Critics in Egypt have accused Netflix of “blackwashing” its upcoming documentary series portraying Queen Cleopatra VII.
They are attempting to prevent the airing of the show by banning the streaming platform from the entire country.
The documentary “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra” features Jada Pinkett Smith, aged 51, as the narrator and executive producer. The lead role of the legendary queen of Egypt is played by Adele James, aged 27, who is biracial. Cleopatra’s race has been the subject of historical debate.
In the past, Pinkett Smith expressed her desire to participate in the project as “really wanted to represent Black women.”
According to Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who used to be the country’s antiquities minister, he is not pleased with the description of the famous queen as “completely fake.” He claims that the queen was entirely Greek and “not black.” He accused Netflix of “trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilization is black.”
“Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not black,” according to a BBC report on Wednesday, the archaeologist spoke to the Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper.
Lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary submitted a complaint on Sunday to the public prosecutor of Egypt, requesting to block Netflix in the country. According to him, Netflix attempts to “promote the Afrocentric thinking … which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.”
More than 3,200 signatures have been collected on Change.org for a petition titled “Cancel Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra’.” However, another petition for the same cause that reportedly collected 85,000 signatures was removed from Change.org.
Last week, the official trailer was released and generated a lot of controversies. As a result, the comments section on its YouTube page has been disabled. The trailer has been viewed over 2 million times.
Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C. in Alexandria and was the final ruler of a Macedonian Greek dynasty that began with Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Although the identity of Cleopatra’s mother is unknown, some speculate that she and other female ancestors may have been native to Africa.
Netflix has acknowledged the debate surrounding Cleopatra’s race by stating that during her time, Egypt had a diverse population with people of different races and cultures.
“The creative choice to cast a biracial actor to play Cleopatra is a nod to the centuries-long conversation about the ruler’s race,” clarified a news release about the platform’s “Tudum” site.
Netflix worked with their in-house Egyptologist, Sally-Ann Ashton, to prepare for the series. Ashton found it unusual to portray Cleopatra as completely European.
“Cleopatra ruled in Egypt long before the Arab settlement in North Africa. If the maternal side of her family were indigenous women, they would’ve been African, and this should be reflected in contemporary representations of Cleopatra,” Ashton said.
After the trailer received backlash, James responded to the hateful comments she received on social media. One comment claimed, “Cleopatra was a queen, not a slave.” If you do not approve of her as the lead, she suggested that fans should not watch the show.
“Just FYI, this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated on my account,” She commented on the unpleasant screenshots. “You will be blocked without hesitation!!! If you don’t like the casting don’t watch the show. Or do & engage in (expert) opinion different to yours. Either way, I’M GASSED and will continue to be!”
The Netflix premiere of “Queen Cleopatra” is scheduled for May 10th.
