GREEK REPORTER 10 MAY 2023 - RENOWNED
ARCHAEOLOGIST RELEASES CLEOPATRA DOCUMENTARY AMID NETFLIX CONTROVERSY
Renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass recently appeared in a 90-minute documentary about Cleopatra as the controversy brewing around the Netflix production Queen Cleopatra continues to brew following its release on the popular streaming platform.
The new documentary featuring Hawass, simply titled Cleopatra, is now featured on director Curtis Ryan Woodside’s YouTube channel. Hawass, like many prominent
Egyptian scholars, has been an outspoken critic of the Netflix series, arguing that
Cleopatra should be depicted accurately as a Hellenistic ruler of Macedonian Greek descent.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s documentary series continues to attract criticism and allegations of historical revisionism over the decision to depict
Cleopatra VII Philopator as a black woman portrayed by Adele James. Critics of the docudrama series, produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, have decried the casting choice as a misrepresentation of history.
The new documentary was co-produced by Curtis Ryan Woodside and Sofia Aziz and features commentary by archaeologists like Zahi Hawass and
Kathleen
Martinez. The full 90-minute feature was released on May 10, the same day the controversial Netflix series debuted, and is available to watch on YouTube.
Perhaps alluding to the recent controversy, the description for the documentary reads “Her story has been warped so much throughout history, from biased opinions to praise, yet who was she really? Everyone thinks they know her, everyone has a different opinion, but most of those are modern, based on
films and misinformed play scripts. How much do we really know about the true… Cleopatra.”
The new documentary featured on YouTube purports to tell the “true” story of
Cleopatra, who was the Ptolemaic dynasty’s final and most famous ruler.
CONTROVERSIAL NETFLIX SERIES
After weeks of blistering criticism in the buildup to the release of Netflix’s
Queen Cleopatra, the new series debuted on May 10 to dismal reviews from both critics and viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, the docuseries has received a critics rating of 11% and an even lower rating of 1% by viewers.
The controversy largely revolves around the appearance of Cleopatra. Several high-profile archaeologists and historians in Egypt have dismissed the Netflix documentary as a misrepresentation of history based on the decision to depict the Ptolemaic ruler as a black woman.
For example, the Egyptian Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Archeology Dr. Mustfa Waziri issued a lengthy statement, together with Dr. Nasser Mekkawy, Head of the Egyptian Department of Archaeology at Cairo University, arguing that the historical figure of Cleopatra VII was of Greek descent, contrary to the Netflix series’ depiction.
The issue continues to inspire fierce debate. Zahi
Hawass, who was also highly critical of the Netflix series recently revealed that one of his lectures in Los Angeles was interrupted by protestors who were angered by his refusal to entertain the possibility that Cleopatra was black.
BLACKWASHING IN OTHER FILMS AND SHOWS
James Bond (2022) - Talk of casting Idris Elba (proposed) as the British secret service spy.
Anne Boleyn (2021) - Black English actress Jodie Turner-Smith played the Queen of England in a British TV series. Anne Boleyn was white and the second wife of
King Henry
VIII.
Saint Joan (2020) - Black New Yorker Condola Rashad played the French heroine Joan of Arc in a stage production of the tale set in the 15th century. In the play, Rashad is a gender non-confirming Joan.
Troy: Fall of a City (2018) - In the TV drama, Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War is played by black English actor David Gyasi.
The Hollow Crown (2012 - 2016) - Sophie Okonedo, a Nigerian-British actress, played Queen Margaret of Anjou in the Shakespearean TV adaptation. Margaret, of French descent, was Queen of England and married to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461.
Once Upon a Time (2011 - 2018) - The ABC series about fairytales features a black actor Sinqua Walls as
Sir
Lancelot. Lancelot is a British character who features as one of King
Arthur's close companions and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table. Arthur was a legendary king of Britain and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition.
Robin Hood (2006 - 2009) - The BBC series featured black English actor David Harewood as Friar Tuck. Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood which was set in England's Sherwood Forest in the 15th century.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12065875/Adele-James-breaks-silence-Queen-Cleopatra-blackwashing-claims.html
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/queen-cleopatra-actress-adele-james-says-claims-of-blackwashing-are-fundamentally-racist/ar-AA1b4dq6
CLONED
REPLICANT - Using the latest technology in computer genome mapping and
digital DNA splicing, an occult sect of scientists, reincarnate Cleopatra
VII, who died in 30BC, having located and plundered her sarcophagus from
its watery grave. The resurrected Pharaoh has to mesh with the modern
world she's been reborn into, where the Fourth Reich harbour evil plans
for her. We
are looking to build a team of artists for a series of John
Storm graphic novels. Students and professionals, all
welcome - if you like this style of illustration - and stories to amaze.
MEDIA
INDEX
BBC
NEWS - NETFLIX CLEOPATRA DOCUDRAMA 10 MAY 2023
BRISBANE
TIMES - RADAR REVEALS POSSIBLE LOCATION CLEOPATRA'S TOMB 2009
BRITISH
MUSEUM - CLEOPATRA,
17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OF CANDACE, THEBES
CBC
- CLEOPATRA OUTSMARTED EVERYONE, FEBRUARY 2021
CBS
- WHY
SOME EGYPTIANS ARE FUMING OVER NETFLIX'S BLACK CLEOPATRA
DAILY
MAIL - ADELE JAMES BREAK SILENCE AS TO BLACKWASHING CLAIMS MAY 2023
DISCOVERY
MAGAZINE - JUNE
7 2023, WILL WE EVER FIND THE TOMB OF CLEOPATRA?
GREEK
CITY TIMES - ARCHAEOLOGIST CLAIMS TO BE CLOSE TO DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA
2021
LIVESCIENCE
- WHERE IS CLEOPATRA'S TOMB/PALACE JULY 2020
NATURE
- STUDY
90 MUMMIES REVEALS ANCESTRY ANCIENT EGYPTIANS: MIDDLE EASTERN JUNE
2017
ROTTEN
TOMATOES - CLEOPATRA
CRITICS, SERIES 1 REVIEWS MAY 2023
SKY
HISTORY - THE
HIDDEN TOMB OF CLEOPATRA MARCH 2023
SKYE
NEVILLE - PLASTIC FREE COMICS, WAITROSE BANS
SPECTATOR
- THE
TROUBLE WITH NETFLIX'S QUEEN CLEOPATRA 29 MAY 2023
THE
CONVERSATION - WHY
THE DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA'S TOMB COULD REWRITE HISTORY 2022
THE
GUARDIAN - NETFLIX, NO NEED FOR WHITE ACTOR 10 MAY 2023
THE
SUN - QUEEN CLEOPATRA'S TOMB, TAPOSIRIS MAGNA 2020
THE
SUN - THE REICH STUFF: GLOBAL HUNT FOR HITLER'S LOST £20 BILLION NAZI GOLD HORDE APRIL 2021
UNDERWATER
PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE - CLEOPATRA'S SUNKEN PALACE
USA
TODAY - MUSTAFA
WAZIRI, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS 2018
YOUTUBERS
- MAKEUP,
CLEOPATRA'S FACE & EYE COSMETICS, MUMMY MASK
YOUTUBERS
- NETFLIX VIDEO COMMENTS MAY 2023
ZAHI
HAWASS - DOCUMENTARY: CLEOPATRA VII PHILOPATOR
DOCUMENTARY?
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