Netflix just launched its 'Queen Cleopatra' docudrama series, which depicts the Egyptian queen as Black. Now, Egypt is producing a version that doesn't.
Egypt is seeing red over Netflix’s new serial ‘Queen Cleopatra’. The portrayal of the historic queen by a biracial actress has prompted the Egyptian government to issue a statement, saying she was ‘light skinned and not Black’; a lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the streaming giant and a local broadcaster said it would be running its own show based on her. But what race did Queen Cleopatra belong to?
Egyptians say the influential streaming service is dragging an ancient queen into a modern, and decidedly Western, debate about Black representation in Hollywood in which she has no real place.