Cairo — As soon as Netflix dropped the teaser for her upcoming “docudrama” about ancient Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra, the drama has begun to bubble up online. The preview quickly drew criticism. Some Egyptians complained that the feature film appropriated their culture and rewrote their history, mainly because Cleopatra is portrayed by a black woman in the film.
The film, produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and starring biracial British actress Adele James as Queen Cleopatra, is scheduled for release on May 10. This is the second part of a Netflix “docuseries” about African queens, focusing on female leaders of the African continent. .
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In the latest official response to the controversy, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities issued a lengthy statement at the end of April, pointing out that “Queen Cleopatra had light skin and Hellenistic (Greek) features”.
The statement criticized Netflix for casting James, who the ministry said has “African features and dark skin,” to play Cleopatra.
Who was Cleopatra and who is complaining?
Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt. She was the all-powerful queen for about two decades, until her death in 30 BC. Her story has been told in literature and Hollywood for years, and although she is often portrayed primarily as a temptress, historians note that she was also very likely an “accomplished politician”.
Some critics of the upcoming Netflix version of his story have argued that while ancient Egypt is often portrayed inaccurately by Hollywood, fiction is one thing, but anything presented as a documentary is another.
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“Since the film is classified as a documentary and not a drama, those who make it must be accurate and it must be based on historical and scientific facts, to ensure that history and civilizations are not falsified,” he said. the Egyptian ministry said, emphasizing that “the rejection of the film before its screening was a defense of the story of Queen Cleopatra… and has nothing to do with racism.”
An Egyptian lawyer filed a formal complaint against the film, asking the prosecutor “to investigate and take all legal measures against the creators of this work and against the management of the platform for participation in this crime, and to ban the platform in Egypt.
“We have known for thousands of years that Cleopatra is of Greek descent and was born in Egypt. It’s a fact,” Mahmoud El-Semiry, the lawyer who filed the suit, told CBS News. “Our main objection is the falsification of these facts. It’s not about being black, white or even yellow. Let’s say they wanted to portray Cleopatra as a man, we would object to that too.”
Does it matter if Netflix’s Cleopatra is black or white?
The feeling that Egypt needs to protect its cultural identity from appropriation and that some are actively trying to claim it in illegitimate ways appears to be the main driver behind the strong reaction to the Netflix feature.
Some Egyptians believe the casting decision is part of an elaborate plan, backed by black American celebrities, to “whitewash” their ancient history. They see it as self-improvement on the part of the Afrocentric movement and an attempt by non-Egyptians to claim Egyptian heritage as their own.
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“I’m against the film because it pushes an Afrocentric agenda, regardless of the historical accuracy of whether Cleopatra was black or white,” Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna told CBS News. “They are imposing 21st century identity politics and appropriating the ancient Egyptian past, just as Eurocentrists and the far right are doing in Europe.”
“Afrocentrists are just a mirror of Eurocentrists,” says Hanna. “They are both racist and both inaccurate and incorrect.”
“I understand why Egyptians are angry, but I reject any racist comments,” Hanna told CBS News. “Egyptians have been disappointed by their formal studies of their past. Such debates and critical questions are never part of school curricula. This is why Egyptians have a very fragile understanding of their past.”
What race was Cleopatra?
In ancient times, “the Egyptians came in all colors,” according to Hanna. “Egypt was more of a culture than a race, and skin color really didn’t matter in the ancient world.”
The Ministry of Antiquities statement said Cleopatra was descended from a Macedonian family that ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years and that, according to the customs of the time, kings married their sisters and kept their Macedonian race “pure” during this period. Many archaeologists share the government’s view of Egypt’s ancient history and leave no doubt about the color of the queen’s skin.
But Hanna told CBS News that the facts dating back more than 2,000 years are less clear.
“We don’t know for sure whether Cleopatra was black or white or even red, and we don’t even know if she considered herself Egyptian or not,” the archaeologist said. “We have not discovered her grave. We have no contemporary description of her. We do not know who her mother was or who her grandmother was.”
“We can discuss her skin tone and whether she identified as Egyptian or not,” she added. “But most likely we won’t find a real answer, because it may not exist yet.”
What does Adelle James think of the controversy?
James, who plays the former queen, told British magazine Glamor in an interview published earlier this month, she expected the Netflix feature to generate a certain amount of discussion about race.
“I thought people would be excited,” she told the magazine. “I remember when I first got the audition and how excited I was that they were doing something like this in terms of racial precedent, but also in terms of humanizing so many others levels and not be compared to this sexual temptress. I expected backlash because I grew up as a biracial woman in the western world and I know how things are, but I didn’t “I didn’t expect it to be this big. The trials and the things that go with them are a little intense.”
James echoed Hanna’s view, noting that “we just don’t know” what Cleopatra’s skin tone actually was, and adding that she felt she had “every right to have a chance to ‘humanize this incredible woman.’
