Cleopatra was the last ruler of Ptolemaic or Hellenistic Egypt (305 BC to 30 BC).
Ptolemaic refer to Ptolemy I, an associate of Alexander the Great. The first ruler of this dynasty. He moved the capital to Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the Great.
From 30 BC to 641 AD, Egypt was ruled by Rome or the Byzantine Empire. Then, Egypt was ruled for hundreds of years by a series of Arab and Turkic rulers. Only in the recent two hundred or so years, did Egypt gains its independence from the Ottoman Empire and European influence.
The idea that Cleopatra should be Arab is displaced by 671 years. The idea that she should be “African” is completely wild, an Afrocentric fantasy that ancient Egypt was black or sub-Sahara Africa, instead of being distinctly Egyptian.
As for Gadot, she is an Ashkenazi Jew, meaning part of the Jewish people who migrated to Germanic and Slavic Europe from the Middle East. The largest number of these people today live in the U.S., and the second largest number today live in Israel.
I myself would have no problem with almost any actress playing Cleopatra as long as she were beautiful. North African, Arab, Mediterranean, Northern European, South Asian or Central Asian. A sub-Saharan African or an East Asian would be a stretch, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out.
Yul Brynner, a Russian-American with some Mongol blood, made a magnificent Pharaoh (and with his exotic looks, he could play almost any part). Elizabeth Taylor made up in beauty any lack of ethnic authenticity in her portrayal of Cleopatra. A great actor or actress can project.
Thanks for the information and comments.
I appreciate the full airing of the Cleopatra background.
I agree with your take on the roll playing also.
I’m not against racial or gender “mis-appropriation” as long
as people don’t try to make political mileage off of it.
If they do, I’m willing to push back hard.
Take care...