It was the last queen of egypt and many remember her with the face of elizabeth taylor. now a series about Cleopatra has decided to give the role to a black actress, breaking with the historical image. The critics have already been aroused: they assure that although she was born in Egypt, Cleopatra was not black but of greek origin.

However, the new protagonist of the documentary ‘Queens of Africa: Cleopatra‘ (Netflix) is black, a decision she has been conscious of. “I remember my grandmother telling me: I don’t care what they tell you at school, Cleopatra was black,” she explains in the documentary. But not everyone thinks the same.

“The ancient Egyptians were not black and neither was Cleopatra. She is of Greek origin. There is no way she was black. This is absurd and disrespectful. When it comes to history, you cannot be inclusive because it is fact, not fiction. “says one user.

Even black women have criticized the decision: “I am in favor of telling black stories, but let’s focus on real black people stories“. Twitter has exploded against the platform of the series. “Netflix is, once again, washing a historically white character black,” says another.

However, there is no unanimity about the color of the cleopatra skin. However, throughout history she has always been depicted as a white woman. actresses like Elizabeth Taylor or Sophia Loren they have created an image of Cleopatra that this series does not invite to question.