The embodiment of a dark-skinned actress of the character of Queen Cleopatra in a new documentary, which is expected to be broadcast by “Netflix”, sparked widespread controversy on social media platforms, as she re-introduced the discussion of “Afrocentrism” and the history of ancient Egypt, with accusations of the platform of “falsifying established historical data.”
The promotional announcement that the platform issued on YouTube for its new documentary series about the life of the Pharaonic queen was accompanied by dozens of comments rejecting the shape and features of “Cleopatra”, whose personality is embodied by the American artist Adele James.
The platform said that the documentary series, which will be shown next May 10, comes to explore the lives of prominent and creative African queens, as the first season will be devoted to Cleopatra, who considered her the most famous and powerful woman in the world, pointing out that she was “misunderstood, as her fame as a bold, beautiful and romantic queen overshadowed her metal.” The real thing is her intelligence.
The introductory text for the film’s advertisement, produced by Jada Nincett Smith, wife of the famous American star Will Smith, considered that the legacy of “Cleopatra has been the subject of much scholarly controversy, which has often been ignored by Hollywood,” adding that the series will now “re-evaluate this wonderful part of her story”.
Comments accompanying the video and posts on social media criticized the actress’s embodiment of the role of the queen of Greek and Macedonian origins, considering that the film “falsifies established historical facts.”
Historical sources indicate that Queen Cleopatra VII, known as Cleopatra, is the last king of the Macedonian family, which ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, until the occupation of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC.
A group of commentators also attacked the Netflix platform, accusing it of “ethnic bias”. In this regard, one of the commentators wrote: “Historians differed in everything and agreed that Cleopatra was a Greek Macedonian from the Julius Caesar clan and was born in Alexandria, but Netflix supports the project that the cause is civilization.” Ancient Egyptian, not the Egyptians.
Another tweet wrote in her interaction with the film’s announcement: “Cleopatra was not black, which is historically inaccurate. This is not a Disney movie about a fairy or fairy mermaid. This is a documentary series that should at least correct the characters’ race.”
While a number of other commentators linked the topic to the Afrocentrism movement, which is a cultural and political current that seeks to “highlight African identity and cultural contributions to world history,” and promotes a set of theories about what it considers “the real history of the world.”
One of the tweeters said in a tweet attached to the film’s official publication, “This is called deception, and officially, Netflix supports Afrocentric, Cleopatra is Greek, and the Greeks are not Samar.”
Another tweet wrote: “A full movie that talks about Egypt and Cleopatra. The movie promotes Afrocentric, meaning that Egypt is of black African origin, and we are occupied Arabs, and history repeats itself.”
The art critic, Magda Khair El-Din, considered that this work represents “an attack on history and an artistic distortion against logic and reality,” adding that “Cleopatra was from the Ptolemaic family and had Mediterranean formal characteristics, and was not African at all.”
And the Egyptian critic considered, in a statement to Al-Hurra, that “attempts to falsify history have been repeated in the recent period,” considering that such actions are “an attempt to steal the Pharaonic civilization, and devote efforts to separate the Pharaonic civilization from Egypt.”
The same spokeswoman asked about the interest of the major production companies in filming the depiction of the historical figure with specifications that we all know are not real, according to historical data,” stressing the need to “protect every civilization from forgery and deliberate resurrection to mix historical lineages.”
Khairallah considers that a large part of Western countries suffer from a “guilt complex because of their colonial and racist history” and are trying today to correct their mistakes by committing new mistakes against other civilizations and cultures.
The same speaker points out that the history of African countries is full of stories, myths, black-skinned personalities and African features that deserve to be highlighted, rather than coloring other personalities with what she described as “the African color.”
It is worth noting that last February witnessed the cancellation of a concert by American comedian Kevin Hart, after a campaign on social media due to statements attributed to him about “Afrocentrism”.