The racial ignoramus' continue to spout a never ending trope that has been disproven for centuries yet, they're desperate for any kind of 'representation' even if that means warping history. Now a new document-drama has re-rolled this falsehood and Egypt, the country where this history took place isn't too happy with the historical re-write and get a taste of woke-American ideals and ideology.
quote:
Netflix’s upcoming docudrama “Queen Cleopatra” in which Britain’s Adele James, who is of mixed heritage, plays the first-century Egyptian ruler as a queen with African roots is sparking an uproar in Egypt.
Egyptian academics are claiming that Cleopatra, who was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 69 BC and belonged to a Greek-speaking dynasty, was of European descent and not Black. An Egyptian lawyer has reportedly filed a complaint demanding that legal measures are taken to block Netflix outright in Egypt, to prevent the show from airing. The complaint claims the docudrama, which drops May 10, violates the country’s media laws.
Netflix did not immediately comment.
Regarding the choice of casting Adele James as Cleopatra, Netflix’s promotional website Tudum in February quoted Jada Pinkett Smith, who is the show’s executive producer, as saying that since the queen’s heritage has been debated, it was “a nod to the centuries-long conversation about the ruler’s race.” [There's been zero debate, the only people pushing and keeping this theory alive are those who insist upon pushing modern societal constructs on historical/ancient societies. Cleopatra VII is Greek, she's a Ptolemy from Macedonia, who ruled Egypt for 300 years before her; before the Greek rulers it was ruled for 200 years by the Persian Achaemenid empire]
“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!,” she noted.
There is no doubt among scholars that Cleopatra was Macedonian-Greek on her father Ptolemy XII’s side. But since the ethnic origin of her mother is not known, some historians say it’s possible that the Egyptian ruler’s mother was African and, therefore, that she could have been of mixed heritage. [The Ptolomy's practiced sibling marriage in order to integrate with Egyptian religious and dynastic precedent, ergo Cleopatra's mother, was very likely her aunt, the likelihood of a non-Greek bloodline was unheardof]
Last week’s trailer drop for “Queen Cleopatra” has caused a stir in Egypt where Zahi Hawass, a prominent Egyptologist, was quoted by the al-Masry al-Youm newspaper as strongly disputing the possibility that Cleopatra was of mixed race. “This is completely fake. Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not Black,” he said.
Meanwhile, actor Adele James has taken to Twitter to tell critics: “If you don’t like the casting, don’t watch the show.”
Debates over how Cleopatra is represented on screen aren’t new. Plans for a movie that was set to be initially directed by Patti Jenkins and starring Israeli actor Gal Gadot as the iconic Egyptian queen prompted debate, with critics saying the time had come for the role to go to an Arab or African actor. The movie has not been made.
April 20, 2023, 08:52 PM
Balzé Halzé
~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country
Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan
April 20, 2023, 09:01 PM
sjtill
The worst bigots I ever met--prior to the US after 6/2020--were Moors in Mauritania when I was a Peace Corps volunteer. We had dinner in the house of local police chief, who was a Moor (they are mixture of Arab and Berber). He said very time he saw one of those "big black bucks"--the closest I could get in translation--he felt like getting his rifle and shooting him in the head. We used to call him "Bull Connor" after that.
One of the Moors who was doing language/culture training for us in New Mexico went to a barber shop. The barber refused to cut his hair because barber said he was "Black". Our Moor went ballistic--not about the hair cut but because the guy had called him a Black. BTW they have curly hair and pretty dark skin, darker than many American blacks.
All that to say that I understand where the Egyptians are coming from. Over there, the real blacks are Nilotic tribes and historically slaves I believe. That's what the Blacks in Mauritania were--slaves. Still had a slave market upcountry from where we were.
What pisses me off about this CRT/anti-racism/systemic racism lying shit is that they are deliberately dividing people into tribes like Rwanda. It's truly evil.
_________________________ “Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
April 22, 2023, 02:19 PM
maxdog
Dividing Americans into tribes and encouraging hostility between groups makes it easier to stay in power.
“Divided we fall!”
