really try. But they got nominated for an Academy Award for those costumes. so Oh, interesting.
00:40:35
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, I have a question. i have a question. Did any of your adaptations have spice in it? No. Mine had way too much kissing and one groping scene.
00:40:52
Speaker
Nope. Mine was spicy, you guys.
00:40:56
Speaker
Oh, well, I know which one I wish I watched.
00:41:01
Speaker
Mine was spicy to the point I was shook. I was shook because I was like, wait a minute. I don't remember any of this happening in the book. Okay. Like I'm talking like there's sex scenes. There's, you know, a lot of kissing scenes, like all the times that you would assume that they probably ran off and were like kissing each other. they were definitely doing that. They were definitely having sex. Like, you know, when Catherine went and married, what's his name?
00:41:35
Speaker
Edgar. Like, you know, she was definitely hooking up with Heathcliff before that. 100%. to this movie, there is a sex scene that we see between Isabella and Heathcliff that is so cringe that That makes you want to literally die inside where he literally Tom Hardy looks into this girl's eyes and says, don't look at me.
00:42:03
Speaker
um my God. I actually wanted to lose it. It was horrible. it was horrific. It was absolutely horrific. Heathcliff in mine marries. Well, the next step that I was going to suggest as we talk about storylines, but Heathcliff does marry Isabella in in my adaptation. And she is desperate to get him to love her because she's realized that she he has only done this to, you know, get back at Catherine.
00:42:32
Speaker
And she's like desperate to get him to love her. And she's throwing herself at him. And he's obviously like, like looking off into the distance in and she's up against him and he's not even wrapping his arms around or anything. He goes, your hair doesn't smell like the Heather in the morning.
00:42:50
Speaker
It's very like dramatic moment, but that is literally the spiciest moment. Oh no. I forgot there technically is one sex scene in mine. Okay. Between who?
00:43:01
Speaker
Heathcliff Isabella. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, that makes sense. That at least aligns. Right. So were any storylines left out or significantly changed in yours aside from the obvious spice?
00:43:18
Speaker
I did have where whenever Catherine is like she is basically like in labor.
00:43:31
Speaker
She's like going through all these i don't even know exactly what's happening here. But she's just having all these visions and all these things. And she, during that whole entire moment where she's like calling out to all these people and desperately wanting all these things to happen in my adaptation, she literally like runs out in the rain, like fully pregnant, runs out in the rain looking for Heathcliff or like look you think that she's looking for Heathcliff but she's like looking for something and she like runs down to the rain and is like lays down somewhere outside while it's pouring rain on her and like Heathcliff like has like this sudden like intuition like that's so Raven like he's seeing the future and at the window and he needs to he knows exactly where she is and goes and finds her
00:44:30
Speaker
okay And his wig is sopping wet against his forehead. ye He can't see anything. now He can see her in the distance.
00:44:41
Speaker
you know He picks her up and takes her to Rick from The Walking Dead. And, you know, okay, I have to say, i actually really liked him.
00:44:53
Speaker
What's his name? Andrew Lincoln as Edgar. I thought he made a really great Edgar. I honestly... Edgar is not like the best character, but for some reason in this book made me cry a lot. He is the only character that like seems like he might potentially be a decent human being. Yeah. Like and he when Edgar's like whole ending and like when terrible things were happening to him, i actually sobbed for some reason. I really don't know why. And I cried a lot at this ending with Harriton and Kathy.
00:45:27
Speaker
That ending like really got me big time. Mm-hmm. Lindsay, anything major changed in yours? I feel like plot-wise, it was pretty consistent with the book all the way up until basically Catherine died.
00:45:45
Speaker
And then Cathy goes out into the moor by herself and she ends up running into Heathcliff. And she's at the place where he and Catherine used to play when they were children or supposed to be children, but they were adults.
00:46:05
Speaker
And then she ends up telling Heathcliff that her father isn't home because he's gone to London. His sister passed away and he's bringing back Linton.
00:46:18
Speaker
So that's how Heathcliff finds out about Linton coming back to live with Edgar. And then Heathcliff shows up at the house to take Linton and tells Kathy, oh, you can come visit us at the Heights whenever you want. So it's not like they went years without seeing each other. It was like pretty immediate.
