Cannonball with Wesley Morris

Episode: "There’s Nothing Sexy About ‘Wuthering Heights’"

Date: February 19, 2026
Host: Wesley Morris
Guest: Sasha Weiss
Producer: The New York Times

Episode Overview

In this episode, Wesley Morris and guest Sasha Weiss dive into Emerald Fennell’s new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Their conversation—sparked by a post-Valentine’s Day mood—grapples with the challenge of capturing genuine romantic and sexual chemistry on screen, especially with iconic, tempestuous material like Emily Brontë’s novel. They examine Fennell's reputation for provocative filmmaking, debate whether the new Wuthering Heights offers more than superficial shocks, and contrast it with richer, riskier portraits of desire in recent other media.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Personal Histories with Wuthering Heights

• Both Morris and Weiss describe reading the book while young, drawn in by its feverish, taboo-breaking depiction of love and obsession.
  • [03:02] Weiss: “It never left—it’s hold on us is eternal.”
  • [04:07] Weiss: “I too read it as a kind of fevered... perfect for that age because it’s about these two impetuous, kind of crazy, uncivilized... obsessives in love.”

The Promise and Failings of Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights

• Initial scenes, depicting the childhood bond between Kathy and Heathcliff, are praised for their psychological realism and tenderness.
  • [06:13] Weiss: “She does a really good job at the beginning of the movie of showing that the attachment... is born of a kind of desperation and fear... portrayed with tenderness and a sense of reality.”
• The film’s central, erotic barn scene stands out—but the promise of true psychological exploration is abandoned soon after.
  • [07:39] Weiss: “The best scene in the movie... those seeds of attraction seem to have flowered, germinated and sperminated.”
  • [11:13] Weiss: “There’s something sadomasochistic happening... but then she just runs away. And to me, that’s the end of the movie being interesting.”
• The movie substitutes surface-level shock and imagery (e.g., eggs, aspic, slime) for real emotional risk or communication about desire.
  • [15:26] Weiss: “There are egg yolks, emission, there’s fish in aspic... snails and slimy things... all of this... evocation of bodily congress... but it’s kind of like dime store novel sex.”
  • [16:26] Morris: “This movie needed to be a lot crazier... this is some of the nuttiest source material ever written about romantic obsession.”
• Both agree the cast’s adult age and “cosplay” feel undermine the irrational, raw desire that the story demands.
  • [19:54] Weiss: “There is this feeling of cosplaying... playing at adult desire... and none of it feels sophisticatedly realized.”

Fennell’s Body of Work and the Broader Erotic Moment

• Weiss notes that Fennell’s movies circle around sexual power play and revenge but repeatedly pull back from real emotional or sexual exploration.
  • [20:17] Weiss: “All the movies are revenge movies... promise to go somewhere risky, but then don’t.”
  • [20:58] Weiss (on Saltburn): “It’s transgression for no purpose. It’s transgression to take a picture for Instagram.”
• Morris brings up a cultural moment where other recent works more productively explore communication and negotiation around sex and desire.
  • [22:15] Morris: “We’re in a moment where there’s a nice little bounty of that right now... people, sex, desire, and communicating the desire.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Childhood and Obsession

• [05:41] Weiss: “There’s something about enacting a girlhood fantasy that is being offered here... is it gonna get me in touch with the thing that was so essential to me as a girl?”

Critique of Shock Value

• [15:00] Morris: “You get this kind of immature understanding of sexual proclivity—desire as offloaded onto a series of images. Right? Excretion.”
• [16:19] Weiss: “There’s all of this... evocation of bodily congress, I guess. And then there is some sex... but it’s kind of like dime store novel sex.”

Missed Opportunities

• [16:26] Morris: “This movie needed to be a lot crazier... sorry, you have some of the nuttiest source material ever written about romantic obsession.”
• [18:23] Morris: “The more interesting movie... would have yielded some kind of surprise is to just have much younger people embodying this very irrational, savage, unhinged... romantic sort of alignment... Everybody seems too old to be playing these games.”

Cosplay and Adult Desire

• [19:54] Weiss: “Cosplaying... playing at adult desire... cosplaying at some kind of communion. And none of it feels sophisticatedly realized.”

Comparative Analysis: Works That Get Sexual Communication Right

Heated Rivalry (TV series)

• [26:27] Morris: “One of the many things that’s successful about this show... these two professional hockey players... their affair begins with sex and then falls into love through power dynamics and negotiation.”
• The specifics of sexual negotiation, vulnerability, and shifting power are explored as not only hot but also the true heart of connection.
• [29:13] Morris: “He wants to hear it, right? And Shane’s like, I need you, I need you.”

Baby Girl (Film)

• [32:06] Weiss: “One of my favorite recent movies... parts of it are perfect for work because to have a good rigorous sex scene, you don’t always need to get to that... what interests me is the negotiation on the way to getting there.”
• The guests highlight the scene’s play, negotiation, and improvisation—contrasting with Fennell’s film, which doesn’t allow its characters this freedom.
• [34:29] Weiss: “She’s not sure... what ensues is this sort of awkward moment where they’re trying to find that... at first she flees, just like Catherine.”
• [37:58] Weiss: “And the capacity—improv—exploratory improv... having desires that are maybe, like, you don’t even know how to name them.”

The Cultural Moment and Me Too

• [39:40] Weiss: “I do think it has to do with Me Too... the Trump administration’s rulings about the regulation of the female body and control. We are in a kind of new territory where we have to renegotiate these things... culture is renegotiating.”
• [40:02] Morris: “And what I would say is more, please... I can never get enough. I’m insatiable.”
• [40:09] Weiss: “Keep them coming.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:40] – Introduction of guest Sasha Weiss and the new film adaptation
• [06:13] – Praise for the film’s depiction of the young protagonists' bond
• [07:39] – Discussion of the pivotal “barn scene” (the film's erotic high point)
• [11:35] – Both agree the movie’s initial psychological promise ends here
• [15:26] – Critique of the movie’s fixation on bodily fluids, food, and imagery
• [16:26] – Discussion of the story’s underused potential for erotic excess
• [19:54] – “Cosplaying” argument; performers feel too old for their roles
• [20:58] – Discussion of Emerald Fennell’s other films and aesthetic choices
• [22:15] – Introduction to a cultural trend: sex as negotiation/exploration
• [26:27]–[31:03] – Deep dive into Heated Rivalry and its depiction of intimate negotiation and shifting power
• [31:59]–[38:05] – Deep dive into Baby Girl and its negotiation, improvisation, and emotional truth
• [39:40]–[40:09] – Reflections on the #MeToo movement, social change, and the value of new erotic storytelling

Tone and Style

The conversation is highly literate, funny, and skeptical; both Morris and Weiss blend personal anecdotes, sharp criticism, playful banter, and cultural analysis. They often pivot from affectionate nostalgia to a wry, deflating appraisal of when art doesn’t live up to its own promise.

Summary

This episode is less about reviewing Fennell’s Wuthering Heights specifically and more about diagnosing why, despite its provocative trappings, it misses authentic sexual charge and psychological risk. Morris and Weiss argue that real on-screen desire comes when filmmakers let their characters articulate, experiment with, even stumble over the boundaries of wanting. They contrast this failure with more successful and daring works—Heated Rivalry and Baby Girl—which they nominate as turning points in post-#MeToo onscreen sexuality, emphasizing consent, negotiation, and maddening ambiguity as the real sources of erotic heat.

For listeners seeking a rich cultural conversation about sexual storytelling, pop culture adaptation, and the possibilities of on-screen intimacy, this episode is a must.