On May 10 Netflix will premiere ‘queen cleopatra‘, a docudrama from the “Queens of Africa” series, produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett-Smith, which will tell the story of the famous queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. A documentary that is already loaded with controversy for its representation of Cleopatra as a black woman.
In this way, the Cleopatra of this docudrama will be interpreted by Adele James (‘Casualty’), a “bi-racial” actress chosen as a nod to the centuries-old conversation about the race of the most celebrated Egyptian pharaoh. Something that has not sat well with either Egyptians or Egyptologists.
«It is that Cleopatra is not black»declares Zahi Hawass, famous egyptologist that he was (for a couple of months) Minister of Antiquities of the North African country. Hawass thus joined the debate aroused in recent days among his compatriots. In fact, some have gone so far as to sue Netflix for what they consider “a crime.”
Egyptian identity
The complaints allege that Egyptian history is being falsified and “blackened” to “erase Egyptian identity.” In this sense, Hawass refers to the fact that, although the mother is not known, Cleopatra belonged to a Hellenic dynasty.: “Jada, wife of Will Smith, seems completely unaware of Egyptian history because Cleopatra was not black but of Macedonian origin”:
“If you look at the statues of Cleopatra or the coins bearing her face and even her scene in the Dendera temple in the south, none of them contain African features. I don’t really know why they are trying to do this. I think that by doing this, African-Americans and Hispanics are trying to show that the origin of the ancient Egyptian civilization was African and that is not true.”
The controversy, unfortunately and unpleasantly, has splashed Adele James herself, which has been seen in the center of hatred with unpleasant messages towards her. The actress is blunt: “If you don’t like the cast, don’t watch the series.”
On the other hand, from Netflix they justified this representation through Sally Ann Ashtonexpert interviewed in the series:
Since Cleopatra represents herself as Egyptian, it seems strange to insist on describing her as completely European. Cleopatra ruled Egypt long before the Arab settlements in North Africa. If the maternal side of her family were indigenous women, they would have been African and this must be reflected in contemporary depictions of Cleopatra.”
A thesis with which Hawass you don’t agree at all:
“You are completely wrong. It is still a myth to say that the ancient Egyptians were black. I am not against blacks. Many of my friends are but I am trying to tell the truth as an Egyptologist. And Cleopatra was not black.
In Espinof | What to see at Caixaforum+: 3 splendid documentaries from the last decade that you can watch for free on streaming