True Left

Controversy surrounds Queen Cleopatra VII's portrayal as a black African in a new Netflix docudrama series.  The debate over Cleopatra's race has sparked heated discussions, with conflicting opinions from historians, archaeologists, and the general public (plus Bassem Youssef!). In this video, we delve into the historical context of Cleopatra's life, the lack of concrete evidence about her ancestry and examine the accusations of erasing the Egyptian identity, as well as the casting choices and perspectives from the producer and actress. Join us as we unravel the complexities of Cleopatra's race and shed light on this intriguing and contentious topic.

An Egyptian lawyer has taken legal action against the popular streaming platform, Netflix. The lawyer filed a case with the Public Prosecutor calling for the closure of the platform after the release of the trailer for the upcoming movie, "Queen Cleopatra."

The film depicts the Greek historical figure as a black-skinned woman, a portrayal that has caused controversy and sparked outrage in Egypt.

The lawyer argues that the depiction is historically inaccurate and offensive to the Egyptian people.

According to Egypt Independent, Mahmoud al-Semary demanded that all legal measures be taken against those responsible for the documentary and the management of the streaming platform for its participation in “this crime.”

The complaint submitted against the streaming platform alleged that "most of what Netflix platform displays contradicts Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.", Greek city times reported.

The case said that the documentary promotes Afrocentrism that is widely spread on social media, which have slogans and writings aimed at distorting and obliterating the Egyptian identity.

The complaint continued addressing Public Prosecution: "In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world… we ask and seek you to take the necessary legal measures against this platform."

It demanded stopping broadcasts showing all works aimed at obliterating and distorting the Egyptian identity, through films aimed at falsifying and distorting history in Egypt.

I hardly need to remind everyone that in pre-colonial times, long hair (including mullets!) was the American standard for males as well as females:

I naively assumed that female soldiers had always been allowed to have buzz cuts. If buzz cuts are considered the most practical hairstyle for male soldiers, why not for female soldiers also?

Ever since I was a child, I did not understand why women's clothes did not have pockets while men's clothes did. Either pockets are a good idea, in which case they should be used by everyone, or they are a bad idea, in which case they should be used by no one.

Either bikini bottoms are more efficient, in which case men should also wear them, or else shorts are more efficient, in which case women should also wear them.

Over 50,000 people have signed a petition demanding the Academy Awards Committee to withdraw its invitation to Donnie Yen to present an Oscar due to his support for the Chinese government.
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They cited the “John Wick: Chapter 4” actor’s comments on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests of 2019, which he called a “riot” in an interview with GQ last month.
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The petition has amassed 52,256 signatures as of press time. One top comment reads, “He doesn’t stand up for freedom and democracy, which could violate the values of Oscar prizes.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HWzNnOTaFY


Commercial currently being shown on Hong Kong television - typical Eurocentric physical attributes that Dolce & Gabbana employs to capture the non-white admirers of the white male.....

Mindy Kaling, other South Asian comedians called out for perpetuating stereotypes
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Dhanani calls out Kaling and stand-up comedians Russell Peters and Lily Singh in particular:

    "If you're in America and you want to be racist against Black people, you can deep dive into the ancient tomes of racism and find a stereotype or a slur. Same with East Asians, same with Latinos. But if you want to make fun of South Asians, where do those insults usually come from? South Asian comedians," he says. "Mindy Kaling, Russell Peters, Lilly Singh, what do they talk about? Our parents talk funny and they beat us and we eat stinky food and we are stinky and there's hair all over."

Singh faced backlash in 2019 for comparing turbans to towels on her late-night show. Peters, who was the first comedian to have a Netflix stand-up special, is known for his imitations of Indian stereotypes, with his most famous bit being about his father's penchant for corporal punishment, which ends with his signature catchphrase: "Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad."

Dhanani says the popularity of comedians who promoted harmful South Asian stereotypes affected the way he was treated in high school.

He points out that audiences feel comfortable repeating these stereotypes "because a Brown person said it on TV."

"Russell Peters popped off when I was in high school, and I had white people coming up to me in the hallway and quoting Russell Peters and laughing about it," he explains.

"And I just played along! I laughed along, I added on, because that's how you fit in with white people. You let them laugh at you."
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The TikTok creator also calls out the popularity and use of "the voice," referring to an exaggerated Indian accent, by stand-up comedians.

Dhanani explains that a cousin of his who is a professional stand-up comedian on TikTok uses "the voice" in "every single one of her videos."

"In her stand-up routines, just like Lilly Singh, she does the voice to make fun of her parents. And just like Lilly Singh, her parents don't have that accent."