Casting of Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra fuels race debate

I think she should play Wonder Woman. She would make an excellent Wonder Woman.

Set the movie back in Nazi Germany get That Ferrel guys story in it about the Brotherhood of the Bell..Talk about A.*.A.*. the real illuminati and ancient technologies, fast forward to 911, why the invasion of the middle east and why...the pyramids(egypt, china, Mexico) and why..Sumeria, Aliens.

Be a bad ass movie...Have James Cameron direct it.

That should cover up and tie some facts up in the fantasy world.
"Ahhh...its just a movie anyways"

Cleopatra was not Egyptian. But she wasn't black, either. And even if she was, you don't hear these people complaining when black actors are cast for parts which were supposed to be white people (eg Ford Prefect, Hitchhiker's Guide - fiction and unimportant, granted, but still...). Nor do you hear all that many complaints about all the American accents in medieval-era films (Robin Costner? Kevin Hood?). It's just film; these things don't matter all that much, though it can admittedly be a little jarring. Still....film, not real.

Found a coin with her likeness on it:
Ptolemaic Egypt, Cleopatra VII, AE 80-Drachm. Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra VII

Wavy hair in a bun might be a slight hint.

Same thing has been said about Prince of Persia, The Last Airbender, 21 and even Nacho Libre.

Theres no shortage of movies where people put up this "contoversy".

To an extent they may have a point, but in the end it all ends up blown at of proportion.

I think one of the biggest offenders was the movie 21, where most of the students were asian but there were hardly any asians in the movie.

I wonder if Robert Downey Jr. will sign on to play MLK in I Have A Dream? Or if Shaq will play JFK in the remake of 13 Days.

Originally posted by primus2012
Found a coin with her likeness on it:
Ptolemaic Egypt, Cleopatra VII, AE 80-Drachm. Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra VII

Wavy hair in a bun might be a slight hint.

Hint? Alluding to?

reply to post by Nosred


Did you even see The Last Samurai? It's not about a Japanese guy, and that's the whole point. Either you are trolling, or have no care or concern for facts.

Aside from all the people bashing Hollywood for it's historical inaccuracies where there are none to be found, keep in mind this is a comment from someone on The Examiner. Let's all chill out here, this isn't anything but one person's ill-informed opinion.

reply to post by ThaLoccster

I wonder if Robert Downey Jr. will sign on to play MLK in I Have A Dream?

You have no idea how much I'd pay to watch that movie.... no idea!!!

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


And what are you a 20+ year old male?

Cleopatra lived to 39 and at 39 she was still able to mesmerize most men.

Angelina Jolie is no where past her prime.

At approaching 35 she is still 4 years away from the age the real Cleopatra died.

At 35 us women are just getting going, you've never been with a older woman evidently.

You are correct though in one respect, Ms. Jolie is of German, Slovak, Dutch and French Canadian descent and Cleo was Greek and Persian.



[edit on 19-6-2010 by ofhumandescent]

Originally posted by ShadowArcher
Nor do you hear all that many complaints about all the American accents in medieval-era films (Robin Costner? Kevin Hood?).

Maybe not that Robin Hood...

Russell Crowe Storms Out Of Interview Over ‘Robin Hood’ Accent Questions

Moviegoers who think they detect a hint of an Irish accent in Russell Crowe’s “Robin Hood” might want to think twice before telling that to the Australian actor – his reaction might not be so merry.

On Wednesday, Russell walked out of an interview with BBC Radio’s Mark Lawson at the Cannes Film Festival when he was questioned if there was a hint of an Irish accent in his latest big screen character.

“You’ve got dead ears, mate. You’ve seriously got dead ears if you think that’s an Irish accent,” Russell said, followed by a British slang expletive.

The 46-year-old actor continued with the interview and then paused to go back to the accent question, saying, “I’m a little dumbfounded you could possibly find any Irish in that character. That’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s your show.”

The interviewer then asked, “You were going for Northern English?”

