{"id":574053,"date":"2023-05-11T18:47:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/adele-james-talks-netflixs-controversial-queen-cleopatra-series-blackwashing-isnt-a-thing\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T18:47:18","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:47:18","slug":"adele-james-talks-netflixs-controversial-queen-cleopatra-series-blackwashing-isnt-a-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/adele-james-talks-netflixs-controversial-queen-cleopatra-series-blackwashing-isnt-a-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"#Adele James Talks Netflix\u2019s Controversial \u2018Queen Cleopatra\u2019 Series: \u201cBlackwashing Isn\u2019t a Thing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Adele James, who plays the titular role in Netflix\u2019s Queen Cleopatra<\/em> docuseries<\/a>, has addressed the controversy around the Jada Pinkett Smith-executive-produced project after the Egyptian government criticized the portrayal of the country\u2019s famous\u00a0ruler\u00a0as dark-skinned.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBlackwashing isn\u2019t a thing, is it?\u201d the British actress told The Wayne Ayers Podcast<\/em><\/a> on Wednesday about the controversy over Cleopatra\u2019s race and heritage, which remains a hotly-debated subject among historians. \u201cI find it sad that people are either so self-loathing or so threatened by Blackness that they feel the need to do that, to separate Egypt from the rest of the continent,\u201d the Casualty<\/em> star added.<\/p>\n

\n Netflix declined comment on the docuseries\u2019 creative choice to cast James, who is of mixed heritage, to play Cleopatra to reflect historical research that points to Egypt\u2019s population in ancient times being multicultural and multiracial.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cHer ethnicity is not the focus of Queen Cleopatra, but we did intentionally decide to depict her of mixed ethnicity to reflect theories about Cleopatra\u2019s possible Egyptian ancestry and the multicultural nature of ancient Egypt,\u201d the producers of the series told Netflix\u2019s Tudum website<\/a> in a story posted last month.<\/p>\n

\n The portrayal hasn\u2019t sat well with Egypt<\/a> experts<\/a>. Jane Root, who also executive produced Queen Cleopatra<\/em> for Nutopia, could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

\n The biopic, which bowed Wednesday on Netflix globally, is part of a documentary series from Pinkett Smith that explores\u00a0the lives of prominent and iconic African Queens. The first season of the docuseries followed the 17th-century warrior Queen Njinga, the ancient ruler of Ndongo and Matamba, which today is known as Angola.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe don\u2019t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter (Willow), and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them. The sad part is that we don\u2019t have ready access to these historical women who were so powerful and were the backbones of African nations,\u201d Pinkett Smith said in the Tudum article.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n