Will Smith’s wife releases a documentary about Cleopatra on Netflix
From executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith comes a new docuseries exploring the lives of prominent and iconic African queens.
This season will feature Cleopatra, the world’s most famous, powerful and misunderstood woman — a bold queen whose beauty has come to overshadow her true asset: her intellect.
Cleopatra’s legacy has been the subject of much academic debate, which has often been ignored by Hollywood. Jada Smith’s series revisits this fascinating part of her story on Netflix, one of the most important entertainment services in the world, with 231 million paid subscriptions in over 190 countries (including Egypt), who enjoy TV series, movies and games in a wide variety of genres and languages.
Who was Cleopatra?
Cleopatra was queen of Ptolemaic Egypt.
She was of Macedonian origin, being a descendant of Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general and companion of Alexander the Great.
Cleopatra had no Egyptian or North African blood at all, but the classical author Plutarch wrote that she was the only one in her household who learned the Egyptian language and, for political reasons, presented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Numismatic portraits of Cleopatra show a queen with a lively rather than beautiful face, with a firm chin, large eyes, broad forehead and prominent nose.
There is no reliable evidence about the color of her skin or hair, but Romanian authors wrote that she had red hair and fair complexion.
A purported portrait of the queen was found in one of the villas in Herculaneum, preserved by the volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
It is exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples and you can clearly distinguish the red hair and brown eyes, but also the features of a Greek woman of royal vine.
Busts carved in marble have been found in various places and exhibited in museums in Berlin, the Vatican or London. They show a woman with a long and prominent nose, a high forehead and a stern expression.
Some historians have said that these busts represent Cleopatra, based on comparison with her coins or other ancient sources.
The documentary could be problematic, claims a publication
Queen Cleopatra is a documentary that promotes Afrocentrism, an ideology that holds that African Americans are the original Egyptians.
Why is this dangerous? Afro-centrics promote the idea of returning to Egypt and “kicking out” the Arab Egyptians for “stealing” their history and culture.
Afrocentrics argue that the pharaohs and ancient Egyptians were completely black, and the Islamized and Arabized Egyptians stole their identitytransmits GreekCityTimes.
There have also been films with the theme of Ancient Egypt that have been criticized for whitewashing personalities – in 2014, the film Exodus: Gods and Kings made by director Ridley Scot was criticized because the pharaoh Ramses II the Great and Moses were played by actors white – Anglo-American Christian Bale and Australian Joel Edgerton.
Sigourney Weaver was chosen to play the pharaoh’s mother.
Even the most expensive biblical film in history, The Ten Commandments from 1956, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, did not escape criticism. Moses is played by a white and American actor, Charlton Heston, although there is information about the ancient Jews that they had darker skin and that most of them had brown hair.
Ramses is played by Yul Brynner, an actor of Russian-Swiss origin, the Egyptians and Jewish slaves in the film are mostly white actors, but made up to look darker, while most of the royal court servants are Ethiopian.
Actress Gal Gadot claims that Cleopatra was Macedonian, not North African
The Israeli-born actress, known for her roles in Wonder Woman, Death on the Nile and Fast & Furious, sparked racial controversy before filming began on her Cleopatra film.
She claimed that Cleopatra was white and Macedonian.
Some critics accused the Israeli actress of “whitewashing” the role, arguing that an Arab or African actress should play the Egyptian queen.
Gadot defended herself by saying she wanted to be “true to the historical facts” and that Cleopatra was Macedonian. She said that she was looking for a Macedonian actress to match Cleopatra, but couldn’t find her and that she is very passionate about this historical character.
She also said that anyone can make this film and that she will make her own film.
The movie Cleopatra from 1963, starring Englishwoman Elizabeth Taylor, was criticized for portraying Cleopatra as white. It is considered one of the most expensive and best biographical films in the history of American cinema.
In 1999, Leonor Varela, a Chilean-born actress, portrayed the Egyptian queen in the 1999 miniseries Cleopatra.
Jada Pinkett Smith, ridiculed and harshly criticized by commentators on YouTube
Most of the commentators mocked and harshly criticized Jada Smith, accusing her of falsifying history through a production that is meant to be a documentary, not a cinematographic film.
“As an Egyptian, I find this cultural appropriation extremely offensive. I know I sound like a Twitter user, but damn this is getting ridiculous. First, Afrocentrics insist that Egyptians are black and the current residents of Egypt are occupiers. And now Cleopatra, a Greek woman is portrayed as a black woman? LOL stop trying to steal our history. The moment I saw Jade Smith’s name I thought she was going to be horrible.”
“The moment I saw executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith, I just rolled my eyes. Everyone knows she’s writing her own story.”
“There is no debate among historians about her heritage. She is Greek. From Ptolemy. The story of Cleopatra VII is amazingly interesting with her adventures with Caesar and Antony to hold power and stay alive in the midst of fighting internal in the family. Amazing story and woman. She wasn’t black and she wasn’t a warrior. Just tell the true story, it’s better than anything you can make up.”
“I want to see Augustus slap Willy Nilly
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