The Egyptian government has denounced Netflix’s upcoming docudrama series Queen Cleopatra, saying the streamer’s decision to portray the ancient queen as a black woman represents a “falsification of Egyptian history and a blatant historical fallacy.”
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities issued a lengthy statement in a Facebook post Thursday in which it said Cleopatra had Hellenic, or Greek, features and was light-skinned, not black. The conclusion is based on artistic representations of Cleopatra as well as DNA research done on ancient Egyptian remains dating from the era.
Mostafa Waziri, who is secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the statement that Netflix’s show represents a “falsification of Egyptian history and a blatant historical fallacy.”
He said because the series is a documentary, Netflix needs to investigate the show’s historical accuracy.
Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra, which is executive produced by Jada Pinkett-Smith and is set to begin streaming May 10, has ignited a firestorm of debate over the decision to cast a black actress as Cleopatra. The debate has become especially intense in Egypt, where Netflix is being denounced as a historical revisionist trampling on an entire nation’s history.
An Egyptian lawmaker named Saboura al-Sayyed has reportedly even called for Netflix to be banned.
As Breitbart News reported, the online criticism has become so volatile that the streamer turned off comments on social media posts showing the trailer for the series. A Change.org petition calling for the series to be cancelled was removed without explanation.
Queen Cleopatra’s director recently defended her casting decision, saying it was a “political” choice to make Cleopatra black.
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