MovieChat Forums > Tut (2015) Discussion > Everyone needs to shut up about the race...

Everyone needs to shut up about the race of the Ancient Eygptians

posted 9 years ago by Uberkills
83 replies | jump to latest

You're looking at them in a modern "racial" context. Has it occurred to any of you that people in the Ancient Past may have had phenotypes we had never really seen with our own eyes? Obviously I don't think most Egyptians were either nordic European or sub-saharan African. Due to the location of North Africa, it's been inhabited by many kind of people from all over. Middle Easterners from the east of Egypt (which is why it's arabized today), Europeans from the North (Cleopatra was a Macedonian Greek). and Yes, Subsaharans from the south. North Africa is also home to indigenous ethnic groups like the Berbers and Tuaregs. Many of them today have this bronze or brown look.

The point is, who really cares what the actors in this look like? I'm not bothered by the casting of Ben Kingsley or Avan Jogia at all. I think they look fine.

[–] j_cro213 9 years ago

I agree 110%, plus Kingsley did a wonderful job as Ghandi! Who cares about race, it's about phenomenal stories and bringing them to life with GOOD acting, not some unknown who can't speak english and will ruin it with a corny accent lol hey I am croatian, and americans/english/russian actors are always playing Croats in movies and tv show and I dn't complain, as long as they pull it off. People need to get over it, just a movie ..not real life ;)

I don't let them tell me what to do (looks at dolls) I don't ..let them tell me.. what to do!

[–] gccates 9 years ago

An excuse only used when whitepeople are playing the roles of non white historical figures. A native Eyptian accent in a movie that takes place in Eypt is not corny. Those false British accents some of the actors put on for this were the corny accents.

[–] Mehki_Girl 9 years ago

Yeah really, the go to accent for everyone. My cousin's boyfriend was Eyptian and he sounded NOTHING like an English-man. At least have a voice coach have themm speak with way native-speakers sound when the speak English.

http://www.auplod.com/u/dalpuo430da.png

[–] mlaiuppa 9 years ago

Well, that's the way Ben Kingsley and Alexander Siddig do speak.

Since no one speaks ancient Egyptian any more it would be difficult to come up with a correct "accent". Or do you want them to speak with a modern Egyptian accent?

It's a Canadian production filmed in Morocco so I'm guessing they used a lot of British actors. Locals probably did all the crowd scenes.

[–] mlaiuppa 9 years ago

Kingsley's casting was criticized as being too white to play Gandhi, when Kingsley is part Indian.

[–] cherchezlafemme82 9 years ago

"...Due to the location of North Africa, it's been inhabited by many kind of people from all over. Middle Easterners from the east of Egypt (which is why it's arabized today)"

Yes. This theory also explains why there are white people in North America now. AND it explains why people in South America Speak Spanish.

[–] Keelai 9 years ago

The reason why it's an issue is because racism is the reason why Ancient Egyptians are repeatedly portrayed as white. All you have to do is look how they represented themselves in their own art to know they were brown-skinned and had black features.

BTW, Arabs had nothing to do with Ancient Egypt and are not the descendants of Ancient Egyptians. They invaded Egypt around 700 AD.

[–] mlaiuppa 9 years ago

You can't rely on the art to define race. It had too much symbolism and stylization.

[–] Keelai 9 years ago

You can't rely on the art to define race. It had too much symbolism and stylization.

The artwork done during the reign of Pharoah Akhenaten is known for its realism.

Slavery and discrimination could only be justified by denying any type of black history which is why even today most people are clueless.

[–] Whitewraithe 9 years ago

I agree with you.

To everyone else that has a problem with the races of Kings and Queens that ruled Egypt, tell me this - why do several mummies have RED hair???????????

Dark skinned races do not have RED hair!

It's obvious that both light and dark skinned races ruled Egypt during its 3000 long reign.

So what is the problem?

