We Need To Talk About Film Adaptations...

With the release of the film Wuthering Heights releasing on February 13th, 2026, many online have been criticizing as to how the film is nowhere near accurate to the novel. Stating as to how Heathcliff (one of the main characters in the novel) is said to be of a darker complexion in the book but is played by Jacob Elordi in the film who is not of a dark complexion. There are many other criticisms between what is and isn’t book accurate but Heathcliff not being portrayed by someone who is of color is one of the main ones. This brings to question whether or not it's fair to make an adaptation of a book whether it's 100 percent accurate or rather inspired by the book, if it should be made in the first place? In this article by The Battalion it states, “If a book is adapted into a movie, it becomes almost a necessity for the two formats to be judged as unrelated media to keep its loyal readers sane, and that should never have to be the case.” Book to film adaptations have long been popular and common in the movie industry, series such as The Lord of the Rings, Twilight and The Hunger Games being among the most popular adaptations. The biggest controversy that surrounds them is always what is and isn't included in the movies from the books, whether it be a character that played a minor role in the book but loved by fans that didn't make the cut of the movie or a certain plotline that contributed hugely to the entirety of the movie; there's always gonna be criticism surrounding these films. The most major controversy is the actors/actresses that play these characters. When it comes to novels that have a character that has physical features or is of a certain ethnicity that is major to the book and has an actor/actress that does not have the features or of that ethnicity and yet is casted as that character; backlash is bound to be expected. On the other hand, it's very rare if the character is described to look a certain way but it doesn't contribute to the characters’ storyline and an actor/actress who shares no physical resemblance to the character that they’re playing. Leah Sava Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase in the series by Disney Percy Jackson and The Olympians is a great example of this. In the end though, book to film adaptations aren’t always going to be entirely book accurate and we must learn to enjoy it for being a thing of its own. 

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