Gal Gadot 'whitewashing' row sparks Cleopatra history debate
News that Israeli actress Gal Gadot will play Cleopatra has prompted Hollywood's latest "whitewashing" row -- and renewed a historical debate over the ancient Queen of Egypt's ancestry.https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/...ry-debate.htmlBut the announcement immediately prompted social media criticism of the white, Israel-born star's casting as an African queen.
"Hollywood has always cast white American actresses as the Queen of the Nile. For once, can't they find an African actress?" tweeted author James Hall.
The furor taps into wider criticism of Hollywood's history of casting white actors in non-white roles on the apparent assumption of higher box office appeal, a practice commonly referred to as "whitewashing".
However, other social media users quickly noted that Cleopatra herself -- a 1st-century BC ruler descended from Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy -- was of Greek heritage, and may have been white.