The docu-series Queen Cleopatra continues to generate uproar, this time even ending up in court. According to reports from the Egypt Independent, the Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary has just taken legal action against Netflix after the release of the trailer, asking the Public Prosecutor that the streaming platform be closed in its territory.
The reason, also considering the numerous controversies that have greeted the docu-series, is understandable: the production presents a version of Cleopatra, interpreted by Adele James, a black actress, shedding light on a controversial theory according to which the Egyptian queen was, in fact, of a different ethnicity than that considered so far. Which Mahmoud al-Semary himself defined “a crime”.
The lawyer claims the documentary is guilty of promoting “Afrocentrism” and to distort and erase the Egyptian identity, accusing the authors and the streaming giant of spreading lies about Cleopatra’s true identity. The complaint filed in the last few hours reads: “Most of what the Netflix platform shows does not conform to Islamic and social values and principles, especially the Egyptian ones. (…) In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity, among Egyptians around the world, there needs to be pride in the accomplishment of such work».
Recall that even the archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawassformer Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, had spoken out strongly against it Queen Cleopatra, declaring that representing the queen as a black woman is one “falsification of facts”. “This is completely wrong. Cleopatra was Greek in the sense that she was blonde, not black.”
In any case, for the moment the Netflix spokespersons have not yet spoken out on the matter, while the director has responded to the criticisms in the last few hours Tina Gharavi, which has published a long article through Variety explaining the genesis of the project. Here you can read some excerpts:
“I remember as a child I saw Elizabeth Taylor play Cleopatra. I was fascinated, but even then I felt the picture wasn’t right. Was her skin really that white? With this new production, could I find the answers about Cleopatra’s legacy and free her from the stranglehold Hollywood had placed on her image of her?
I was born in Iran, I am Persian and Cleopatra’s heritage has been attributed to the Greeks, Macedonians and Persians at one time or another. The known facts are that her Macedonian Greek family – the Ptolemaic lineage – intermarried with the West African Seleucid dynasty and had been in Egypt for 300 years. Cleopatra was eight generations away from these Ptolemaic ancestors, making the possibility that she was white somewhat unlikely. After 300 years, surely, we can safely say that Cleopatra was Egyptian. She was no more Greek or Macedonian than Rita Wilson or Jennifer Aniston. Both are a generation from Greece.
By doing some research, I realized what a political act it would be to see Cleopatra played by a black actress. For me, the idea that people had been so incredibly wrong — historically, from Theda Bara to Monica Bellucci, and recently, with Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot in the running to play her — meant we had to do it even better.
Why do some people want Cleopatra to be white? Her closeness to her candor seems to value her, and to some Egyptians it seems really important.
After many discussions and countless auditions, we found in Adele James an actress capable of conveying not only Cleopatra’s beauty, but also her strength. What historians can confirm is that Cleopatra is more likely to look like Adele than Elizabeth Taylor ever did.
(…) I am proud to stand with “Queen Cleopatra” – a reinvented Cleopatra – and the team that made this one. We have reimagined a world over 2,000 years ago where once there was an exceptional woman who ruled. I would like to draw a direct line from her to the Egyptian women who rose up during the Arab uprisings and to my Persian sisters who are rising up against a brutal regime today. Never before has it been so important to have women leaders: black or white.»
Queen Cleopatra, we recall, will debut on Netflix on May 10th.
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