An Egyptian lawyer calls on Netflix to ban representation of the biracial Cleopatra

• Egyptians complained about a show on Netflix in which an ethnic actress plays Cleopatra.
• Archaeologist Zahi Hawass said it was inaccurate, and a lawyer called on Egypt to block Netflix.
• An expert told Insider that Cleopatra may not have been black, but wondered if that would matter here.

An Egyptian lawyer has demanded that Netflix be banned in his country after it was revealed that Cleopatra will be played by a biracial woman in an upcoming series.

Dark-skinned British actress Adele James was chosen to be the historical queen in the movie “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra”, Streaming on Netflix in May.

Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud Al-Sidari filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor, saying that the show violated Egyptian media laws.

He said that the live broadcast service “promotes African thinking… which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.” BBC reported.

A prominent Egyptian archaeologist also objected, claiming that the choice of a dark-skinned woman represented a misrepresentation of Egyptian identity and history.

Zahi Hawass denied that Cleopatra was black An interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youmsaying that her Greek ancestry meant she would be light-skinned.

Hawass is considered a celebrity in archaeological circles, and a figure of national pride for many Egyptians.

“Netflix is ​​trying to create confusion by spreading false and misleading facts that the origin of Egyptian civilization is black,” he said in a translation to the BBC.

February article about the show On the Tudum Netflix companion site He discussed casting as “a nod to the centuries-old dialogue about the ruler’s race”.

In a comment to Insider, program spokeswoman Katie Greenaway said their researchers argue that Egypt in Cleopatra’s time was “multicultural and multi-ethnic according to modern ways of thinking,” and that “Cleopatra herself may have been of mixed heritage.”

She said questions about her race meant that “people are more infatuated with her”.

But the social media accounts of the show’s producers, Westbrook and Nutopia, have been inundated with comments disputing the casting.

Actress James shared racist and offensive messages she received via Twitter.

She responded by saying, “If you don’t like the actors, don’t watch the show. Or share an (expert) opinion different from yours.”

In 2018, Egyptian-American journalist and cultural commentator Mona Eltahawy Wrote for The Washington Post Celebrating the portrayal of the Egyptian goddess Bast as a black woman in the movie “The Black Panther”.

However, she said that racism against blacks will be a major factor in the film’s reception in Egypt.

Contemporary Egypt has a significant black minority, particularly the Nubians Their number is estimated at about three million.

When it comes to Cleopatra, Egyptologist and archaeologist Dr. Wojciech Ejsmond, of the Polish Academy of Sciences, told Insider that “there is a general consensus among scholars that [she] It wasn’t black.”

He said that most existing pictures of the queen show her to be Greek. “Her father was a Ptolemaic king and her family came from Macedonia – so they were like the Greeks,” said Eigsmond.

But he added that this is not conclusive because the identity of Cleopatra’s mother is not known.

For Eigsmond, the casting is not controversial. He said there was “nothing wrong with her showing dark skin” on a fantasy show.

“Because, frankly, we don’t know… it is possible,” he added. “We’re not sure how dark it is [she was] But why not? It’s just a TV series.”