Netflix is facing a lawsuit submitted by an Egyptian lawyer for Afrocentrism and Blackwashing history by casting a black actress to play Queen Cleopatra in African Queens Season 2. According to the Egypt Independent, Mahmoud al-Semary filed a lawsuit with public prosecutors to shut down Netflix following the release of the African Queens Season 2Â trailer.
Mahmoud al-Semary is demanding to take all necessary legal measures against the people responsible for the documentary. He also called for an official investigation of the management of Netflix for participating in the Blackwashing of history. Additionally, he urged to ban the streaming platform across Egypt.
Egyptian lawyer calls legal action against Netflix’s African Queens: Cleopatra for Blackwashing and promoting Afrocentrism
The complaint submitted against Netflix states that “most of what Netflix displays contradicts Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.”
Additionally, the platform faces accusations of displaying advertisements of African Queens Season 2: Queen Cleopatra. The lawyer calls out the promotions for depicting Cleopatra as a black woman, unlike Egyptian history and civilization. He also accuses the streaming platform of promoting the show to millions of people across the globe.
Yes she was black and I stand on that!!! Stop trying to say Cleopatra was white because she was not! pic.twitter.com/9DDLvZQVyJ
— Tamorah Shareef Muhammad (@ModestyQueen19) April 18, 2023
The case states that the documentary promotes Afrocentrism. It describes it as a widely spread phenomenon on social media. Furthermore, stating that Afrocentrism aims at distorting and obliterating the Egyptian identity.
The complaint addressing public prosecution accuses Netflix of forgery. “To preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world – we request and seek prosecution to take the necessary legal measures against the streaming platform.”
https://twitter.com/uregyptianmommy/status/1646518855337152517?t=DqxjalJkx4DHmNCSx9YrOQ&s=19
What are Afrocentrism and Blackwashing?
Afrocentrism is a scholarly movement that aims to study and research world history by taking the experience and point of view of historical African people and politics into concern.
Many critics claim Afrocentrism minimizes European, Eastern, and Asian cultures and exaggerates certain African civilizations for cultural and technological development.
In general, Afrocentricism is known to focus on the history of Africa and contemporary African American culture. Meanwhile, Blackwashing is a term to describe the portrayal of a person or character as black in media and arts despite their other ethnicity.
Netflix is – yet again – black washing a historically White character, this time it's Queen Cleopatra that is transformed into a black woman despite that we know she was White — of Macedonian/Greek descent, so was all of the rulers of the Ptolemy dynasty. pic.twitter.com/F18W7YhXZW
— Henrik Palmgren 🇸🇪 ᛟ (@Henrik_Palmgren) April 15, 2023
Many filmmakers and artists face accusations of Blackwashing by including people of color in their production. The debates of inclusivity being woke propaganda or an empowering representation is often seen on social media. Similarly, including and portraying a character as a part of LGBTQ is often accused of Rainbow-Washing cinema.
Previously, African Queens director Tina Gharavi defended her upcoming Netflix documentary series following netizen’s backlash. She wrote a guest column on Verity and asked why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister. You can read more about Tina Gharavi and her stand in our previous article.
You can also share any questions you have about Blackwashing and Afrocentrism. Until then, stay with us here at Spiel Times for more content.
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