Gal Gadot’s “Wonder Woman 1984” is getting mixed reviews from across the spectrum, but never doubt that the actress herself has a spine of steel. While other actors and actresses have buckled like cheap furniture the moment the woke mob turned on them for some perceived slight against diversity, Gadot isn’t backing down an inch who think she should not be playing Cleopatra in an upcoming Hollywood epic.
Since Gadot’s role was announced, woke critics have popped up everywhere to decry the “whitewashing” of the ancient Egyptian leader.
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“Which Hollywood dumbass thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress as Cleopatra (a very bland looking one) instead of a stunning Arab actress like Nadine Njeim?” asked writer Sameera Khan. “And shame on you, Gal Gadot. Your country steals Arab land & you’re stealing their movie roles… [shaking my head].”
First of all, we can dismiss out of hand anyone who thinks there is anything “bland looking” about Gal Gadot. Second, there’s no particular reason to believe that Cleopatra looked anything like a modern Arab, seeing as she descended from a Greek heritage…not an Egyptian one, as Khan apparently believes. Bad take.
Others, like author Steven Salaita, tried to sidestep conversations about Cleopatra’s ethnicity and skin color to go right after Gadot’s character.
“Whatever you think of her being cast as Cleopatra, never forget that Gal Gadot proudly served (and continues to support) a colonial army notorious for maiming and murdering civilians,” said Salaita. “Not only is she responsible for participating in war crimes and whitewashing the army that committed them; she also should have her wealth seized and distributed to Palestinian refugees.”
Damn, that’s some high-quality ignorance right there.
A few short years ago, we would have been surprised if an actress paid any mind whatsoever to this kind of impotent handwringing, but times have changed. Every other day, it seems like we’re hearing about some actor stepping down from a role because it should go to a black person, an Asian person, a transgender person, etc. So we were pleasantly surprised when Gadot (in the politest possible terms) told these scolds to pound sand.
“First of all if you want to be true to the facts then Cleopatra was Macedonian,” Gadot told the BBC. “We were looking for a Macedonian actress that could fit Cleopatra. She wasn’t there, and I was very passionate about Cleopatra. I have friends from across the globe, whether they’re Muslims or Christian or Catholic or atheist or Buddhist or Jewish, of course. People are people, and with me, I want to celebrate the legacy of Cleopatra and honor this amazing historic icon that I admire so much.
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“But, you know,” she continued, “anybody can make this movie and anybody can go ahead and do it.”
Exactly. If a filmmaker wants to make a film about Cleopatra starring a pansexual, Arab, two-spirit social justice warrior, have at it. The rest of us will go see this one.
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