On the 11th of October, the Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, announced on Twitter that she will be working with Director Patty Jenkins and screenwriter Leata Kalogridis to bring the story of Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt to the big screen. Since the announcement, a fuming debate erupted on social media, leaving the public divided.
Many believe that Gadot’s casting is the wrong choice as she is not in a position to represent Cleopatra and that this is yet another whitewashing case in Hollywood. Here’s why:
Cleopatra’s father was not black. She descended from Alexander the Great’s general Ptolemy I Soter. However, her mother remains unknown.
Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at John Hopkins University, Betsy Bryan told Newsweek that ‘The mother of Cleopatra has been suggested to have been from the family of the priests of Memphis. If this were the case, then Cleopatra could have been at least 50% Egyptian in origin’.
Also, Egyptologist Dr Sally-Ann Ashton, along with her team, successfully created a 3D animated image of Cleopatra and what they believe the Queen’s visage looked like. The image showed a brown-skinned woman with cornrows.
On one hand, Dr Ashton told Newsweek that ‘Cleopatra ruled in Egypt long before the Arab settlement in North Africa. If the maternal side of her family were indigenous women, they were African; and this should be reflected in any contemporary representations of Cleopatra’. and ‘filmmakers should have considered an actor of mixed ancestry to play the role of Cleopatra and that this would have been a valid choice’. ‘This would have been a perfect opportunity for the Film Industry to promote Cleopatra’s position as an African ruler of dual ancestry’, she added.
On the other hand, some fans have been pointing out Cleopatra’s Greek heritage to speak out in support of Gadot’s casting. Journalist Lauren Chen posted ‘Now we’re finding out how many people didn’t know that Cleopatra wasn’t actually of Egyptian descent.’
Author Morgan Jerkins supports Gadot but would’ve preferred a darker-skinned actress: ‘I’m sure Gal Gadot is going to do a wonderful job as Cleopatra. However, for me personally, I would love a Cleopatra who’s darker than a brown paper bag, because that seems a bit more historically accurate’.
American author, Justina Ireland, even believes that Lupita Nyong’o would’ve been a better cast: ‘How you gonna cast Gal Gadot to play Cleopatra when Lupita is RIGHT THERE?!?’.
Others are against the casting choice for other reasons than whitewashing. Some believe that an Arab actress would’ve been a better choice, with journalist Sameera Khan suggested the Lebanese actress Nadine Njeim for the role: ‘Which Hollywood dumb*** thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress as Cleopatra (a very bland looking one) instead of a stunning Arab actress like Nadine Njeim? And shame on you, Gal Gadot. Your country steals Arab land and you’re stealing their movie roles…smh’.
Another point that stirred chaos was that Gal Gadot served for two years in the Israel Defense Force as a combat trainer. Choosing an Israeli actress who served in the Israeli military for the role of an Egyptian Queen has caused rage for many middle eastern.
Laila Ahmed said: ‘Coming from a ”country” with no culture and/or history other than occupying land that’s not yours, you want to portray one of the greatest rulers Egypt (a country that had an endless amount of culture and history) has ever had. Disgusting casting.
Hana Mohammed also criticised the poorly thought out casting
You will play the role of an Egyptian queen, and we Egyptians reject that. We reject any Israeli face that represents any Egyptian character. We Arabs know honor and honesty, but Israel knows nothing but treachery and betrayal.??
— Hana Mohammed abdalla sabry lawendi (@Nonna67773065) October 13, 2020
tweet courtesy of: @Nonna67773065
Despite all the criticism Gal Gadot and the movie’s team got, fans remained loyal and supportive towards the actress.
Writer and producer Bridget Phetasy tweeted ‘Gal Gadot is gorgeous, and she should play whatever she f****** wants’.
Seth Frantzman, the Jerusalem Post journalist, said that Jews lived in Egypt before the Arab invasion and that ‘It makes no sense to exclude Jews from playing roles from the Middle East, when Jews are primarily a people from the Middle East, either having distant or recent roots’.
Gal Gadot revealed on the International Day of the Girl Child that Cleopatra’s story will be told ‘for the first time from through women’s eyes, both behind and in front of the camera’, making this piece of work incredibly special. The story of Cleopatra has always been told from a man’s perspective, thus it would be interesting to be seen on the big screen for the first time from a woman’s perspective.
The actress went on to empower women with a powerful reminder – ‘we hope women and girls all around the world, who aspire to tell stories will never give up on their dreams and will make their voices heard, by and for other women’.
Words By: Fatima Abdelwahab
Edited By: Harsheni Maniarasan