I know that sounds weird because we shouldn't be seeing the character's race as important, but it kind of made itself important.
Him being black added some racist conflict to it which wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I couldn't help but think that with Heathcliff hitting people and breaking into people's houses that it was almost adhering to bad stereotypes in some way.
Agreed.
shareI see what you mean. But, Heathcliff wasn't white in the book. I believe they'd tried to cast a Romani actor originally. But, when that didn't work out they opened the casting up to all races.
shareThe book itself doesn't explicitly state he was black, but he certainly wasn't white. Racism is thus already a theme in the book. I didn't feel the movie was reinforcing any racial stereotypes; just like in the book, the white people around him were much more violent towards him than he was towards them. Their violence spawned his violence. I really didn't like this movie, but I was so relieved Heathcliff wasn't white for once.
shareHe's black in the book
shareNo, he's described as "dark" in the book with zero reference to "black" in the sub-Saharan African sense, which means he's likely a Gypsy or East Indian verified by descriptions like “dark-skinned gypsy” and “a little Lascar."
shareIn the book he's described as looking like a Gypsy, and is absolutely treated as "less than" because he isn't thought of as white.
So casting a black actor did rather put that part of the story across, but they also could have used someone of Indian-subcontinental extraction. A lot of Romani Gypsies look very Indian.
Shakespeare was too. Black as ink.
shareHeathcliff stood near the entrance, in his shirt and trousers; with a candle dripping over his fingers, and his face as white as the wall behind him.
Hindley threw it, hitting him on the breast, and down he fell, but staggered up immediately, breathless and white;
wow , that post looks so out of date compared to todays ubiquitous:
"Black man got a role because woke and one of my fellow white master race could have had that job"
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