ALBAWABA - Netflix's latest series Queen Cleopatra continued to make headlines a week after releasing its trailer after it clearly portrayed Cleopatra as a black woman.
Netflix said on Wednesday that it is releasing a new documentary about the life of Queen Cleopatra but with one significant change, her ethnicity.
For the nth time, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra was not an Egyptian. She was Greek! Cleopatra VII was white—of Macedonian descent, likewise all the Ptolemy rulers, who lived in Egypt.
— Kemi Owonibi (@KemiOwonibi) April 14, 2023
<Netflix is making a show about a “Black” Queen Cleopatra, who was Greek>pic.twitter.com/cJXEywpThX
The Netflix trailer stirred controversy on social media where people discussed the ethnicity of the latest Egyptian pharaoh. Many discussions were made online as some people criticized Netflix for changing the identity of Queen Cleopatra and said that she was well-known to be of Greek origin.
Critics abolished the possibility that Queen Cleopatra could be black adding that according to historic references, she had wheat skin but was closer to white. Some called to boycott the series.
Netflix was also widely accused of "blackwashing" one of Egypt’s most famous historical figures.
Queen Cleopatra
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 14, 2023
Historical (1 AD): Netflix (2023): pic.twitter.com/l4HIOSdbTy
Scholars generally identify Cleopatra as essentially of Macedonian Greek ancestry with some Persian and Sogdian Iranian ancestry.
A petition was released on the "Change.org" website calling Netflix and producers to stop the Queen Cleopatra series. At least 150,000 signed the petition which was removed from the site for violating the terms.
About Netflix's Queen Cleopatra
Netflix's series Queen Cleopatra, produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, talks about the life of the monarch who served as the last pharaoh of Egypt. Queen Cleopatra is set to be released on May 15.
The documentary details her life as a "warrior" and a ruler of "unparalleled power," according to the trailer. It also highlights Cleopatra's relationship with Julius Caesar, who acknowledged her as "one of the best-educated women in the Mediterranean" and Mark Antony, who she used to "protect herself and her country," according to commentators.