“No I was going for an Italian, yeah. Missed it?” Russell said laughing. “F**k me. Anyway.”

Originally posted by Republican08
reply to post by ThaLoccster

 

I wonder if Robert Downey Jr. will sign on to play MLK in I Have A Dream?

You have no idea how much I'd pay to watch that movie.... no idea!!!

You and me both. I loved his character in Tropic Thunder.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777

Originally posted by primus2012
Found a coin with her likeness on it:
Ptolemaic Egypt, Cleopatra VII, AE 80-Drachm. Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra VII

Wavy hair in a bun might be a slight hint.

Hint? Alluding to?

Alluding to helping figure out what she did/didn't look like.

reply to post by SpectreDC


You guys are historical morons! All the royal Ptolomies were pure Greeks, descended from Alexander the Great's general, Ptolomy, who grabbed Egypt after his Emperor's death. For four hundred years more or less, the Ptolomies intermarried to keep their Greek heritage pure and seperate from the common Egyptians. They spoke Greek at court, and that's why the famous Rosetta Stone had it's classical Greek rendition, at the bottom. So Cleopatra was the result of nearly four hundred years of this purification program of half brothers and sisters intermarrying. Anjolina is merely continuing to be cast as her earlier character of Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great. She did fine in the earlier role, so she seems to be perfectly suited for the later Cleo role as well, IMHO.

reply to post by ShadowArcher


To follow the theme... Or of Hollywood taking historic stories and sticking them in a US context, painted as US historical fact, such as Patriot, U571 and Operation Burma. Hollywood revisionism.

To topic... The problem with this is the fact people "want" Cleo to be black is crass stereotyping. What shade of black would appease the "Cleo was black" lobby. Depending on where you are in Africa you will see a great diversity of skin colour, in the same way as "white" is highly variable (e.g. a Swede versus an Italian).

Regards

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Yes, there are minor complaints by some. Granted, I haven't looked, but I don't remember any complaints about Robert Downey Jr playing Sherlock holmes, or Charlie Chaplin (though that may be because he was brilliant as the latter). Some complaints, you can find about anything, but the more major complaints (ones that generally turn into 'controversy') are to do with black/white. Or rather black -> white. As I said, you rarely, if ever, get the same level of complaints about a black person playing a character who is meant to be white.

reply to post by ofhumandescent


That's because, to truly mesmerize a male, a woman needs more than just beauty, though that helps... She first needs personality, which, by all accounts, Cleopatra had, and to spare.

She is one of history's most fascinating people, male or female...

I was first introduced Cleo when I saw Liz Taylor play her, waaay back in the day...

Since then, I've come to understand that in no way could that movie, or any other, for that matter; truly convey the reality that is one of histories great personalities...

It is important to recall.

The source of the OP is the work of ONE WOMAN (Shirea L. Carroll) NOT the entire African-American community. Her blogs are always critical of any subject matter which touches upon the public appearance of African-Americans... generally speaking she seems quite the quintessential member of her niche community at Essence Magazine.

However, headlines like that don't garner attention.

This is how division is exacerbated. How Shirea became the voice of the African American community eludes me. At the end of the day, the activities of thespians are not so important as to merit the angst.

reply to post by primus2012


She looks very Greek on those coins, that's for sure.

I think Ms Jolie would be an excellent choice for the part.

Angelina Jolie is still relatively hot, and she's not a bad actress; I think she'll do okay in the role.

I'm not going to dignify the blogger's ramblings with a response.


TheAssoc.

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Why, because they should have a 19 year old play a 30 something year old? Lol.

She is still beautiful, but she does need to put some flesh on those scrawny little arms and legs of hers.

she could be beautiful if she weren't so skinny.

of course, i really do prefer the rubenesque to the downright plump woman. That does skew my opinion quite a bit.

It isn't the age. I also happen to think a 30something is more attractive than a 20something.

oops...just found this was a double post.

In place of the double post, i would rather have:







[edit on 19-6-2010 by bigfatfurrytexan]