After sparking controversy regarding one of its cast, Netflix's Queen Cleopatra documentary recently sparked a response from an Egyptian government agency. Black actor Adele James stars as Cleopatra VII Philopator, the legendary North African ruler in a dramatized four-part series detailing her life and reign over Egypt. Immediately following the British actor's cast, Netflix and series director Tina Gharavi immediately received significant backlash accusing the show of blackwashing the historical figure.
Per Deadline, Egyptian governmental agency the Supreme Council Of Antiquities (SCA) has responded to Queen Cleopatra's casting controversy. In a statement released Thursday by SCA Secretary General Mostafa Waziri, the 160-year-old agency attempts to set the record straight regarding Cleopatra VII's ethnicity and race, stating that she "had light skin and Hellenistic (Greek) features," and pointed to early depictions of the queen with "fair skin, drawn nose and thin lips." Read more of what the SCA said below:
The appearance of the heroine is a falsification of Egyptian history and a blatant historical fallacy, especially since the film is classified as a documentary film and not a dramatic work, which requires those in charge of its production to investigate accuracy and rely on historical and scientific facts to ensure that history and civilizations are not falsified.
The rejection experienced by the film before it comes out is sparked out of defense of the history of Queen “Cleopatra VII”, which is an important and authentic part of the ancient history of Egypt, and far from any ethnic racism, with full respect for African civilizations and for our brothers in the African continent that brings us all together.
Queen Cleopatra's Casting Backlash Explained
Having been the last Egyptian ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra has seen a variety of depictions in art, film and television for over a century, some of the most notable being Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous 1963 movie and Lyndsey Marshal in HBO's Rome, among others. Thanks to the varying depictions, gaps in her family tree and her Greek Macedonian ancestry, debates have raged for years about the queen's ethnicity.
Immediately after James' cast, Queen Cleopatra was met with fervent backlash over the actor's race. A boycott has since been called against the documentary series, with multiple petitions signed by tens of thousands demanding Netflix to remove the show from its service. Netflix recently relased its own statement defending Queen Cleopatra by touting its work with leading historians and Egypt experts while doubling-down on their mixed-race depiction of the ruler to "reflect theories about Cleopatra’s possible Egyptian ancestry and the multicultural nature of Ancient Egypt.”
Cleopatra VII's race has been a hot button topic in recent years with an upcoming biopic starring Israeli actor Gal Gadot accused of whitewashing the iconic Egyptian queen. With backlash coming from both sides of the debate, it appears that it may be impossible to please everybody. Audiences can get their chance to see why Queen Cleopatra has caused such a vocal response when it premieres on Netflix May 10.
Source: Deadline