*Netflix’s new Cleopatra docuseries has thousands of negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes from viewers who are upset that a Black actress portrays the Egyptian queen.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra” has an 11% from nine critics and a 2% audience score with over 2,500 viewers reporting, reports Decider.com.
“Depicting Cleopatra as a sub-Saharan African in a documentary is historically inaccurate and can be seen as an insult to both Greek and Egyptian history,” wrote a one-star reviewer, per Decider.
One critic wrote in Indian Express, “In the recreations, she’s played by the mixed-race actor Adele James, who was immediately targeted by racist trolls. The trolling was undoubtedly encouraged by the Egyptian government’s condemnation of the show. But they have a point; if they feel that there is enough evidence to prove that Cleopatra ‘had white skin’, then it’s a bit rude of a Netflix show to suggest otherwise, especially when it doesn’t have proof to back its claims.”
We reported previously that an Egyptian lawyer is seeking to ban Netflix in the country because of the show’s casting.
Attorney Mahmoud Al-Sedary claims the docuseries violates media laws in Egypt, so he filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, Insider reports. In the film, UK actress Adele James, who is dark-skinned, portrays the historic queen — and the Egyptians will not stand for this.
Al-Sedary said Netflix “promotes Afrocentric thinking … which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity,” the BBC reports.
Cleopatra, according to many historians, was light-skinned because of her Greek origins.
Per Decider, one expert in the Netflix series said “Ancient Egyptians would have had a variety of different complexions, as we find in other African cultures today,” and called it “very strange” that Hollywood productions of Cleopatra have only depicted her as “wholly European”.
British actress Elizabeth Taylor famously played Cleopatra in 1963.
READ MORE: Egyptian Lawyer Sues Netflix Over ‘Black’ Cleopatra Documentary
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