[–] life4all 9 years ago

It really depends on how far back you go. It must be remembered that the complexion of Egypt 10,000 years ago was essentially black and only begins to change around 3,700 years ago as Eurasian tribes begin to migrate there (which is clearly seen today in the complexion of North African nations). The Macedonian Cleopatra is less than 2,100 years ago (via Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's successors). Egypt however, built sophisticated pyramids and other structures before such migrations took place.

[–] mlaiuppa 9 years ago

Cleopatra VII may not have had that white of a complexion having Greek, Persian and possibly Black ancestry.

[–] veronica561 9 years ago

They used henna in their hair.

Rameses II's hair recovered from his tomb actually had brown pigments.

You are quoting old and discredited information.

there were no real red heads in the mummies.

[–] Pzachlen 9 years ago

Truth be told,I know quite a few real African Americans most of which are white.And for your information the word Negro is still a proper way to describe the features of the black race. It is by no means a word meant to be insulting.America is not the only country with a black population.

[–] mlaiuppa 9 years ago

Yes, Ramesses II hair was dyed, I believe he was in his 60s when he died.

But his natural hair color was red.

[–] iza-henn 8 years ago

Ramesses the Great -born c. 1303 BC; died July or August 1213 BC (lived 90 years), reigned 1279–1213 BC , His mummy is still ready to further examination.

[–] Mehki_Girl 9 years ago

Yes they do you idiot. I grew up on a block where an entire black family had red hair. Even when they married someone who didn't have red hair, their kids had red hair.

http://www.auplod.com/u/dalpuo430da.png

[–] Fusion72 9 years ago

I've seen Black People with natural brownish hair. So it's not beyond reason to think that could have been Red centuries ago or perceived as so.

[–] WinInLife 9 years ago

Dark skinned races do not have RED hair!

How ignorant can you be?

Should I tell my cousins who have naturally red hair that they are unique?

Have you seen the diverse complexions and hair colors in Africa and worldwide?

What a tacky comment.

[–] rochrok 9 years ago

You're looking at them in a modern "racial" context.

This is it in a nut shell. This idea of "race" is fairly modern. Perhaps only 400 or 500 years old. It simply doesn't apply to people living thousands of years ago. What they cared about was where a person was from. Greece, Rome, Egypt, et al. If you moved to one of those countries and became a citizen then that is what you were. Egypt had a variety of people living there at the time and would have been a mixture of so many different races and skin types.

Ex: Cleopatra was mixed race. Describing her as Greek isn't entirely true. She was Egyptian with Greek heritage. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1095043/Sorry-Liz-THIS-real-face-Cleopatra.html and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/also_in_the_news/7945333.stm

With that said. I do find it silly that nearly every movie about Ancient Egypt features primarily white actors in positions of power with Nubian (dark skinned) servants. And when Ancient Rome or Greece is portrayed everyone is, once again, white with brown to dark skinned servants. That's basically a modern racial portrayal. This is most likely why people get so upset whenever movies and shows like this come up. So it's pretty difficult to tell others to stop thinking of the show with modern lenses when the creators themselves do the same.

With that said. I love the show so far and I don't care about the casting. It's not a documentary. But I am glad they attempted to add a diverse cast and Avan Jogia is hot! :D

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MoshiMoshiYoshi 9 years ago

The one thing that really rubs me the wrong way is when people complain that a white character was portrayed by a POC... these are movies, an art form, and art is open to interpretation, even if it's based on historical facts. The underlining issue is that Hollywood is primarily white. There are many, many, many roles that were originally non-white, but a white actor was cast simply because that's what Hollywood does. So it's refreshing and interesting when we have something like Tut, where the major cast isn't white. It's about time we diversify Hollywood, even if a certain character isn't "supposed to be a POC". Who cares? Why not open more doors for POC? Why not encourage it, instead of bitching about it? I have no idea why they're even crying about. Don't white people get enough representation? Why can't they shut up and let POC enjoy the little roles they do get?

[–] bellapeligrosa 9 years ago

They have several mummies and they've done facial reconstructions on them:

https://mathildasanthropologyblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/egyptian-mummy-reconstructions/

You can see some of them in the Egyptian Museum if you visit Cairo.

It's too cerebral! We're trying to make a movie here, not a film!