April 22, 2023, 10:55 PM
CPD SIG
quote:
Originally posted by corsair:
quote:
Netflix’s upcoming docudrama “Queen Cleopatra” in which Britain’s Adele James, who is of mixed heritage, plays the first-century Egyptian ruler as a queen with African roots is sparking an uproar in Egypt...
Meanwhile, actor Adele James has taken to Twitter to tell critics: “If you don’t like the casting, don’t watch the show.”
Don't worry Adele, I won't.
______________________________________________________________________ "When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"
“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
April 23, 2023, 12:47 AM
Ripley
There have long been some among us who are convinced Babe Ruth was black. Ignore such needy souls for what they are.
Set the controls for the heart of the Sun.
April 23, 2023, 03:16 AM
YooperSigs
Hmmm... The last person I saw portray Cleo in a movie was Liz Taylor. I dont recall a lot of bitching about that. And they lost me completely at "Jada Pinkett Smith".
End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
April 23, 2023, 04:35 AM
BansheeOne
quote:
Originally posted by corsair: There is no doubt among scholars that Cleopatra was Macedonian-Greek on her father Ptolemy XII’s side. But since the ethnic origin of her mother is not known, some historians say it’s possible that the Egyptian ruler’s mother was African and, therefore, that she could have been of mixed heritage. [The Ptolomy's practiced sibling marriage in order to integrate with Egyptian religious and dynastic precedent, ergo Cleopatra's mother, was very likely her aunt, the likelihood of a non-Greek bloodline was unheardof]
In fact both Cleopatra (VII.)'s father Ptolomy XII. and his father Ptolomy IX. were married to their sisters Cleopatra VI. and Cleopatra IV. respectively, the latter subsequently divorcing and marrying the younger Cleopatra V. at the instigation of his mother Cleopatra III. (everyone keeping up?). However, both are also assumed to have entertained relationships with unnamed Egyptian noblewomen.
Ptolomy XII. was called a bastard by ancient historians including Cicero, and had a hard time asserting his claim to the Egyptian throne with Rome as Egypt's protecting power; his father's second wife Cleopatra V. tried to establish one of her two sons with her third husband Antiochos X. (who was the son and nephew of her first and second husband respectively). It's quite possible that he was actually the son of either of his aunts rather than a concubine, but there's no sources outright naming the mothers of Ptolomy IX.'s daughter and two sons.
Ptolomy XII. himself seems to have dropped his sister/wife Cleopatra VI. with which he had his only legitimate daughter Berenike IV. (per contemporary historian Strabon) after 69 BC, because her name just vanishes from official documents. Berenike was later executed by her father after a struggle for the throne. His two younger daughters and two sons are again assumed to be the product of a subsequent marriage with an unnamed Egyptian noblewoman, possibly from the Memphis high priest family with which he had close relations; it was considered illegitimate by his fellow Greek though.
So it's rather possible that Cleopatra VII. was 50-75 percent Egyptian rather than straight Greek. Unlike the other Ptolomies, she actually spoke the language of the land, too. The real leap is obviously assuming Egyptian = African = black. The ancient Egyptians were mediterranean North Africans, most closely related to today's Arabs and Berbers. Sub-Saharan Nubia, called Kush by the Egyptians, was of course part of their empire, and the black Kushite pharaos indeed ruled over Egypt as the 25th dynasty for a few decades in the early 7th century BC. Still, genetic studies show sub-Saharan influences to be rare in pre-Roman Lower Egypt.
It's therefore a stretch to make Cleopatra part black; basically, an attempt at cultural appropriation. Though it probably beats celebrating her as a product of multi-generational incest ...
April 23, 2023, 05:33 AM
gearhounds
Let’s see a “docudrama” where a prominent black person in history is portrayed by anyone but a black person; I’ll bet these fools complaining about supposedly racist people having a problem with a black Cleopatra would absolutely lose their minds. Even better, make a series about Islam with Muhammad being a black guy; that would probably start a worldwide firestorm.
“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
May 15, 2023, 12:58 AM
corsair
May 15, 2023, 03:58 PM
Jim Shugart
Queen Cleopatra has an IMDb rating of 1.1 (IMDb goes from 1-10, not 0-10).
