Hmm, I can’t decide? Is it refreshing to see a Bible based movie where the controversy
ISN’T about religion? You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of
Exodus Gods and Kings...
Since the beginning of film itself, the ancient egyptians have been portrayed as white. Elizabeth Taylor
famously played Cleopatra, while Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner - half Russian and
half Mongolian - played Moses and Rameses in The Ten Commandments. And no one said anything.
In fact, those films are highly regarded - as they should be, quality films whose casting
choices were a product of their times. But what times do we live in currently? There
has now been much debate as to what Ancient Egyptians actually looked like, and many point
to the way in which they depicted themselves - as having dark skin. Yet still, the only
mainstream portrayal of dark skinned Ancient Egyptians was in the music video for Michael
Jackson’s Remember the Time. Even 1999’s reboot of The Mummy franchise featured South
African actor Arnold Vosloo - of Dutch and German descent - as well as Israeli actor
Oded Fehr. Now Ridley Scott, the director of Hollywood’s latest telling of The Ten
Commandments, argues that he couldn’t get the necessary funding for this kind of blockbuster
with “Mohamed So-and-So” in the lead role. But is he simply in...de-nile? Since when
does Joel Edgerton sell tickets? And John Turturro and Sigourney Weaver as the Pharaoh
and his Queen? Look, keep Christian Bale, but why not reach out to the many actors working
TODAY in Bollywood, the Middle East and Egypt itself? Or find an undiscovered talent? Barkhad
Abdi was a Somali immigrant working as a limo driver in Minneapolis when Paul Greengrass
decided he wanted to cast authentic Somali pirates in Captain Phillips. Abdi went on
to get an Oscar nomination! This is the question many moviegoers are asking, and it might be
one that Hollywood will have to consider if those moviegoers stay home. But will they
stay home? Exodus Gods and Kings has suddenly found itself as a litmus test for where we
stand today on the Hollywood tradition of whitewashing. And while some people are definitely
upset by white actors in the lead roles standing next to actors of color used as extras, the
combination of Scott and Bale in a visual effects heavy blockbuster might be too hard
to resist. And maybe, just maybe, Fox is betting - hoping - that those upset by the casting
in Exodus the vocal MINORITY, and the majority still doesn’t care. So while we won’t
know if moviegoers care until the box office numbers start coming in, right now? Let’s
see if Exodus Gods and Kings is even a movie worth arguing about at all...