Egyptians are upset at Netflix for having Cleopatra depicted as a Black woman

Well Cleopatra wasn't even African she's from a Macedonian descent so her skin color is very unknown probably she had olive skin or a tanner skin but if Egyptian are ok with white women with blue eyes portraying her why not a black women 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ps: I just took a look at the actress portraying her and i think she's very accurately looking

Are they portraying her as black or is a black woman playing her?

I think the woman in the photos looks closer to what Cleopatra may have looked like than Elizabeth Taylor.

But, back then was an era where white men were also playing Native Americans and Asian characters with little input from the demographic they were portraying.

I suppose they could have gotten a Greek actress to play her. That would have been most accurate if we're going for accuracy.

the afrocentrism needs to stop in all honestly Both Egyptians and Greek are mad because they are disrespecting their history it's well documented that Cleopatra is of Greek descent

Quote from nana18

Well Cleopatra wasn't even African she's from a Macedonian descent so her skin color is very unknown probably she had olive skin or a tanner skin but if Egyptian are ok with white women with blue eyes portraying her why not a black women 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ps: I just took a look at the actress portraying her and i think she's very accurately looking

it's speculated that Cleopatra was red haired based on roman resources

Here is a thread about this

people

Cleopatra came from an incredibly inbred line of Greeks/Macedonians

at best she had olive skin, but she was definitely white.

and yes the "documentary" is literally claiming she was black and was whitewashed in history...which is inaccurate and stupid. That's why people are mad. If this was some random other fictional film, people wouldn't be nearly as mad as this thing claiming to be historically accurate and saying their grandmother told them Cleopatra was black and it's a conspiracy that she's not usually portrayed as such.

Quote from nana18

Well Cleopatra wasn't even African she's from a Macedonian descent so her skin color is very unknown probably she had olive skin or a tanner skin but if Egyptian are ok with white women with blue eyes portraying her why not a black women 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ps: I just took a look at the actress portraying her and i think she's very accurately looking

there are plenty of Greeks and Macedonians with blue eyes lol

and why does the actress look accurate to you? because you've been told that's what Egyptians look like? Cleopatra was a whole coloniser, she was the first in her family who even bothered to learn the Egyptian language.

Quote from Slayurfaves

the afrocentrism needs to stop in all honestly Both Egyptians and Greek are mad because they are disrespecting their history it's well documented that Cleopatra is of Greek descent

it's speculated that Cleopatra was red haired based on roman resources

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Here is a thread about this

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I definitely agree with black washing statement us North African are always told that we're not African and we don't belong to the land simply because we don't look African enough and i did mention that she's from Macedonian descent and greek

Quote from sassily

there are plenty of Greeks and Macedonians with blue eyes lol

and why does the actress look accurate to you? because you've been told that's what Egyptians look like? Cleopatra was a whole coloniser, she was the first in her family who even bothered to learn the Egyptian language.

I don't need to be told anything because I myself I'm North African and well aware of the History of my region and the reason I said she looks accurate because a lot of Mediterranean look like the actress minus the hair

She wasn't black/African tho, I am on their side. She was a tanned white woman.

They didn't raise hell when Solar did sing Cleopatra in one of the MAMAs

Quote from nana18

I don't need to be told anything because I myself I'm North African and well aware of the History of my region and the reason I said she looks accurate because a lot of Mediterranean look like the actress minus the hair

but are you Egyptian? because I'm seeing a lot of Egyptians complaining on twitter about people trying to blackwash them and according to them ancient Egyptians look closer to Mediterranean or Syrian.

that actress looked nothing like a Greek woman which was what Cleopatra was. Mind you, she was from the North of Greece and was described as pale and red haired

People should actually read up on the issue before remarking on this. As some of said, it's about the Afro-centric claim that Cleopatra was 'black' which as most of us know - it's totally NOT true. Historians have legit proof re Cleopatra's Macedonian and a tiny bit of Persian heritage etc.

The issue is 100% distorting history and I am really disappointed at everyone involved re this documentary and Netflix. The docu-series produced by Jada Smith is suppose to highlight African rulers and there are sooooooooooooo many African rulers, including Queens, that they could have highlighted instead. Like Nefertiti is RIGHT there....no one would dispute that she was a black African Ancient Egyptian queen etc. Also Queen Hatshepsut too. Just no excuse~~!

If you watch the trailer for this fake docu-series, they literally have an elderly black woman claiming that Cleopatra was black because her relative said so..... (x.x)!

Also if there's interest re Cleopatra, I recommend Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra: A Life (2010). The author is a Pulitzer Prize winner and she does very good at separating the facts from fiction in all these years re Cleopatra. It is well written and not in that text book style - easy to read and I learned a lot.

Quote from Yinye

People should actually read up on the issue before remarking on this. As some of said, it's about the Afro-centric claim that Cleopatra was 'black' which as most of us know - it's totally NOT true. Historians have legit proof re Cleopatra's Macedonian and a tiny bit of Persian heritage etc.

The issue is 100% distorting history and I am really disappointed at everyone involved re this documentary and Netflix. The docu-series produced by Jada Smith is suppose to highlight African rulers and there are sooooooooooooo many African rulers, including Queens, that they could have highlighted instead. Like Nefertiti is RIGHT there....no one would dispute that she was a black African Ancient Egyptian queen etc. Also Queen Hatshepsut too. Just no excuse~~!

If you watch the trailer for this fake docu-series, they literally have an elderly black woman claiming that Cleopatra was black because her relative said so..... (x.x)!

Also if there's interest re Cleopatra, I recommend Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra: A Life (2010). The author is a Pulitzer Prize winner and she does very good at separating the facts from fiction in all these years re Cleopatra. It is well written and not in that text book style - easy to read and I learned a lot.

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exactly, there's so many great African queens who have never received the spotlight Cleopatra has (due to white-centric media, since she was white herself and linked to the Roman Empire) so this documentary had a great opportunity to finally do that and instead they picked Cleopatra for the millionth time and just decided to go with "actually she's black, my grandma said so" instead? Even if they go with the queens you mentioned in the future seasons, they've already discredited themselves in terms of accuracy so people won't care as much. That's such a wasted opportunity.

Hollywood is trying to correct years and years of whitewashing and this time they went overboard. Changing history to fit your agenda, yikes

Quote from WhyKnock

They didn't raise hell when Solar did sing Cleopatra in one of the MAMAs

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Did Solar also say that her portrayal of Cleopatra is historically accurate? If not, then why are you comparing these two things? Sounds like whataboutism.

Quote from doesitneedsaying

Hollywood is trying to correct years and years of whitewashing and this time they went overboard. Changing history to fit your agenda, yikes

Well, instead of blackwashing they could spend some effort and create more authentic Black stories, centered around Black people. But of course Hollywood did not really change and they are doing this minimal effort stuff to placate people, otherwise why would they still whitewash & erase Asians from their own stories - from Ghost in the Shell to Three Body Problem?