(05-24-2023, 10:30 AM)NewJagsCity Wrote:

(05-22-2023, 11:40 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote: She was part of the Ptolemaic dynasty that goes back to Alexander the Great. She was from Macedonia, which was basically northern Greece. She most definitely was not black. It's not worth getting up in arms about, but she probably looked something like this: 

 

I'm Greek by birth (Kalamata, Southern Greece, Peloponnese), and the last time I looked I wasn't black.  Tho I did want to be Sly Stone / Superfly in HS.

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(05-23-2023, 12:55 PM)mikesez Wrote: Stereotypically, black Americans don't learn how to swim.  Sounds like a stereotype turning into a flase rumor.
But who cares if this actress never learned how to swim?  I didn't get mad that Christopher Reeve couldn't fly.

He couldn't ride horses either.

LOL - Love the Sly Stone reference. Undeniably one cool cat. 

The thing with Cleopatra is that there is no record of her mother's heritage or her grandparents' heritage (paternal side I think)  and therefore having been born in a time of mixed cultures from varied regions blending together - we simply cannot know if there were or were not any sub-Saharan African family members in her family tree. 

Most scholars seem content with the speculation that she was olive-skinned, with a Mesopotamian-dominance in here blend. 

Beyond that, I just don't get the uproar in her being portrayed by a black actress. 
It doesn't have to be "some black activist in Hollyweird trying to get one over on whitey" you know. 
It can just be a creative casting decision. 

And, so what if the director and/or casting director read something about Cleopatra being of a dark skin tone and they believed it. There's a ton of those academic opinions out there. Many will opt to believe the version that suits their narrative. 

We've been watching Samurai movies with Japanese historical figures portrayed by Korean, Chinese and Malaysian actors our entire lives and no one complained. LOL

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