You can take the bogan out of Queensland but not Queensland out of Bronte

As someone who still spends too much time on the internet, even though every day it descends into a previously unknown circle of hell, I have been seeing a whole lot of discourse about Emerald Fennell’s upcoming film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.

As always, there are people who hate the idea of any classic book being adapted into the disgusting medium of moving pictures. The trailer has been criticised for appearing overly erotic, detracting from the book’s themes of class and violence. There are, of course, other people thrilled at the idea of an overly erotic movie. There are those who are excited about what updated concepts Fennell will depict, and what her strong visual style will bring to the story.

There has been a lot of not-excitement at the casting, with many deeming Jacob Elordi too white to be an accurate modern Heathcliff and Margot Robbie too old to be Catherine. As for my thoughts? I haven’t read the book for decades and I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I am here to weigh in on a matter of great importance that has been missing from the discourse: both Elordi and Robbie are from Queensland.

To me, a fellow Queenslander, this is funny. The protagonists of one of the most iconic English novels of all time are depicted by two Queenslanders, who are less used to the wet and wild moors of Yorkshire and more used to the Wet’n’Wild theme park on the Gold Coast.

Margot Robbie was born in Dalby, about an hour away from Toowoomba where I was born [REDACTED] years earlier. Yes, we are both equally beautiful and successful stars from the Darling Downs. From there she moved to the Gold Coast, and to me Robbie embodies the vibe of a bogan by birth (even if her dad is a “sugarcane tycoon”) who went on to become a beach babe. As easily as I can picture her holding an Oscar on stage, I can imagine her holding a Boost Juice and walking into a City Beach

Jacob Elordi, our Tallest Export, was born in Brisbane to working-class parents and attended Nudgee College, the old-boyest of old-boyey private schools in Brisbane. He was a rugby player, presumably on the path to becoming a rugby-playing, private school old-boy type of guy, until he broke his back playing, and got fully into acting (phew). He seems to be an in-touch-with-his-feelings, book-reading type of guy, a good role model for Queensland boys.

Together, they make the perfect Queensland couple. In some of the film’s promo shots the two look less like tortured lovers stalking the wild moors and more like a couple who met at schoolies vibing at Big Day Out Gold Coast 2009. Some of their images together are sexy but they’re not X-rated or XXX-rated – they’re XXXX-rated. They may be big Hollywood stars now but the Queenslander can never fully drain from your body. Oh, naur, Heathcliff.

Growing up in Queensland as a progressive lefty lesbian from basically the time I came shooting out of my mother in Toowoomba Base Hospital, I have struggled with a lot of Queensland’s policies, politicians, loudest voices, widely held racist views, and certain vibes. But it’s my home and I still attach myself to its success stories.

We have some Queensland standouts, usually in the field of music (The Veronicas) but most loudly and proudly in sport. Last year we had an incredible run of sporting achievements, with Queensland winning State of Origin, the Brisbane Lions the AFL flag, and the Brisbane Broncos winning the NRL and NRWL premierships, and Robert Irwin winning Dancing with the Stars US. There was also Gout Gout’s incredible speedy burst into nationwide notoriety. We have a decent share of literary successes, like Trent Dalton, Melissa Lucashenko and Jessica Townsend, but we’ve never had a global moment like this.

Now we have a new winning team: The Brisbane Brontës.

When was the last time two Queenslanders led a huge Hollywood film? Never, as far as I know. Now we have a new winning team: The Brisbane Brontës.

As Elordi and Robbie themselves said in a Vogue interview:

JE: “Queensland kids done good.”

MR: “Oh, we done good.”

JE: “We done good!”

MR: “I mean, it is kind of hilarious that two Queenslanders are the lead of this iconic British literary classic. Because we’re not even from Sydney, you know? Everyone in Australia’s probably like, ‘These couple of bogans …’”

Yes, I am like that! And, as one, I’m stoked about it. This couple of unnaturally beautiful and talented bogans are showing the rest of the world that Queenslanders can do it all. Sucked in, England: first we take the Ashes, now we’re taking your jobs.

I will be seeing this film, just like I would watch Queenslanders compete for gold in “walking” or some other sport I’m not that interested in. I have mixed feelings about Emerald Fennell’s body of work, and I have mixed feelings about how “Wuthering Heights” will fare on the screen. But one thing I am certain of is that Robbie and Elordi are excellent actors. They will bring the state spirit of leaving everything out on the field (moors) and I’ll be there in the audience, wearing maroon.

Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney.

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