Egyptians lodge complaint vs. Netflix series starring Black Cleopatra
In the wake of a “blackwashing” controversy over a new Netflix docuseries on the life of Cleopatra, Egyptians filed a complaint demanding the banning of the show.
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The Netflix logo is pictured on a television in this illustration photograph taken in Encinitas, California, US, January 18, 2017. (Reuters)
The Egyptian Prosecutor General's office has received a complaint today, Sunday, against Netflix's new documentary series "Queen Cleopatra" seeking its prohibition due to alleged "cultural insensitivity and historical fallacy," as per El-Watan newspaper citing the document.
The four-part docudrama debuted on Netflix on May 10. The series sparked outrage because it featured multiracial British actress Adele James as Cleopatra, Egypt's final pharaoh who ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom until its subjugation by Romans in 30 BC.
The complaint filed by an official from the Egyptian Culture Ministry said Netflix modified a renowned historical image, resulting in historical fraud.
The official ordered that the series be withdrawn from the streaming portal and permanently prohibited, as per media reports.
The documentary's creators should have contacted archaeologists and anthropologists to develop an accurate depiction of Cleopatra, the complaint stressed.
Even before it debuted, Netflix's show made a fuss, as tens of thousands of people signed a petition in April criticizing the casting of a Black actress as the Ancient Egyptian queen. The critics argued that the series promotes "Afrocentrism" in an attempt to "claim Egypt's history and rob the actual Egyptians from it" and accused the creators of "blackwashing" history.
#Netflix has been under fire after it debuted the trailer for the upcoming four-episode docudrama Queen #Cleopatra last week.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 19, 2023
Social media users and historians criticized the creators and the streaming giant for "rewriting history".#CleopatraNetflix pic.twitter.com/AWyLIE1cWI
It is worth noting that Cleopatra's racial ancestry became a source of contention in the late twentieth century, with some African-American researchers portraying the ancient queen as a Black African.
Cleopatra is descended from a Macedonian Greek dynasty established by Ptolemy, a general in the army of Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, she had little Egyptian ancestry and was the first member of the Ptolemaic family to study Egyptian.