When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw
May 16, 2023, 12:09 PM
Veeper
This is pretty interesting:
“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.”—H.L. Mencken
May 16, 2023, 01:27 PM
stickman428
They lost me at Jada and I’m typically a huge fan of Egyptian history. I gotta pass on anything attached to that toxic monster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
May 16, 2023, 01:51 PM
cslinger
quote:
They lost me at Jada
You keep her name out of your mother f’ing mouth!!!!
Sorry I dunno what came over me. I just couldn’t resist. Just weak willed I guess.
Take Care, Shoot Safe, Chris
May 19, 2023, 07:19 AM
stickman428
^^^^
It’s getting trashed in the reviews. Imagine my shock.
From the link below:
“On the website, the Netflix show, executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, has an 11% from nine critics and a 2% audience score with over 2,500 viewers reporting. The series’s predecessor African Queens: Njinga has an 88% score from critics on the outlet, but an 18% from viewers.“
The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
May 19, 2023, 07:26 AM
DanH
quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs: Hmmm... The last person I saw portray Cleo in a movie was Liz Taylor. I dont recall a lot of bitching about that. And they lost me completely at "Jada Pinkett Smith".
One was a movie that never pretended to be real while the idiots producing are trying to claim these are the "facts."
May 19, 2023, 12:19 PM
corsair
quote:
Originally posted by DanH:
quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs: Hmmm... The last person I saw portray Cleo in a movie was Liz Taylor. I dont recall a lot of bitching about that. And they lost me completely at "Jada Pinkett Smith".
One was a movie that never pretended to be real while the idiots producing are trying to claim these are the "facts."
The fools who keep citing Liz Taylor's portrayal can't seem to wrap their heads around how that particular movie, was really a grandiose/over-the-top production (not to mention being grossly over-budget), which was more about spectacle & pageantry (and insane on-set drama), than any accurate retelling of history. Meanwhile there's been at-least 10+ movie portrayals of her and that's the LONE example they keep citing as being a questionable portrayal?
Most experts in Egyptology and the Roman Empire have pointed out the portrayal of her in the HBO mini-series Rome was as close to a accurate depiction as we can imagine based upon all the writings and tellings of life in 1st century BC.
May 19, 2023, 12:51 PM
BansheeOne
The facial reconstructions in the video above did indeed remind me very much of Lindsey Marshal in "Rome". Which is probably in large part to the credit of the make-up department; when I looked her up I was surprised she's pretty much a milquetoast Brit without any Mediterranean suggestion otherwise. Funnily, she actually studied archeology.
May 30, 2023, 03:56 PM
P220 Smudge
Topical. I love his new definition of "racists," and in-fact, may try to proliferate that.
He absolutely destroys the underpinnings of the whole documentary, easily the history, but also gives the short version of the documentary they would have made were they being honest about their motivations. His channel is ad-heavy, both read ads and ad breaks. Not so bad with a browser that has an ad blocker, but you've been warned.
And a followup I haven't watched yet:
quote:
Originally posted by BansheeOne: I was surprised she's pretty much a milquetoast Brit without any Mediterranean suggestion otherwise.
Oh, yeah. Definitely the pale, blue-eyed blonde or redhead one might otherwise picture.
She doesn't look markedly different than many of the Athenian street vendors in these videos, which I will not embed to save page space.
How about this one of Athenian night life? I'm sure there's tourists, yes, but there's no way a good chunk of these women aren't Greek. They don't look much different than that actress.
______________________________________________ Endeavoring to master the subtle art of the grapefruit spoon.
May 31, 2023, 09:16 AM
Rey HRH
I came across this myth while working with about three black women in a department in the 90s. They had posters depicting blacks as Egyptian nobles and rulers. Iirc, sort of like a family tree.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
[The Ptolomy's practiced sibling marriage in order to integrate with Egyptian religious and dynastic precedent, ergo Cleopatra's mother, was very likely her aunt, the likelihood of a non-Greek bloodline was unheardof]
