"Never Mind Cleopatra – What About the Forgotten" Topic

…Queens of Nubia?

"Jada Pinkett Smith's new Netflix documentary series on Cleopatra aims to spotlight powerful African queens. "We don't often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, 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," the Hollywood star and producer told a Netflix interviewer.

The show casts a biracial Black British actress as the famed queen, whose race has stirred debate for decades. Cleopatra descended from an ancient Greek-Macedonian ruling dynasty known as the Ptolemies, but some speculate that her mother may have been an Indigenous Egyptian. In the trailer, Black classics scholar Shelley Haley recalls her grandmother telling her, "I don't care what they tell you in school, Cleopatra was Black."…"

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Armand

Pass.

Pass as well.

I do agree "I don't care what the tell you in school" but would add "today"!

History is whatever makes you feel good about yourself today… this attitude reminds me of perusing volume A of the Soviet Encyclopedia (in English) when I was young and looking up the battle of Austerlitz only to discover the authors had written the Russians out of the battle! Napoleon had defeated the Austrians and the Austrians alone. This impressed on me the importance of not lying about history.

The black Cleopatra story sounds rather iffy. The Ptolemies seem to have tried to keep from being Egyptianized by marrying brothers off to sisters. I don't know that there were even diplomatic marriages to the ruling lines of other Hellenistic kingdoms.

I think the writer is right about one thing--stories of the Kushite/Nubian queens would be interesting.

Grelber

Maybe was black, maybe she wasn't. In 2024 it sure as heck doesn't matter. She's dead and I don't understand the fascination with her skin color.

It certainly matters to the Egyptian government. They sued Netflix for … whatever, and won a judgement of two billion dollars. In an Egyptian court of course.

Doubleones, it does matter. If you can change one thing, what can't you change?

Hitler was a nice guy who has been tarnished by Allied propaganda
Covid was a natural occurrence
Trump really won in 2016

The list goes on….

RP, POTUS Trump did not really win in 2016? Please explain.

In a thread about Black Cleopatra, sarcasm is almost mandatory.

When the show came out, some famous Black woman was quoting her grandmother. "I don't care what the books say. Cleopatra was Black!"

The lovely Gal Gadot has a "project in development hell" starring her as Cleopatra, with her Wonder Woman director. Being Israeli, and an IDF veteran, controversy inevitably arose. But to my Irish eyes, she looks the part as well as Elizabeth Taylor.

The Queen of Sheba? Black. Read your Bible. Flashman even says that Abyssinian women were beautiful.
Black queens of Nubia? Sure. Why not.
There are those who say that Nefertiti has African features. If you say so…

The black Cleopatra story sounds rather iffy. The Ptolemies seem to have tried to keep from being Egyptianized by marrying brothers off to sisters.

Quite Targaryen of them, eh wot?

Grelber is correct on brother sister marriages in that line.

But as we all know:
Alexander was a vertically challenged, transsexual woman of Navajo origin.
Caesar was a walleyed gentleman of Han Chinese origin.
genghis khan was actually caucasian and looked amazingly like John Wayne.
The medieval kings and queens of England were actually of African origin, as was much of their society. Yes Netflix is correct.
The mongols were born without legs and were thus forced to use horses to wage war.
The poles are actually the lost tribe of Israel.

And yes, Hitler was known to give a person the shirt off his back. He was a martyr to his own generosity.

See "1984" is soooo easy. 😉

(smile)

Armand

We have always been at war with East Asia.

Caesar was also King of the Wildlings.
It is known.

As soon as they find Cleopatra's tomb, they'll give her the full CSI treatment…

DNA, bite radius analysis, the works!

Theft of history ought to be a crime. Somehow.

They were going to use a more authentic Cleopatra, but Jada had Will Smith "physically" correct their misunderstanding.

😉

Will and Jada. 🙄
Hollywood royalty at its finest!

I'm not sure what to make of the Cleopatra in HBO's Rome. Not exactly Elizabeth Taylor or Gal Gadot, eh?
Pullo didn't seem to mind.