True Representative Entertainment – Gal Gadot Plays Cleopatra

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By Evan Shelton

It was recently released that Gal Gadot will be playing the immortal Cleopatra in an upcoming film. Structurally speaking, history has remembered Cleopatra as a powerful and beautiful woman. Maybe that was what the powers-at-be had in mind while casting Wonder Woman as Cleopatra. Historical accuracy, on screen representation and the inclusion of actors of color are just a few examples of what they did not have in mind.

Hollywood has been denying people of color leading roles for generations now. The practice is as old as the industry itself. In 1915 the now infamous, the then critically acclaimed, “The Birth of a Nation” became the first movie to be screened at the White House. The horrendously racist movie not only featured the KKK as the heroes, it also denied people of color the opportunity to appear with dozens of white actors appearing in blackface. This exclusion was unfortunately both common and socially acceptable in 1915.

People of color were denied on screen representation for the entire first part of the 20th Century. With literally hundreds of movies featuring white actors wearing blackface and using other offensive body augmentations. Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Bing Crosby to name a few. In fact, most of America’s favorites from the early and mid-20th Century had appearances while using some form of body augmentation. Blackface was the most common but it was not alone. Mickey Rooney famously used exaggerated buckteeth to portray Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

Recent years has largely seen the end of exaggerated buckteeth and blackface. Even the comedic world seems to be walking away from these offensive uses of body-augmenting. One would hope that the ending of these practices in film would open opportunities to actors of color. Unfortunately, the industry moved towards a general “whitewashing” of scripts.

Cleopatra is an excellent example of whitewashing a script. The historical figure has been largely played by white women of European descent. Why is that? Cleopatra’s was a member of the Ptolemy family and traced her heritage Ptolemy I Soter. He had taken control of Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy I Soter was from Macedonia which is just north of Greece. But Ptolemy I Soter died in 283 BC, 252 years before Cleopatra was born. For the that entire 252 years, the family inserted itself into Egypt culture.

The historical Cleopatra was not white and those her portray her on screen should reflect that reality. We are left wondering why the film industry continues to allow this to occur. Perhaps, those casting the movie are not ready to see the Shakespearean love between Mark Antony and Cleopatra be an interracial couple. Or maybe there is “concern” over a backlash from people who have lived decades of their lives not knowing and not caring to understand the realities of history.

The good news is there seems to be maybe, sort of, potentially, kind of barely some light at the end of tunnel. Movies like Black Panther, Parasite, Crazy Rich Asians and Roma are forcing their way in. Grossing millions and winning Oscars, it is impossible to ignore the emerging movement within the industry. Log overdue and in great need of our support. The time has come for historical dramas like Cleopatra to join the ranks. Of all the genres of movies, historical dramas must start reflecting the history they portrayed.

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