00:46:37
Speaker
Yeah. They're like, speed this story up. Literally. Yeah. Well, half my story's gone, so Yeah. They're like, we'll just cut out all of this. Pretty much. Pretty much.
00:46:49
Speaker
ah Carrie, I know that you were interested in comparing endings as well. <unk> I'll go ahead and start with mine um because, again, half my story is gone.
00:46:59
Speaker
So at the very beginning, you know, Mr. Lockwood thinks he hears the ghost or got caught by a ghost and he hears the name Kathy and he tells Heathcliff, Heathcliff runs into the snow. Through the middle of the story, it's all...
00:47:12
Speaker
um Ellen telling Nellie, telling the backstory of Heathcliff and Kathy right up until Kathy dies. And then we flash back to Nellie sitting in the rocking chair telling Mr. Lockwood what's up.
00:47:28
Speaker
And somebody comes in. It's not Joseph. It's somebody else comes in and basically says, you know... ah did They ask, you know, did you find him? Did you find Heathcliff? And he says, I saw, i saw a Heathcliff and a woman walking on the moors hand in hand. And I yelled after them and I chased them. But when I got to them, it was just Heathcliff and it was just his prince in the snow. And he was, he was gone. And that's it.
00:47:59
Speaker
That's the end. And Nellie says something like, together again. And then it fades out. Okay. That's it. that's <unk>s That's it.
00:48:12
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. Oh, at this point, Isabella is still alive and is Mrs. Heathcliff because when Mr. Lockwood comes into from the storm or whatever and is asking for lodging or a guide or whatever, he says, can I at least get some tea?
00:48:29
Speaker
And Isabella kind of looks up like... like looks at Heathcliff like can i and then she leaves that's basically the only time we really see her other than in the retelling and he says is is that you know is the lady of the house Mrs. Heathcliff and Heathcliff says yes and that's it and we are not led to believe that she died like she did in the book oh weird How did yours end, Carrie? I feel like my adaptation kind of forgot about Isabella. Like, they... The whole thing where she finds out she's pregnant, she leaves the house, right? But she actually runs into Edgar when she's, like, running away.
00:49:11
Speaker
Instead of, you know, running, you know, to Nellie. She runs into Edgar and, like... Basically, he's just like, you know, screw you for like doing this, you know, you're on your own. And she, it just kind of like cuts off from there. And then we're back to quote present day, you know, where, you know, Heathcliff was like looking back in his memory. So we're back to present day and we just have Linton here.
00:49:40
Speaker
who we assume is, you know, Isabella's son, we never get like the connection. Right. You know? And so it just kind of cuts off there.
00:49:52
Speaker
But my ending, you know, is where we go, like I said, we go back to present day because we went through all the memories, you know, he's just was standing there the whole time remembering all this stuff. We come back to present day and we have,
00:50:10
Speaker
the whole story with Linton and Kathy getting married and then dying. And we have the Harriton and Kathy storyline still, but it's like super vague and, you know, kind of sucks in my opinion, because like, like I said, like Heathcliff should be meaner, like, and he's not that mean. like I, I mean,
00:50:33
Speaker
Just in the sense of like, was like the whole time going into this adaptation, I'm thinking, how is he going to be this mean? Like, I'm so interested to see this because they're so crazy in this book. He's straight up abusive. Yeah. And they're being like kind of nice and not that like there's a point when Heathcliff in the book smacks Kathy on both sides of her face. hmm.
00:50:57
Speaker
And i was like, how are they going to be doing this? This is going to be wild. And then I'm like, wait, what the heck is going on in this movie? Anyways, so they... In the movie, you know, he's getting...
00:51:10
Speaker
to the point where he's like dying, right? And he's seeing Catherine, he's like seeing her ghost, calling out to her ghost and things like that, like keeps distancing himself. And he sees Harriton and Cathy together and like it almost like triggers him in the sense that reminding him of himself and Catherine. And so he leaves the room and he kills himself with a gun.
00:51:39
Speaker
And then Harriton hears it and runs to him. And like, it's like brutal that we see him laying in bed and Harriton's like freaking out. Cause in the story, he kind of like starves himself to death basically. Yeah.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, that's how it ends. And oh, in the ending, we get to see them as little ghosts in the window, like spirits haunting the Heights.
