Netflix's Egyptian scare! Streaming giant slammed over Cleopatra trailer for blackwashing queen
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix is facing accusations of 'blackwashing' history after casting a black actress, Adele James, as Cleopatra in its new docuseries 'African Queens: Queen Cleopatra'. The show's producer, Jada Pinkett Smith, stated her desire to highlight stories about black queens, but some historians have objected to the portrayal of Cleopatra as black with curly hair. In the trailer, one historian recalls their grandmother saying, "I don't care what they tell you in school, Cleopatra was black."
However, this depiction has caused outrage among Egyptians, who claim that Cleopatra was Macedonian-Greek. Some have even gone so far as to demand the shutdown of Netflix over the show. An Egyptian lawyer has filed a case with the country's public prosecutor in protest.
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Why did the trailer of 'African Queens: Queen Cleopatra' trigger fans?
Netflix's latest documentary series has sparked controversy on social media, leading the streaming platform to disable the option for viewers to comment on the trailer. The trailer has already garnered over 1.9 million views on YouTube since its release on April 12th, with 258,000 dislikes as opposed to just 23,000 likes. The series focuses on Cleopatra, Egypt's final pharaoh, as she fights to preserve her reign, family, and legacy. The show blends reenactments with expert interviews to present a fresh perspective on the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Featuring an ensemble cast including Adele James, Craig Russell, and executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith, the official synopsis promises to delve into the lives of "prominent and iconic African Queens." The show's decision to portray Cleopatra as Black in the reenactment scenes has sparked backlash on social media, with many accusing Netflix of "blackwashing" the historical figure. Some have pointed out that the Ptolemaic dynasty, to which Cleopatra belonged, was of Macedonian-Greek origin, which contradicts the depiction of Cleopatra as Black.
What consequences are being faced by Netflix?
A Change.org petition calling for the cancellation of Netflix's "Queen Cleopatra" has garnered over 3,200 signatures, while another petition that reportedly gained 85,000 signatures was removed from the platform. The latter petition stated that Cleopatra, born in Alexandria, Egypt to the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, was not Black and called for the preservation of the history and integrity of Egyptians and Greeks. Former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass has also condemned the documentary as "completely fake," emphasizing that Cleopatra was Greek and therefore light-skinned, not Black.
He accused Netflix of spreading false and deceptive information to promote "Afrocentric thinking," which distorts and erases the Egyptian identity. He called on his fellow Egyptians to take a stand against the streaming giant. In response, Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, urging him to take legal action to block access to the show. He claimed that the series violated Egypt's media laws and accused Netflix of promoting the erasure of Egyptian identity through Afrocentric thinking.
Trailer
Take a look at the trailer here.
'Queen Cleopatra' premieres on Netflix on May 10.