When the first
posters for Alex Proyas' (The Crow) fantastical Egypt set epic first arrived, I
distinctly remember pointing out that the cast was whiter than a sheet of paper.
Well it seems I wasn't the only one, as more people also took notice of the predominantly
Australian, English, and Danish white actors starring as Egyptian Gods and regular
humans.
Speaking to Forbes,
Proyas' recognized that the casting could have and should have been more diverse.
"The process of
casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our
casting choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologize to those
who are offended by the decisions we made."
Lionsgate meanwhile
joined the director in offering an apology for the lack of diversity in their
production.
"We recognize
that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting
decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed.
In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and
diversity, for which we sincerely apologize. Lionsgate is deeply committed
to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better."
Gods of Egypt isn't
the first movie to have completely disregard its own setting when it came to
casting. Ridley Scott faced the same backlash with his own Egyptian epic,
Exodus: Gods and Kings, though the filmmaker justified his casting choices
including Australian actor Joel Edgerton as Ramses as the only way to get
international funding. Joe Wright also came under attack when he cast Rooney
Mara as Tiger Lilly in Pan, saying that she was just another member of a group
of multicultural warriors (yeah right!).
I have a hard time
believing no one early on during development looked at the cast list and recognized
what amounts to institutionalized racism, so I'm sorry if I don't buy both
Proyas and Lionsgate apologies, who for the sake of honesty has produced plenty
of black led films including Tyler Perry's Madea franchise, and is a producer
on Orange is the New Black.
Source - Forbes
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