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Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra’ Appears to Have the Worst Audience Score in TV History

All because they cast a black actress in the lead role of Cleopatra. Queen Cleo herself was said to be of Greek/Macedonian heritage so I'm doubtful she looked black, but I don't think it was malicious on the part of the casting director, they simply saw Egypt = Africa = Black.
Don't be so naive. They made a deliberate casting decision as has been seen with so many other shows recently. If they can get away with casting white British queens as black they'll try it with anything.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
It would be like BBC photoshopping soldiers and generals in their World at War series editting white soldiers to be black.
It wouldn't surprise me to actually see this in an attempt to push equity over history. We have already seen it in "historically based" stuff to add women into areas they never operated (the best of these at least try to find an actual historical character to extrapolate from) or add ethnic diversity where there was none. No doubt future historians will dub this practice some catchy name and it will date productions kinda like how vivid technicolor does now and use it as a marker for broader societal changes.

As I've said before, the real tragedy of this stuff isn't just that it is attempting to change perceptions of history, but that is a lazy crutch to push the same tired stories OVER and OVER instead of finding new stories of periods and events that HAD the diversity necessary. Don't make a viking raiding party all on one longboat look like an Ark that sampled someone from every place on the planet, just set your show in a place that naturally had a multicultural presence.

This new show just makes me think of this
QKlmSI1.jpg


though to be honest I no longer remember which girl was actually Cleopatra (2525).
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
It wouldn't surprise me to actually see this in an attempt to push equity over history. We have already seen it in "historically based" stuff to add women into areas they never operated (the best of these at least try to find an actual historical character to extrapolate from) or add ethnic diversity where there was none. No doubt future historians will dub this practice some catchy name and it will date productions kinda like how vivid technicolor does now and use it as a marker for broader societal changes.

As I've said before, the real tragedy of this stuff isn't just that it is attempting to change perceptions of history, but that is a lazy crutch to push the same tired stories OVER and OVER instead of finding new stories of periods and events that HAD the diversity necessary. Don't make a viking raiding party all on one longboat look like an Ark that sampled someone from every place on the planet, just set your show in a place that naturally had a multicultural presence.

This new show just makes me think of this
QKlmSI1.jpg


though to be honest I no longer remember which girl was actually Cleopatra (2525).
The black one. That actress was in Hercules playing a greek character as I recall as well. Not that it matters in that show. Kevin Sorbo is as greek as I am. lol
 
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jason10mm

Gold Member
The black one. That actress was in Hercules playing a greek character as I recall as well. Not that it matters in that show. Kevin Sorbo is as greek as I am. lol
Hah, I had to look it up but she was Nebula in Hercules, half sister to Gilgamesh, King of Sumeria, played by this guy

tLVarTg.jpg


Don't think Iraqis look particularly sub-saharan African but of course in "the old days" the number of middle-eastern actors that could fill these roles were undoubtedly few, so subbing in black actors for an ethnic "other" to differentiate them from the white Greeks makes sense. Doubt this guy worried about it as he cashed his checks. I've always liked him in his roles.

Gina Torres did play Cleopatra in Xena, not sure if there is a direct connection to Cleopatra 2525. Maybe they used her simply because she was already in New Zealand for the other gig. Wonder if they would cast more locals if they were filming there now.
 

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
It wouldn't surprise me to actually see this in an attempt to push equity over history. We have already seen it in "historically based" stuff to add women into areas they never operated (the best of these at least try to find an actual historical character to extrapolate from) or add ethnic diversity where there was none. No doubt future historians will dub this practice some catchy name and it will date productions kinda like how vivid technicolor does now and use it as a marker for broader societal changes.

As I've said before, the real tragedy of this stuff isn't just that it is attempting to change perceptions of history, but that is a lazy crutch to push the same tired stories OVER and OVER instead of finding new stories of periods and events that HAD the diversity necessary. Don't make a viking raiding party all on one longboat look like an Ark that sampled someone from every place on the planet, just set your show in a place that naturally had a multicultural presence.

This new show just makes me think of this
QKlmSI1.jpg


though to be honest I no longer remember which girl was actually Cleopatra (2525).
This show was so much fun and had the right level of camp and cleavage to make it peak TV.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Netflix is weaponizing willful ignorance because pandering to specific groups is trendy. It’s bizarre to see.
But what specific group are they pandering to? Not to blacks, I doubt they give a shit about some antiquity broad that was by the way taking the white D. Surely not a true sista.
It’s always this patronising approach that whites know better what to offer to blacks than blacks do. Then they do pikachuface.gif when blacks go:

No Way Thumbs Down GIF by Major League Soccer
 

Jinzo Prime

Member
But what specific group are they pandering to? Not to blacks, I doubt they give a shit about some antiquity broad that was by the way taking the white D. Surely not a true sista.
It’s always this patronising approach that whites know better what to offer to blacks than blacks do. Then they do pikachuface.gif when blacks go:

No Way Thumbs Down GIF by Major League Soccer

Jada Pinkett Smith, the show's producer is a black woman. This show is for other willfully ignorant black women in America. This shit has been circulating for decades, at least since the 90's.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Lol why does this one screen cap look better than anything else I remember from that show?
Those covers look like some porn parodies :pie_roffles:
 

TransTrender

Gold Member
Those covers look like some porn parodies :pie_roffles:
The plot premise sounds exactly like a shitty porn movie:

An exotic dancer, cryogenically frozen in the year 2001, is accidentally thawed out in 2525 by two female warriors who are fighting against evil robots which have taken over the world
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
It wouldn't surprise me to actually see this in an attempt to push equity over history. We have already seen it in "historically based" stuff to add women into areas they never operated (the best of these at least try to find an actual historical character to extrapolate from) or add ethnic diversity where there was none. No doubt future historians will dub this practice some catchy name and it will date productions kinda like how vivid technicolor does now and use it as a marker for broader societal changes.