00:52:05
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Lindsay, how did yours end? ah Mine was pretty faithful to the book. Of course, we have Hairton because it is played by Matthew McFadden and he's the best part of the movie.
00:52:18
Speaker
Fair. There's never really any instance of Kathy being mean or mocking... Hairton for not being able to read.
00:52:30
Speaker
They're just always really nice to each other. It's almost like they're not really flirty, but they they realize that they have some kind of shared trauma. So they kind of bond pretty quickly.
00:52:42
Speaker
But of course, Heathcliff is actually kind of mean. He's just not as crazy as book Heathcliff. He does smack Kathy in the head. Oh, really? Yeah, when she's trying to escape and she's trying to get the key from him and she bites him and he hits her. Yeah.
00:53:01
Speaker
There's also the scene where they're they're all eating together and Kathy's kind of like antagonizing him and he threatens to hit her and Harriton sticks up for her.
00:53:13
Speaker
but she doesn't have to She doesn't have to be like, oh, Harriton will stop you from hitting me. He just, he does it on his own. He said, don't hit her. So I thought that was interesting. But What happens is, so we go back to when Mr. Lockwood is in Catherine's old bedroom.
00:53:33
Speaker
The branch is knocking on the window. It wakes him up. and the whole thing with Catherine, she's out there. So Heathcliff had come into the room and he's like yelling, come back, come back. Why don't you visit me like you visit him?
00:53:51
Speaker
So apparently he just doesn't really leave that room. And what happens is in the morning, Nellie is outside, like, walking the grounds, and she notices that the window is open, and it's, like, banging against the house. So she goes upstairs to check on Heathcliff, and he's just...
00:54:10
Speaker
Okay. I forgot to add, I actually have a scene. This reminded me of that. I actually have a scene. You know how in the book he kind of insinuates that he opened Catherine's coffin? Yeah.
00:54:23
Speaker
in them In my adaptation, there is a part where he's almost like having like some kind of like episode where he's seeing Catherine. He digs up her grave And gets in the coffin with her and lays down with her in the coffin. And he thinks he sees like a real person, but it's actually like bones in there.
00:54:49
Speaker
This is why i think I wish my adaptation had what happened after Kathy died. you know, Catherine dies and then Heathcliff lives for another like 20 years after that. Mm-hmm.
00:55:03
Speaker
Be becoming more and more like haunted by the memory of her and becoming more and more obsessed with, you know, consuming anything that was hers and taking back anything that could have, you know, been a part of what led to her death. And like, I i missed that. yeah i will say i think laurence olivier was an amazing heathcliff he was so rough and mean and just cruel and i feel like if we had another hour of that movie yeah you know it he could have just done so good going crazy you know going mad so crazy is that
00:55:49
Speaker
Like in the book, like it's like this chunk, like I want to say maybe a third, like Catherine dies. Yeah.
00:56:00
Speaker
In know the the first third. And you know what? Heathcliff doesn't really mention Catherine like a ton in the rest of the book, but you just know all the actions are because of what he's been through Catherine and her family.
00:56:19
Speaker
Yep. And so like that's what makes it so intense. But like she's only alive for like the first little bit. Yeah. She's not even in it for that long.
00:56:31
Speaker
Yep. So. so That's crazy. With all of that being said, what are our final verdicts? Carrie, book or movie? I'm going to have book for sure.
00:56:44
Speaker
Lindsay? Yeah, I'm going book. I mean, going to say book just because my movie didn't have half of the book. and Yeah, you're putting it out so much. I can't believe that. It was the good half, you know?
00:56:59
Speaker
was the really crazy half. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well then. that it's I mean, for three different movies, not a single one really quite hit, you know, three different have to adaptations.
00:57:12
Speaker
So that leads us to the question of our episode. Knowing what we know now about the differences in these adaptations, what are we wanting to see in the new series?
00:57:24
Speaker
movie. I mean, obviously i want to see the other half of the book. Yeah. Yeah. I am curious if there's like any other recommendations of other adaptations we should watch, but for this new one, mean...
