Opinion Express View on ‘Queen Cleopatra’: The African queen and some thorny questions

After decades of “whitewashing”, comes “blackwashing” — so claim outraged Egyptians, regarding the portrayal of Cleopatra as a Black African woman in the Netflix docudrama Queen Cleopatra. The casting of British actor Adele James has drawn accusations of historical distortion and “misrepresentation of Egyptian identity”, with a former minister for antiquities in Egypt stepping in to say that “in contemporary busts and portraits she is clearly depicted as being white”.

Given the slew of content, both movies and television series, that feature greater diversity, including among their leads — such as Bridgerton and its follow-up Queen Charlotte, both of which feature a mixed-race society in Regency-era Britain, Never Have I Ever, Ms Marvel, Beef — it might be tempting to think of the entertainment landscape as a post-racial one where the issue of representation is no longer as pressing as it was. However, the tone of the debate over Queen Cleopatra and insistence that the Ptolemaic queen was, in reality, lighter-skinned than she is on the new show underlines the continuing relevance of conversations about racism and colourism. Much celebrated as Bridgerton is for radically reimagining 19-century Britain, the first season was also criticised for giving the majority of the speaking roles to white actors and for the thin characterisation of those that were black.

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The idea of a white actor playing Cleopatra — not only Elizabeth Taylor, but also Monica Bellucci and Vivien Leigh — may no longer have wide and unquestioning acceptance. But in casting a black actor to play her, the new show about Cleopatra — wittingly or not — has brought up newer, thorny questions. Are the makers of the show guilty of Afrocentrism, as alleged? Have they painted over Egypt’s unique cultural and racial legacy? Or are those angered by the casting choice betraying an older bias? The answers could help filmmakers and showrunners — and their audiences — understand that for true diversity, they would need to do more than just check the “race” box.