As I've said before, the real tragedy of this stuff isn't just that it is attempting to change perceptions of history, but that is a lazy crutch to push the same tired stories OVER and OVER instead of finding new stories of periods and events that HAD the diversity necessary. Don't make a viking raiding party all on one longboat look like an Ark that sampled someone from every place on the planet, just set your show in a place that naturally had a multicultural presence.

This new show just makes me think of this
QKlmSI1.jpg


though to be honest I no longer remember which girl was actually Cleopatra (2525).

Sorboverse is essentially a slightly higher budget YA themed Power Rangers, honestly. They even branched out into Young Hercules in an effort to catch kids as they get off the Power Ranger bus. I mean, I love Xena as much as the next guy, but look at the costume design and shit. The whole lot of them look like a team of Leather Rangers. Put Lucy Lawless in a spray painted motorcycle helmet and give the guy who played Ares fucking horns or anttenea and you've never even know the difference. Poseidon in the opening credits? WE NEED DINOZORD POWER, NOW!
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Sorboverse is essentially a slightly higher budget YA themed Power Rangers, honestly. They even branched out into Young Hercules in an effort to catch kids as they get off the Power Ranger bus. I mean, I love Xena as much as the next guy, but look at the costume design and shit. The whole lot of them look like a team of Leather Rangers. Put Lucy Lawless in a spray painted motorcycle helmet and give the guy who played Ares fucking horns or anttenea and you've never even know the difference. Poseidon in the opening credits? WE NEED DINOZORD POWER, NOW!

KVO1mxk.gif


This is the PERFECT level of "Crazy eyes gonna fuck you silly then sob half the night because daddy dosen't love me then fuck again before going to the gym" woman I'm looking for :p
a562Fh2.jpg
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
The idea of Cleopatra being black made Jada Pinkett-Smith feel good about herself. That's the only thing that matters in current_year:


“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens,” Jada Pinkett-Smith shares in a statement. “And that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!”

“Cleopatra is a queen who many know about, but not in her truth,” Smith continues. “She’s been displayed as overtly sexual, excessive, and corrupt, yet she was a strategist, an intellect, a commanding force of nature, who fought to protect her kingdom… and her heritage is highly debated. This season will dive deeper into her history and re-assesses this fascinating part of her story.”
 

badblue

Gold Member
The idea of Cleopatra being black made Jada Pinkett-Smith feel good about herself. That's the only thing that matters in current_year:


“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens,” Jada Pinkett-Smith shares in a statement. “And that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!”

Just to be fair to Pinkett-Smith (gag), I've seen that quoted in regards to the over-all African Queen Series she's producing and not just about Cleopatra, which is the second one. The first was African Queen: Njinga
 

HAYA8U5A

Member
I'm going to have to weigh in here against that director as somebody who has to study Cleopatra VII at degree level, plus own a number of history books on this woman (Adrian Goldsworthy wrote a fantastic book if anybody is interested.

True. Cleopatra was far removed from Macedonia by many generations. However, the Ptolemaic dynasty practiced incest with siblings marrying each other to keep the bloodline pure. Although nobody watched her parents get it on, we can be pretty confident that her mother was Cleopatra V and her father was Ptolemy XII.

Egyptians of this era weren't all sub Saharan black either. They would have looked for the most part as they do today. Egypt and especially the city of Alexandria was also a multicultural society, with Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Aksumites and Jews etc living together. However, they didn't live together in harmony. For the most part they stuck to their own groups and didn't get on. So, to suggest Cleopatra was black because Egypt is in Africa doesn't make any sense. It shows a lack of understanding of the era.

Finally, here is a bust of Cleopatra made of Cleopatra in the 1st century BC when she visited Rome. This is probably the best we'll ever get to knowing what Cleopatra looked like.

2fr7pwQ.jpg


Finally, if Cleopatra was an illegitimate it would have almost certainly been part of Roman propaganda.

TL;DR: the director is clueless

Not sure how there can be any debate when her father was clearly a time travelling Brazilian.....

ronaldo-2002_1qq6b6c1hm3c015o5zpofer5eq-533x300.jpg
 

vpance

Member
It's unsettling that they refuse to stop stirring the culture war pot for the money, but it's refreshing to see nonsense get the reaction it deserves on a wide scale.

No way they are making money from these type of controversies. That won't save the terrible show.

It's stakeholder capitalism at play. They care more about sending a message than profits, because they still have money to burn apparently.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Just to be fair to Pinkett-Smith (gag), I've seen that quoted in regards to the over-all African Queen Series she's producing and not just about Cleopatra, which is the second one. The first was African Queen: Njinga

This would he a better topic than cleopatra, though I am curious how and if they will address her active participation in the slave trade. Flip the script like the Warrior Queen movie, tackle it head on, or just skip talk of it at all?

I certainly can't blame them if they just sidestep the issue and dont mention slaves at all. I definitely don't need EVERY discussion of Thomas Jefferson to be about Sally Heming. There are other aspects of the story that can make for a fine film.
 

badblue

Gold Member
This would he a better topic than cleopatra, though I am curious how and if they will address her active participation in the slave trade. Flip the script like the Warrior Queen movie, tackle it head on, or just skip talk of it at all?

I certainly can't blame them if they just sidestep the issue and dont mention slaves at all. I definitely don't need EVERY discussion of Thomas Jefferson to be about Sally Heming. There are other aspects of the story that can make for a fine film.

Seems suggested that her participation in the slave trade was addressed but not in a super in-depth way.


How’s the Era thread on this?
the voice ban GIF
 
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