Allie Beth Stuckey is sounding the alarm on the new, eroticized film interpretation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, “Wuthering Heights.” Stuckey, a best-selling author and speaker who offers social commentary from a Christian worldview, sees the new adaptation, which came out in theaters over Valentine’s Day weekend, as part of a broader trend marketing destructive pictures of love to women.
“I am interested in, in a very concerned way…the particular darkness that is targeting young women, that’s leading women into unhealthy relationships,” Stuckey said, “unhealthy choices, leading them into bad personal decisions, bad political decisions, that lead them into a life of unhappiness where they are pursuing fleeting pleasures.”
Women pursue fleeting pleasures “through relationships or through their careers or through their pets or through politics,” said Stuckey, “rather than, one, following Christ, but also pursuing lasting things like marriage and children. And I have long been interested in how our entertainment and the messages that we see from romance novels, from TV shows, and how movies are playing into that.”
Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for “Wuthering Heights.”
RELATED: ‘Redeeming Love’ Movie Releases—But Should Christians Go See It?
Allie Beth Stuckey Warns Against the ‘Dark Romance’ of New ‘Wuthering Heights’
“Wuthering Heights” is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, the sister of authors Charlotte Brontë and Anne Brontë. The book tells the tragic story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, who grow up together and who develop an intense emotional bond. While some might describe that bond as “love,” their passion for each other is destructive and marked by jealousy, obsession, and selfishness.
The first part of the novel focuses on Heathcliff and Catherine, the latter of whom dies halfway through the book, while the second part focuses on their children, whom they have with other people.
Heathcliff is an orphan of mysterious origins who suffers abuse at the hands of Catherine’s brother. Even though his circumstances make him a sympathetic character at times, his actions as the story progresses make that sympathy difficult to maintain. He has a deep capacity for cruelty.
For her part, Catherine is self-centered, manipulative, and controlling. Despite her strong connection with Heathcliff, she chooses to marry a man named Edgar Linton for social security. Heathcliff, who disappears for a time, returns after Catherine’s marriage and pursues vengeance in a variety of ways.