Israeli Actress to Play the Queen of the Nile – Does it matter that Cleopatra was Greco-Egyptian?
By John Mason/Arab America Contributing Writer
The casting of Israeli Gal Gadot as Cleopatra in an upcoming film will probably be a blockbuster. The fact that Gadot is of East European origin and has been an active supporter of the Israeli army has rubbed some the wrong way. They counter that Cleopatra was born of a mixed couple and thus would not have been characterized as “white.” Here we look at history, contemporary social issues, and arguments against Gadot getting the role of Cleopatra.
Controversy Sizzles over Ethnicity and Nationality of Queen Cleopatra
Oddly enough, Queen Cleopatra 7th, who ruled Egypt just prior to the Christian era (BCE), has been the object of debate for centuries. Just imagine, the debate is of tantamount importance: was she black or white, or Greek or Egyptian? Or maybe all four. Cleopatra was a descendent of Alexander the Great’s famous general, Ptolemy. She was born in 69 BC into a Macedonian Greek dynasty which ruled what was called Ptolemaic Egypt for three centuries. Today, the famous Queen is the object of a new debate, whether Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, who played in the film Wonder Woman, should play the clever Greco-Egyptian queen.
Newsweek magazine put the issue bluntly, “Was Cleopatra White?” The showing of Gadot’s performance as Wonder Woman had already been banned in Lebanon and Tunisia. Negativity about her role is not just that she is an Israeli, but that she had served in the Israeli army for two years and is an ardent supporter of the army. Her parents, of East European origin, changed their name once they had arrived in Israel from Greenstein to Gadot. What is more, their daughter, Gal, was behind the idea for the new version of the movie in the first place. Considering the political and ethnic-racial concerns surrounding Gadot’s role in the future film, the issue comes down to, simply, whether a woman of European, namely white, heritage should play the Egyptian Queen versus a woman of African heritage?
Who was this Famous Queen and why is she so Important in History?
Cleopatra was only 17 years old when she took the throne of Ptolemaic Egypt. In BCE 48, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt, where Cleopatra allegedly managed to seduce him, upon which he took her as his mistress. They traveled to Rome, where they lived between 46-44 BCE in Caesar’s villa. She gave birth to their son, who they named Caesarion. Following Caesar’s assassination, Cleopatra married an important Roman politician and general who helped transform the Roman Republic into the autocratic Roman Empire. Upon his death, she committed suicide, according to legend, by pressing an asp, a poisonous snake, to her breast.
In Renaissance art, Cleopatra is portrayed as dark- or olive-skinned, while in the several films named for her, she is played by white actresses. Among these are Vivien Leigh, Claudette Colbert, Sophia Loren, and perhaps most famously, Elizabeth Taylor. Even before the new controversy over Gadot and the future film, the subject of Cleopatra’s color and nationality has been a curiosity on the internet for some time. According to author Ben Arogundade, “Today’s curiosity about Queen Cleopatra’s ethnicity and nationality is played out online. Each month Google records and publishes the total number of Internet queries on a range of subjects, that people all over the world type into their browsers. For example, a total of approximately 3,000 people per month ask the question, ‘Was Cleopatra black?’ ‘Was Cleopatra Greek or Egyptian?’ are other popular queries. The overall number of searches about the ancient queen’s ethnicity and nationality tops over 70,000 per year.”
Proof of Queen Cleopatra’s Identity
Cleopatra’s identity is a complex subject, so we will shortcut it a bit. An Egyptologist has recently completed a computer-animated 3D image of the Queen’s head, using forensic images from ancient artifacts, including a ring dating to Cleopatra’s reign, over 2,000 years ago. Quoting Arogundade, “The resulting graphic is of a striking young woman of mixed ethnicity, with African-style cornrowed hair — very different to the white Cleopatra portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film. She probably wasn’t just completely European.” According to the Egyptologist, “You’ve got to remember that her family had actually lived in Egypt for 300 years by the time she came to power…and reflects the monarch’s Greek heritage as well as her Egyptian upbringing.”
More evidence comes from a look at the skeletal remains of the Queen’s sister, who was buried in a site in Turkey. Cleopatra’s sister’s skeleton showed that they had shared an African mother. This has led researchers to suggest that she was of Egyptian and Greek origin. Again, according to Arogundade, “And so what should a modern movie Cleopatra look like, if indeed Hollywood were to cast ethnically in new production?”
Gal Gadot Responds
Gadot, aware of the controversy surrounding her self-promoted initiative to play Cleopatra, determined that she wanted to tell Cleopatra’s story, according to International Business Times (IBT), “through women’s eyes.” She was clearly responding to the backlash over her being cast as the Egyptian Queen and wanted to use the space to share a message aimed at girls. Gadot says that she wanted ‘to share the news herself and explain that they wanted her story to be told through women’s eyes.’ Further, she exclaimed, ‘And we are especially thrilled to be announcing this on International Day of the Girl! We hope women and girls all around the world, who aspire to tell stories will never give up on their dreams and will make their voices heard, by and for other women. #cleopatra #internationaldayofthegirl,’ she added. Twitter responses were not impressed.”
Controversy? Reface, swaps faces in the film Cleopatra, replacing Elizabeth Taylor’s face with Gadot’s. Even more ironic, the video soundtrack features an Arab rap song.
Some of the Twitter responses were, according to IBT, were, “It’s a shame you aren’t advocating for African actresses who would better fit the part. Please do better,” one commented on Gadot’s post on Twitter. “Nope. Cleopatra was African. This is a disgrace,” another wrote. “Cleopatra is an Egyptian queen, last time I checked you were Israeli. Tell me, how do you see yourself fit to play this role? Not your story to tell, not your role to play,” a third user tweeted.”
As Arab Americans and others, you may have your point of view. Let us hear from you, Insha’Allah.
References
“Was Cleopatra White? After Controversial Gal Gadot Casting, Experts Be,” Newsweek, 10/13/2020
“Casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot as Cleopatra sparks anger,” Al-Jazeera, 10/13/2020
“Was the Real Queen Cleopatra Black, White, Greek, Egyptian…?” Ben Arogundade, 4/30/2020
“Gal Gadot Talks ‘Cleopatra’ Amid Backlash Over Her Casting.” International Business Times, 10/11/2020
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID, the UN, and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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