2023-04-20 16:45:40
New documentary
“Cleopatra was fair-skinned” – lawyer sues Netflix for “blackwashing”
The Netflix documentary “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra” focuses on the life of the Egyptian queen. Some now want to stop the broadcast because of “completely wrong” representation.
published
In the video you can see the trailer for the Netflix documentary “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra”.
Youtube/Netflix
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Jada Pinkett-Smith is producing the documentary African Queens: Queen Cleopatra for Netflix.
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With her portrayal of the Queen of Egypt, however, she causes criticism.
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The makers of the documentary are accused of “blackwashing” the story, and an Egyptian lawyer is now even suing the streaming service.
She was smart, graceful and was considered the most beautiful woman in antiquity: Cleopatra. Together with Netflix, Jada Pinkett-Smith (51) produced the documentary “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra”, which is about the life of the legendary Queen of Egypt. The 51-year-old previously explained that she wanted to be involved in the project because she “wanted to represent black women”. But it is precisely this aspect that has drawn heavy criticism.
Egyptian experts accuse the streaming service of “blackwashing”. This is a casting practice found in the entertainment industry, in the non-black roles with black actors and actresses be occupied. “Cleopatra was Greek, which means that she was light-skinned and not black,” says Egyptologist Zahi Hawass to the newspaper “Al-Masry al-Youm”.
Netflix portrays Cleopatra “completely wrong”.
The Egyptologist and former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, was also not happy about the “completely misrepresentation” of the famous queen. He accuses Netflix of “creating confusion by spreading false and misleading facts that the origin of Egyptian civilization is black.”
According to the Egypt Independent Lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary even goes one step further and submits the case to the public prosecutor’s office. He is calling for legal action against the streaming service for making the documentary and has accused Netflix of being involved in “this crime”. Al-Semary has also called for a thorough investigation into the making of the documentary and a ban on Netflix in Egypt as a result of the “blackwashing”.
The lawsuit filed with the prosecutor alleges that the documentary does not conform to “Islamic and social values and principles, especially those in Egypt”. “In order to preserve Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians around the world, one must be proud of the achievements of such work,” it said.
Netflix’s Egyptologist explains the cast
In a press release, Netflix said it was addressing Cleopatra’s controversial background and reminding viewers that in her day, “Egypt’s population was multicultural and multiracial.” “The creative decision to cast a multiracial actress for the role of Cleopatra is a nod to the centuries-old debate about the ruler’s race,” it said.
The streaming service hired Egyptologist Sally-Ann Ashton for the documentary. She called it “strange” to portray Cleopatra as a whole European. «Cleopatra ruled in Egypt long before the Arab colonization of North Africa. If the maternal side of her family were indigenous women, they would have been African and this should be reflected in contemporary depictions of Cleopatra.”
There is now also a petition entitled “Cancel Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra'” on Change.org, which already has more than 3550 (as of April 20, 2023, ten o’clock). The official trailer for the Netflix documentary was released last week and has already caused so much controversy that the comment column under the YouTube clip has been disabled.
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