White Power, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #351 | @MDWorld
December 7, 2014 Michael Davis 4 Comments
Rupert Murdoch is one of the most powerful men in American media” He’s a lot more Australian than American but I think he holds citizenship in both countries. Don’t quote me, I really don’t care to know if he does or not. I just find it amusing that darling of the Far Right was born “down under” and many of those on the Far Right don’t consider you really American unless you were born here.
Funny. Ted Cruz was born Calgary, Canada. That’s something, eh?
Last week Murdoch said “Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.” This was his response to the severe criticism being leveled at the film Exodus: Gods and Kings.
Ridley Scott’s film has taken a massive media hit because the movie is portraying historic people of color as…wait for it…wait for it…Wait…For…It…
…white.
I won’t get into the rather or not the ancient Egyptians were black… OK, maybe a little. Noted American geologist Robert M. Schoch has written that the “Sphinx has a distinctive African, Nubian, or Negroid aspect to it. “
The debate rather or not the ancient Egyptians were black won’t be settled anytime soon. Who the fuck knows, they may not have been black as I believe they are. I will admit there’s a chance I’m wrong.
However, they sure as fuck were not white.
Rupert Murdoch has the money and media reach to do a lot of things. Perhaps one of the things on his to do list is to change history. Change is so people of color are wiped out of it.
Or maybe he just flunked history.
Either way, I’m having none of it.
I’m boycotting that movie, and I don’t know one person of color who’s not.
So, if you would like to join us, great! If not, that’s your right, or at least it’s your right before someone decides it’s not.
R. Maheras
December 9, 2014 - 12:47 pm
The Nubians were black, and their capital was Memphis, in southern Egypt. They actually ruled all of Egypt at times, and the Pharaoh was Nubian. Northern Egyptians were “brown,” ala what one currently might see in Cairo, but from a traditional anthropological standpoint (and the US Census), they’d be classified as “white.” With modern genetic studies, however, the old categories become far more complicated. As was the case in ancient Egypt, interracial marriage throws such simple categories out the window. In short, ancient Egyptians weren’t black or white — they were both.
R. Maheras
December 9, 2014 - 1:36 pm
This Wiki quote sums it up: “In the New Kingdom, Nubians and Egyptians were often so closely related that some scholars consider then virtually indistinguishable, as the two cultures melded and mixed together.”
So why “Gods and Kings” does not reflect this, I have no idea. It certainly should have.
George Haberberger
December 9, 2014 - 2:36 pm
“So why “Gods and Kings” does not reflect this, I have no idea. It certainly should have.”
Uhh… because it is a movie and they are actors?
Should Johnny Depp not have portrayed Tonto in The Lone Ranger?
Christian Bale is not Jewish but he is playing Moses. He’s not American either and he was Batman. Hugh Jackman is Australian but Wolverine is Canadian. Edna Turnblad is a woman but John Travolta is not.
I’m fine with all of that.
R. Maheras
December 10, 2014 - 7:56 am
George — I’m not. If Egypt was a pluralistic society it should be depicted as such.
By the way… does anyone see the irony in this whole debate? Some, like me, feel there should be a stronger black presence in the film because of the perception that a predominately white US film culture has traditionally muted the historical contributions of former black slaves, yet doing so in this case would mean the depiction of a predominately black society cruelly lording over its white slaves.
Sometimes you just can’t win, I guess.
I have a feeling that regardless of how this film was done, people of both sides of the issue would have been pissed off.
Rene
December 13, 2014 - 3:50 pm
Historically, there was a nasty trend of “white-washing” Ancient Egypt, due to twisted racist assumptions that gained strength in the 19th century and early 20th century, the Golden Age of Social Darwinism.
It was more or less like this: black people couldn’t built great civilizations, because they were of “inferior” racial stock. So, if Ancient Egypt was a great civilization, then Ancient Egyptians couldn’t be black.
So white people playing Egyptians is a part of an unfortunate, and long history.
However, there is the irony Russ alluded to. Great civilizations often committed monstrously great crimes, like slavery…
But for modern movies, I think it’s far more likely that the producers simply had more commercial (but equally stupid) reasons. They think white people will not want to watch a movie with a largely black cast. Because Hollywood execs assume that white males can only identify with other white males, that is also the reason why American movies with female-centric stories are mostly in the “chick flick” genre.