Twitter users have reacted in dismay at the casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot as Cleopatra, the queen of the Nile in upcoming film.
The film, to be released by Paramount Pictures, will be directed by Patty Jenkins, who was also behind the 2017 film Wonder Woman and the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984. Gal Gadot took to her Twitter page to make the big announcement recently.
See tweet below
As you might have heard I teamed up with @PattyJenks and @LKalogridis to bring the story of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, to the big screen in a way she’s never been seen before. To tell her story for the first time through women’s eyes, both behind and in front of the camera. pic.twitter.com/k5eyTIfzjB
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) October 12, 2020
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Fans’ reactions were mostly skeptical, with many accusing Hollywood of whitewashing. Some wondered whether Cleopatra should be played by an actress of colour. Cleopatra was a descendant of Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek who established himself as king of Egypt after the death of his companion Alexander the Great.
See their reactions below
The day you stop trying to hijack and rewrite the history of the different peoples of this world and insert your likeness as an ideal is the day you will start to create history for yourselves. Cleopatra was a great woman and she was an African woman, an Egyptian woman!
— AnnettK (@AnnettK10) October 12, 2020
Yup,… ANOTHER WHITE WASHED Movie Filmed in Africa w/ ALL WHITE CASTS. The darker skinned as the underlings. CLEOPATRA WAS “BLACK”‼️. Didn’t we get enough of Ywood WHITE WASHING MOVIES? Tom Cruise, the LAST samurai,… Prince of Persia, Gods of Egypt. This is SAD.
— Dicc Flair (@FlairDicc) October 12, 2020
Yup,… ANOTHER WHITE WASHED Movie Filmed in Africa w/ ALL WHITE CASTS. The darker skinned as the underlings. CLEOPATRA WAS “BLACK”‼️. Didn’t we get enough of Ywood WHITE WASHING MOVIES? Tom Cruise, the LAST samurai,… Prince of Persia, Gods of Egypt. This is SAD.
— Dicc Flair (@FlairDicc) October 12, 2020
Gal Gadot is not the first white woman to play Cleopatra. Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor have all portrayed the historical figure in the past.
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