Thread by @ishiba

Cleopatra's show on Netflix has caused a lot of indignation in Egypt and a lot of stupid comments from Mexican intolerants. But do you know something about #whitewashing on TV and Cinema? Check this thread out!

People are angry against Netflix because they want to see a real Macedonian from -30 BCE on TV. In their mind, Elizabeth Taylor, an Anglosaxon British American actress, is a perfect depiction. Who knows why!

Here I will show that depicting a brown/black/yellow character as a white/blond person is acceptable (most of the time), but the other way around, it is not.

Also, I will show that we do not give a feck about history or accuracy; we care about being satisfied with our expectations (for instance, Tenoch Huerta, a Mexican Mestizo (with some Nahua and Purépecha roots) interpreting a «Maya God» with Mr Spock ears.

Ramses II

Whitewashing: The British-Australian, Joel Edgerton
Source: express.co.uk/news/science/1…

Obviously, this was OK for Egyptians and Mexicans.

Mariane Pearl

Whitewashing: Angelina Jolie
Source with images of the original Mariane alchetron.com/Mariane-Pearl

FYI: Angelina Jolie is a nepo-baby of one of the whitest Hollywoodian actors I have seen: Jon Voight

Jesus of Nazareth

Whitewashing: Thousands!!!
Source: Richard Neave reconstruction, but more depictions found here historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/imagenes-jes…

I mean, nobody alive knows how this guy actually looked!

Alexander the Great

Whitewashing: The Irish Colin Farrel, who’s hair was dyed
Info about mosaic: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander…

This is an interesting one. Alexander was interpreted by an Irish (AN IRISH!) who dyed his hair to appear blond. BUT...

I said this one was interesting. Not only Colin Farrel dyed his hair, but Alexander's parents were Angeline Jolie and Val fecking Kilmer, whose parent are Swedish and German! So, yes, forget the skin or hair colour...

Chante Jawan Mallar

Whitewashing: Mena Suvari, but they also changed the name of the real person to Brandi Boski.

This is a good example, but it is also awful. Probably they believed that making her dreadlocks was enough.

Now, there are more examples of whitewashing but, have you seen a Maya with Mr Spock ears that is actually Nahua and Purepecha? The question is, why did they choose Tenoch? Was it because of his skin colour, DNA, history, or acting skills?

Also, notice that «Mayans» in Wakanda Forever dress like ancient stereotypical/archaeological Mayans. They do not look like «modern» ones...obviously (2 refs in Spanish about the dead and the living «indian»)

jornada.com.mx/2012/07/29/sem…
ciencia.unam.mx/leer/256/El_pa…

Now, returning to Cleopatra. How was she? We do not know, but what we do know is that Egypt was a super diverse country when the Ptolemies were ruling. Look at the Palestrina Mosaic, which depicts the Nile life around the 1st century BCE.

Here you can see black people, brown people, white people, and even hippopotamus and dinosaurs...ok, maybe not dinosaurs but also, the accuracy of the mosaic is not great. It is just a mix between imagination and reality about Egypt as seen from Central Italy, near to Rome.

Cleopatra was indeed part of the Ptolemies, a dynasty of rulers of «Macedonian» origin that governed Egypt from ca. 305 to 30 BCE, basically after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, died, and because he left no heir, his commanders fought to have a piece of what he conquered

It is possible that Cleopatra was not black, but perhaps she was not 100% Caucasian either. The Ptolemies, despite their apartheid-like policies in Egypt, mixed with the local population to some extent. This is supposed to be a portrait of her, drawn a century after her death.

Now, you SHOULD read this blunt racial account of Cleopatra's background blog.oup.com/2010/12/cleopa…

After reading the article, you might notice that the clue about Cleopatra's origins and hence, her phenotype lies in her daughter. Unfortunately, the material evidence does not have colour. Unless we stupidly think that the material used gives the character its real-life colour.

I am saying this because people compare the skin colour of Cleopatra with the white colour of marble (I mean, seriously guys!). And so, to the left, you have an anaemic super white Cleopatra VII, and to the right, a brown-reddish plated Cleopatra Selene II, the daughter

I mean, we know we are brown-ish in Mexico but maybe for some people ancient natives were blue-ish/green-ish black people because the most common rock used in Ancient times was black basalt. vilcek.org/art/aztec-mexi…

To sum up, whether Cleopatra was black, red, blue, green, white or yellow DOES NOT REALLY MATTER.
Even if she was 100% Macedonian, I wonder if Egyptians would be happy that the character was Macedonian and not Egyptian.

Or is it that they care more about colours and colonial prestige but not nationality or history, as they argue (and for some stupid reason, even Mexicans), to possibly hide their racism?

I don't know. I cannot speak for the Egyptians, but I know my people. And even @poderprieto_mx can be intolerant, conceit and unbearable.

For more about Ethnicity during the Ptolemies, see➡️
Ethnicity, occupation and tax-status in Ptolemaic Egypt by Csaba A. La'da
jstor.org/stable/24233522
or
Social Unrest and ethnic coexistence in Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire by C. Fischer-Bovet
jstor.org/stable/24544875

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