news Egyptian lawyer sues Netflix for Cleopatra depiction

[Aethereal]

2 minutes ago, Intuition said:

Halle Berry doesn't look Mediterranean though and Egyptians should play ancient Egyptians or North Africans at the very least.

It's not like Little Mermaid. These are real people and their history. 

How does she not pass as Middle Eastern?

[Mikeymoonshine]

That's blatantly racist. Yes she most likely wasn't African at all but it's not some crime to cast a black actress to play her. It's just not accurate casting, historical fiction doesn't have to be accurate and often isn't. 

 

Plus we've had so many people play her they weren't all of the same ethnicity she was. Her ethnicity isn't even fully known as there isn't much info on who her mother was. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Mikeymoonshine

[vale9001]

The world really hates black people.

Even the "the non whites" countries. 

If they would have done another biopic with a White woman even if It's not 100% sure no one would complain like this. 

 

The reaction is always strongest when this kind of things are involving black people. 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by vale9001

[Intuition]

2 minutes ago, Aristotle said:

How does she not pass as Middle Eastern?

Have you seen a Middle Eastern person?

She doesn't look West Asian at all

She passes better in the Caribbean or Brazil. 

[Aethereal]

5 minutes ago, Intuition said:

Have you seen a Middle Eastern person?

She doesn't look West Asian at all

She passes better in the Caribbean or Brazil. 

Whatever, just pick someone who passes for the role.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Aristotle

[Leptine]

32 minutes ago, ProudLBS said:

Elizabeth Taylor, Angelina Jolie and especially Gal Gadot are way closer to what Cleopatra looked like than whoever Netflix picked 

From the more reliable recostructions based on coins and sculptures, she was supposed to look like this with a striking nose.

 

[sparrowblue]

15 minutes ago, vale9001 said:

The world really hates black people.

Even the "the non whites" countries. 

If they would have done another biopic with a White woman even if It's not 100% sure no one would complain like this. 

 

The reaction is always strongest when this kind of things are involving black people. 

 

you did not tell one lie.

[ProudLBS]

10 minutes ago, Leptine said:

From the more reliable recostructions based on coins and sculptures, she was supposed to look like this with a striking nose.

 

Yeah, that’s a typical Mediterranean nose; my nose is very much like the statue’s.

Edited April 20, 2023 by ProudLBS

[Tropez]

Egypt had many different dynasties. Cleopatra's was just the final one under the Greeks who arrived after the decline of Alexander the Great's empire. She should absolutely be of Greek descent or at the bare minimum of Mediterranean decent.

 

Netflix would rather bend the truth to fit their bias then be accurate. If they really want to cast a black person in the role of Cleopatra, then use actual black stories. Netflix is lacking in that department. We have enough of Egypt and Cleopatra's being depicted in movies, books, music, and plays.

[Badgalbriel]

22 minutes ago, Leptine said:

From the more reliable recostructions based on coins and sculptures, she was supposed to look like this with a striking nose.

 

But that's the Mediterranean nose still lot s of white people have noses like that 

[Illuminati]

34 minutes ago, Leptine said:

From the more reliable recostructions based on coins and sculptures, she was supposed to look like this with a striking nose.

 

Gaga's next gig

[ProudLBS]

18 minutes ago, Tropez said:

Egypt had many different dynasties. Cleopatra's was just the final one under the Greeks who arrived after the decline of Alexander the Great's empire. She should absolutely be of Greek descent or at the bare minimum of Mediterranean decent.

 

Netflix would rather bend the truth to fit their bias then be accurate. If they really want to cast a black person in the role of Cleopatra, then use actual black stories. Netflix is lacking in that department. We have enough of Egypt and Cleopatra's being depicted in movies, books, music, and plays.

[Zoe_]

Halle Berry wanted to play Nefertiti who had Black African ancestry.

[Ash12345]

1 hour ago, Lil' Oz said:

Ancient Egypt was literally a multiracial society, just like Egypt is now.

It was but Cleopatra is a Macedonian name, both Alexander The Great's wife and his aunt were named Cleopatra. Queen Cleopatra (VII) was the great great great great great great great great grand-daughter of Ptolemy I, who was a general of Alexander the Great and took control of the Egyptian part of his empire after he died. So she was the 11th and last generation of Macedonians who ruled Egypt. The snake thing is kinda a Macedonian thing too, since Alexander The Great's mother Olympias worshipped snakes.

According to the 1st century AD biographer, Plutarch, [Olympias] was a devout member of the orgiastic snake-worshiping cult of Dionysus, and he suggests that she slept with snakes in her bed.

 

As far as I know, no-one has ever done a mainstream documentary/movie on Mansa Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire and one of the wealthiest men in history. If they want to do something for black visibility they can make something about real black Africans like him.

[Aethereal]

34 minutes ago, Zoe_ said:

Halle Berry wanted to play Nefertiti who had Black African ancestry.

Neferiti probably did not have Black ancestry but Halle Berry would be a good choice imo. It's about acting and looks. The genetic profile of those ancient people no longer exists. Modern Egyptians have some recent Black admixture and also other Arabic related ancestry.

 

Those films are not reality shows.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Aristotle

[ZIVERT]

37 minutes ago, Illuminati said:

Gaga's next gig

 
 

OT: Cleopatra was definitely Mediterranean, but I will be checking out this doc. She’s so fascinating! Crazy to imagine that she lived closer to our time period than the time when the pyramids were built

[305]

Where did this discourse about Cleopatra being black come from?

