Gal Gadot shared this image. (courtesy: gal_gadot)
Highlight
- Gal Gadot is most famous for playing Wonder Woman
- Gal Gadot announced his association with the project on social media
- Many users asked an Egyptian or Arab actress to play the role.
New Delhi:
The casting of Israeli star Gal Gadot as Cleopatra in an upcoming Hollywood movie seems to have sparked a lot on social media. Gadot, who will reunite with her Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins for the film, announced in a tweet shared Sunday that she, Jenkins and writer Laeta Kalogridis “will bring the story of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, to the big screen. in a way that has never been seen before. To tell her story for the first time through the eyes of women, both behind and in front of the camera. ” Gal Gadot’s casting is being viewed as problematic by some on Twitter.
Cleopatra, an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh immortalized by history, legend, and Shakespeare, is believed to have been of Macedonian Greek descent. This wouldn’t make her ethnically very diverse from Gal Gadot, who is also of European descent and is, in fact, most famous for playing Diana or Wonder Woman, a superhero with origins that echo Greek mythology. However, many on social media asked for an Egyptian or Arab actress to play the role, seemingly ignorant of what historians agree was the ethnic identity and heritage of the real Cleopatra.
Criticism for Cleopatra’s role in Gal Gadot turned into a tweet from journalist Sameera Khan, who asked why Hollywood thought it was a “good idea to cast an Israeli actress like Cleopatra (a very bland one) over an actress. Awesome Arab like Nadine Njeim “. “Some other tweets in a similar vein appear to have been deleted. Here’s one that is still active:
Gal Gadot as Cleopatra ?!
Who are you going to get to play Nefertiti … Miley Cyrus hahaha?
– Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) October 11, 2020
Sameera Khan has been educated online repeatedly, as have others:
So, she didn’t know that Cleopatra was Greek and calls the stunning Gal Gadot “very bland looking.” Pathological hatred of Israel does strange things in people’s brains. https://t.co/dgOa9ILFFJ
– Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) October 12, 2020
Cleopatra was a Macedonian Greek, not an Arab, and Gal Gadot’s family has been in Israel for six generations. Take a deep breath, Sameera. https://t.co/xYEunlp5aK
– Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) October 12, 2020
Gal Gadot, who is Israeli, was cast to play Cleopatra
Now we are finding out how many people did not know that Cleopatra was not actually of Egyptian descent https://t.co/leuKzE1F6y
– Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) October 12, 2020
I am going to say this once and I will not repeat it, Cleopatra was Greek.
Yes, she was in Egyptian rule but she was Greek with Persian and Syrian ancestry. People who are reacting negatively to this are uneducated and uninformed.
Gal Gadot deserves this role. pic.twitter.com/7h1oYu9ClX
– The warrior in the moonlight (@ BlackMajikMan90) October 11, 2020
Someone explain to me how Gal Gadot may be stealing an “Arab paper” when Cleopatra was Macedonian
It’s funny that she’s not Arab or Israeli, but people are only pressured by a Jewish actress to play her.
Either you are anti-Semitic or you were just dead in history class.
– (@silentactiviist) October 12, 2020
The conflict between Israel and Palestine, Zionism or the movement for the creation of a Jewish state in territory that includes Palestine, and the biblical exodus of ancient Israelites from Egypt have also been invoked on Twitter.
This is Gal Gadot’s tweet announcing the Cleopatra project:
As you may have heard, I partnered with @PattyJenks Y @LKalogridis to bring the story of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, to the big screen in a way that has never been seen before. To tell your story for the first time through the eyes of women, both behind and in front of the camera. pic.twitter.com/k5eyTIfzjB
– Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) October 12, 2020
Cleopatra, a historical and legendary figure, supposedly fascinated both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She has been the subject of several cinematographic works, the most famous being a 1963 Hollywood film in which Elizabeth Taylor played her.
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