Controversy with the choice of Gal Gadot to play Cleopatra
The announcement of the choice of the Israeli actress Gal Gadot (35) to play on the big screen Cleopatra, the most famous pharaoh of ancient Egypt, has ignited social networks, which accuse Hollywood of wanting to "whitewash" the ethnic group again of the Queen. The upcoming Paramount Studios "biopic" will reprise the legendary role played by Elizabeth Taylor in 1963 and bear the Patty Jenkins label. The director will once again have Gadot, whom she also chose to star in 'Wonder Woman' (2017) and 'Wonder Woman 1984', scheduled to premiere in December, if the covid allows it.
"As you may have heard, I have teamed up with Patty Jenks and Laeta Kalogridis ('Shutter Island', the project's screenwriter) to bring the story of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, to the big screen in a way that has never been seen before. To tell her story for the first time through the eyes of women, both behind and in front of the camera, "Gadot wrote on Twitter, in a message in which the actress assures that Cleopatra's is" a story she wanted count for a long time. "
The announcement, however, has sparked anger on the internet, where many have criticized that a "white" woman born in Israel has been chosen to play an African queen.
Hollywood bleaching
"Hollywood has always cast white American actresses to play the Queen of the Nile. For once, couldn't they have found an African actress?" Asks writer and journalist James Hall.
They dismiss the choice of Hollywood as "whitewash", as happened with the mythical Liz Taylor in the legendary film of the 60s, or with Claudette Colbert (1934) or Vivien Leigh (1945).
Journalist Sameera Khan has also criticized Gadot's 'casting'. She wonders who in Hollywood "thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress like Cleopatra (looking very bland) over a dazzling Arab actress like Nadine Njeim." And she has also extended it to the political question: "What a shame, Gal Gadot! Your country steals the land from the Arabs and you steal their roles in movies."
European origins
The film's own scriptwriter has clarified that she was eager to write the libretto of Cleopatra, "possibly the most famous Macedonian Greek woman in history", thus recalling the European origins of Cleopatra, a descendant of Ptolemy I, a Greek-Macedonian general who was at the service of Alexander the Great and who proclaimed himself king of Egypt after his death.
The film industry has often been accused in recent years of too systematically assigning roles representing "non-white" characters to white actors, presumably with the idea of increasing film revenues, a practice called 'laundering' by its detractors. .
"I am incredibly happy to have the opportunity to tell the story of Cleopatra, my favorite Ptolemaic pharaoh and without a doubt the most famous Greek-Macedonian woman in history," tweeted Kalogridis, who is also of Greek origin.
Some internationals denounce that the criticisms of Gadot are actually a matter of anti-Semitism.