People love to make stuff up nowadays 

[boneyard]

1 hour ago, Aristotle said:

How does she not pass as Middle Eastern?

 

If you were trying to give an example of black people who look Mediterranean then Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles would've been a better choice, but that's because of her mother's European ancestry from being creole, rather than from her African ancestry.

 

There are dark-skinned Egyptians who "look" black by American standards or are black, particularly near the border of Sudan. Omaima Nelson is an example. Picture here:

 

 

Like if they wanted to push this afro-centrism narrative why couldn't they have gotten a person of actual Egyptian heritage who looked black? I don't understand. 

 

There's no good reason to support it. The actress isn't Egyptian, there's zero evidence Cleopatra was black and her only confirmed paternal ancestry was Greek as well as what her busts suggest, in addition to the fact it's just really hypocritical. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by boneyard

[Aethereal]

22 minutes ago, boneyard said:

If you were trying to give an example of black people who look Mediterranean then Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles would've been a better choice, but that's because of her mother's European ancestry from being creole, rather than from her African ancestry.

 

There are dark-skinned Egyptians who "look" black by American standards or are black, particularly near the border of Sudan. Omaima Nelson is an example. Picture here:

 

 

Like if they wanted to push this afro-centrism narrative why couldn't they have gotten a person of actual Egyptian heritage who looked black? I don't understand. 

 

There's no good reason to support it. The actress isn't Egyptian, there's zero evidence Cleopatra was black and her only confirmed paternal ancestry was Greek as well as what her busts suggest, in addition to the fact it's just really hypocritical. 

I said Halle Berry could play an Egyptian role like Nefertiti not Cleopatra. You all are blind if you think she is too exotic for Nefertiti's look. She literally one the most fitting mainstream actresses that can pull it off. Especially with proper makeup.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Aristotle

[Lil' Oz]

12 minutes ago, Ash12345 said:

It was but Cleopatra is a Macedonian name, both Alexander The Great's wife and his aunt were named Cleopatra. Queen Cleopatra (VII) was the great great great great great great great great grand-daughter of Ptolemy I, who was a general of Alexander the Great and took control of the Egyptian part of his empire after he died. So she was the 11th and last generation of Macedonians who ruled Egypt. The snake thing is kinda a Macedonian thing too, since Alexander The Great's mother Olympias worshipped snakes.

According to the 1st century AD biographer, Plutarch, [Olympias] was a devout member of the orgiastic snake-worshiping cult of Dionysus, and he suggests that she slept with snakes in her bed.

 

As far as I know, no-one has ever done a mainstream documentary/movie on Mansa Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire and one of the wealthiest men in history. If they want to do something for black visibility they can make something about real black Africans like him.

Thats what I meant actually.
 

Ancient Egypt was multiracial & not black.

[boneyard]

10 minutes ago, Aristotle said:

I said Halle Balle could play an Egyptian role like Nefertiti not Cleopatra. You all are blind if you think she is too exotic for Nefertiti's look. She literally one the most fitting mainstream actresses that can pull it off. Especially with proper makeup.

 

She wouldn't be the first on my list of recommendations but it wouldn't be so inaccurate where you couldn't find an Egyptian that looked like her, no. 

[Aethereal]

4 minutes ago, boneyard said:

She wouldn't be the first on my list of recommendations but it wouldn't be so inaccurate where you couldn't find an Egyptian that looked like her, no. 

Hollywood needs well known actors like Meryl Streep  to make money at the box office. Not someone you can find in streets. Halle Berry would be amazing compared to past Hollywood picks for Egyptians.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Aristotle

[Patient Zero]

Changing the race of historic figures should be a no go. Suing is a bit extra, but this shouldn't be happening.

[Ash12345]

51 minutes ago, Lil' Oz said:

Thats what I meant actually.
 

Ancient Egypt was multiracial & not black.

Pretty much any slave society would have been multi-racial due to children of slaves and their owners being commonplace. Many people of different races as well as many mixed race people. That's doubly true if the slave society was also a mercantile society, for example the Arabs that took over Egypt in the Middle Ages.

 

In Ancient Egypt's case, it was not as intensely mercantile (it was more of an agricultural society) but it was a slave society. It was probably a mix of Berber, Semitic/West Asian, Caucasian, East African and Nubian. 

[Luckitty]

3 hours ago, Mikeymoonshine said:

That's blatantly racist. Yes she most likely wasn't African at all but it's not some crime to cast a black actress to play her. It's just not accurate casting, historical fiction doesn't have to be accurate and often isn't. 

 

Plus we've had so many people play her they weren't all of the same ethnicity she was. Her ethnicity isn't even fully known as there isn't much info on who her mother was. 

 

3 hours ago, vale9001 said:

The world really hates black people.

Even the "the non whites" countries. 

If they would have done another biopic with a White woman even if It's not 100% sure no one would complain like this. 

 

The reaction is always strongest when this kind of things are involving black people. 

 

except this is promoted as a documentary and as historical facts not fiction 

 

a woman literally says in the "documentary": "I don't care what they tell you in school, cleopatra was black" which shows netflix or who ever is behind this "documentary" is purposefully trying to falsify history