00:57:39
Speaker
i mean
00:57:42
Speaker
This is where I got that inspired by the greatest love story of all time. Because that's what is said on that specific trailer. And when I saw that after, like... I mean, at first when you're watching the trailer... When you're watching the trailer and you've never read the book, you're like, oh, this is going to be really cool. And then you read the book and then you watch it. You're like, what the hell are you talking about?
00:58:03
Speaker
But honestly, I'm really hoping to see, like... the act like I kind of want this movie to go there I want it to go there with the anger i want it to go there with how dark it is like I kind of want it to go like the extra mile that I'm not seeing in the adaptation I'm not gonna lie like I think that like whenever I was reading it, I've only seen Jacob Elordi in like two things and it's Euphoria and Frankenstein. And like literally those, if you know, if you've seen both those things, he's kind of intense and insane in both of those movies and shows. So I feel like his essence, like I said before, I'm really looking for the essence of Heathcliff and the intensity of Heathcliff.
00:58:56
Speaker
I feel like he could 100% pull it off. Yeah. For sure. Lindsay, what are you hoping I agree with Carrie. I just want more more of the obsessive nature between Catherine and Heathcliff.
00:59:16
Speaker
It was too flirty and almost cutesy. Yeah. And I need it ugly. ugly yup Yes, ugly, exactly. Like, I don't want it to be... I'm afraid that this adaptation is going to take it where it's sexy.
00:59:34
Speaker
i I don't really necessarily want it to be sexy. I mean, I'm assuming it's going to be sexy, so I got to probably put it into a different category and not necessarily compare the two But like you said, I want it to be ugly.
00:59:51
Speaker
See, this, again, this is not a love story. This is manipulative and abusive obsession.
01:00:02
Speaker
Right? So I want to see Mike Flanagan, Wuthering Heights. oh Yeah. Because I think he could bring that creep, that gothic, that dark. And again, i don't like horror.
01:00:17
Speaker
As a general rule, it's not my jam at all. But what I have seen of Mike Flanagan, he is really able to lean into that darker nature of people. And that is who Heathcliff is. That is who Catherine is. And I would love to see that.
01:00:34
Speaker
I don't think that we're gonna. I think this is I think they're gonna... cheese this up and i'm yeah i mean i'm still kind of excited about it because it's just it looks fun if nothing else it's fun yeah it looks fun i like a margot robbie too i'm very interested the interpretation that they're gonna take on it it looks very beautiful I also think if they go really hard into, like, just don't be true to the book. You know what i mean? It could actually be an epic love story if they take out all of the the gothic parts of it, the darker side of it. Lighten the whole thing up.
01:01:17
Speaker
Make it some star-crossed lover's crap. I think that could actually work. Yeah. think you gotta change the name. Yeah. Please. I have seen a theory that the name, the title is in quotes, like it's quote Wuthering Heights. And there I've seen a theory floating around that it is where the main character that's playing Catherine, she is reading Wuthering Heights and picturing her life as,
01:01:48
Speaker
Hmm. In this. I don't know. Like she's picturing it happening to her in her current life. Like it's not necessarily an adaptation. People are very weird about it being quoted. Like if you look at the title, it says quote Wuthering Heights.
01:02:08
Speaker
Could be interesting. I don't know. Well, one of us is probably going to watch it really soon and we'll let you all know what we think. Oh, yeah, I'm in that movie theater. You know I am.
01:02:19
Speaker
I think I'm probably going to be. I don't go to the theater very often, but this might be one I make an exception for. So, well, guys, that wraps up our episode on Wuthering Heights. Don't forget to join us on socials to talk about which Wuthering Heights adaptation you love most, even if it wasn't one of these three. We'd love to hear about others.
01:02:39
Speaker
ah If you are going to watch the new one, let us know what you think as well. You can follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Blue Sky. And of course, we would love some more suggestions. We love our listener suggestions. You can click on the link in our bio and submit any of your favorite adaptations to our submissions form.
01:03:01
Speaker
We'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, Don't settle for the creepy foster brother. That's weird. And we'll see you on the next chapter of Based on a Book.
01:03:17
Speaker
Bye. Bye.