Cleopatra

I kind of get the Bridgerton England thing, pseudo fantasy period drama with modern rather than historically accurate diversity. People of all ethnicities might want to see themselves represented in stories in that setting. Enola Holmes is another one in that kind of setting.

Cleopatra apprently sells itself as a docu drama and can reasonably be expected to be more historically accurate and it fails on this point. The makers problem is they chose a premise of African Queens for their series to highlight the on trend intersectional heroine and were happy to ride roughshod over historical accuracy, somewaht tolerable for out and out fiction not tolerable for supposed docu-drama. Their other problem is history is not littered with well known sub-Saharan African Queens on which to base a series so they stole the best known African Queen it's just she was Greek or Arab in heritage.
 
It’s hard to know what to make of the consumer reviews. I haven’t watched the series but there is a lot of “fails to be historically accurate” - I didn’t know so many people were Cleo fanatics? :p

I tend to dislike the concept of (and accusations of) ‘cultural appropriation’. Maybe it’s because of my own status in society, but I don’t like the idea that certain things (such as clothing or hairstyles) are reserved for certain demographics. In a decent society, I think people should be free to do as they wish (so long as it’s not in a mocking or deliberately provocative manner). I also generally observe that people dislike accusations of ‘cultural appropriation’ (“you can’t do that, it’s cultural appropriation”), so I’m surprised that people want to play that card.

Which brings me to ask the question… do we want to encourage ‘guarding via accusations of cultural appropriation’, or not? For myself, it does not matter which actress is portraying the role. With that said, I do acknowledge that fans have been flamed with how this series has been promoted (as some sort of ‘empowerment exercise’). That was just asking for it.

Secondly, it’s also not clear to me whether this is supposed to be:

(A) a docu-drama - acting out things that happened; or
(B) a drama that’s presented in the style of a modern documentary.

^There is a difference and I think there is more scope for tolerating historical inaccuracy in the latter as it’s principally trying to be entertaining.

Overall, for it to deem a score that low, it should simply be ‘a grossly horrible / tedious watch’.

Any volunteers to watch it and report back? :p
 
Last edited:
Not watching blackwashing.

People can laugh because this is just an awful woke TV show, but the message here is "It's ok to change History because we want too, because the truth doesn't fit our politics or our narrative" it was the same with that "Woman King" trash, if you don't think changing History to suit a political agenda is scary then you need to have a re-think.
 
Darujhistan said:
but the message here is "It's ok to change History because we want too, because the truth doesn't fit our politics or our narrative" it was the same with that "Woman King" trash, if you don't think changing History to suit a political agenda is scary then you need to have a re-think.
Click to expand...

Deary me. Its Jada Picket for gods sake.

You need to reserve your hatred for more important issues.
 
Darujhistan said:
it was the same with that "Woman King" trash, if you don't think changing History to suit a political agenda is scary then you need to have a re-think.
Click to expand...

"Trash" - Lol

Woman King was really good, 8/10 from me.

What "political agenda" was Woman king pursuing? The fact it gave some black actors some decent roles to play?

It's an entertaining film, same as Gladiator or Braveheart.
 
Put on E1 turned off within 20 minutes.

How can they portray as this as a historical piece?

Some old cow said "I always knew cleopatra was a black queen".

Like what the ****, this is not even up for debate, she was light skinned.
 
GlitterBalls said:
I haven't watched it yet but heard controversy surrounding it.

Click to expand...
Paywalled.

It was funny in the original thread, people were suddenly seemed very well informed about the Dahomey tribe in 18th and 19th century Africa and acted as if it was common historical knowledge...I'd never heard of them in my life.

Empire (movie magazine) did a spoiler special edition on their podcast featuring an extensive interview with the director/co-writer, and they asked her about the furore regarding historical inaccuracy.

I can't remember verbatim what she said, but it's covered also by the LA Times

www.latimes.com

The truth behind 'The Woman King': Crew responds to claims of historical revisionism

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beninese economist and historian Leonard Wantchekon and film professor Racquel Gates push back on the online campaign accusing 'The Woman King' of historical revisionism.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
 
Anne Boleyn…..according to Channel 5

Jm6v1rM.jpg
 
VincentHanna said:
Paywalled.

It was funny in the original thread, people were suddenly seemed very well informed about the Dahomey tribe in 18th and 19th century Africa and acted as if it was common historical knowledge...I'd never heard of them in my life.

Empire (movie magazine) did a spoiler special edition on their podcast featuring an extensive interview with the director/co-writer, and they asked her about the furore regarding historical inaccuracy.

I can't remember verbatim what she said, but it's covered also by the LA Times

www.latimes.com

The truth behind 'The Woman King': Crew responds to claims of historical revisionism

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beninese economist and historian Leonard Wantchekon and film professor Racquel Gates push back on the online campaign accusing 'The Woman King' of historical revisionism.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
Click to expand...
That's odd, the site isn't paywalled for me:

Untitled.png
 
Last edited:
VincentHanna said:
www.latimes.com

The truth behind 'The Woman King': Crew responds to claims of historical revisionism

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beninese economist and historian Leonard Wantchekon and film professor Racquel Gates push back on the online campaign accusing 'The Woman King' of historical revisionism.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
Click to expand...
What a load of revisionist ******.

www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk

The History of the Kingdom of Dahomey

Situated in western Africa, the kingdom of Dahomey (or Abomey in its earliest years) was formed by a mixture of various local ethnic groups on the Abomey
www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk

People's issues with the film were that they portrayed the villains of the region as the heroes of the movie, there was no need to make up a fictional story and do a complete 180 on historical events of the time in question, all they had to do was tell a story and maybe stick at least semi close to the truth.

As to your complaints about people 'suddenly seeming very well informed', maybe try picking up a book once in a while and educating yourself.

Anyway, well off topic and has already been covered in the thread about the film.
 
robfosters said:
Anne Boleyn…..according to Channel 5

Jm6v1rM.jpg
Click to expand...
That's just beyond ridiculous.
It's true that there are many things we don't know about history, be we should at least stick with what we do know. Using a black actor to play Anne Boleyn is about as culturally-deaf as using a white actor to play Nelson Mandela.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom