If you take a look at any Hollywood film depicting characters from the Bible or ancient Egypt, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a person of color in any of the roles. Because that’s what Hollywood does. In the eyes of Tinseltown, Jesus will always be a white man, Moses will also always be a white man—and we can’t forget how Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra in the 1963 film named after that queen of Egypt.
It is therefore definitely not shocking to see that all the queens and prophets are portrayed by white actors in director Ridley Scott’s upcoming film Exodus: Gods and Kings, which tells the story of Moses and stars Christian Bale and Sigourney Weaver.
But don’t fret—you’ll find some people of color in the film; too bad they’re the slaves and servants.
Social media had much to say about the Scott film, and it wasn’t anything positive. The hashtag #BoycottExodusMovie has been gaining a lot of traction and attention:
https://twitter.com/BugzieLove/status/496784976323821568https://twitter.com/Adrillaaaa_/status/496859280751226880https://twitter.com/Marcohtx/status/494571533012987905https://twitter.com/zimbabwekid/status/496043057415217153https://twitter.com/_dreamqueen/status/495998700494131201
Just another day in Hollywood.
This further proves the point that if people of color want to be represented in films, they must make the films on their own. Don’t wait around for Hollywood to accurately depict your history.
Yesha Callahan is editor of The Grapevine and a staff writer at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.