So I suppose we've all seen the hoo ha about Gal Gadot playing Cleoptra and why this is Clearly Terrible Casting And Absolutely Not Because She's Israeli Or Jewish, No Definitely Not...

Here's the thing... 1/13 https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/14/gal-gadot-cleopatra-backwards-step-for-hollywood-representation

Cleopatra was a Ptolemy. The Ptolemies were Macedonian Greeks.
The Ptolemies only adopted native culture if it was useful to them, adopting titles like Pharaoh, priesthoods and religious trappings and Egyptian dress in public depictions for purposes of legitimising their rule.

The Ptolemaic court was Hellenistic in nature, and most of the ruling class were of Macedonian and Greek extraction. The native Egyptians, ethnically very different to modern Egyptians given waves of immigration and conquest since, were largely left to it.

The Ptolemies were very keen to consolidate their power. So one Egyptian custom they did adopt was interfamilial relationships. Yup, they consolidated power by keeping it in the family in the most obvious way. They married each other.

Cleopatra married her own brother, and this was in no way unusual. The most likely candidate for Cleopatra's mother is another Cleopatra (V, Tryphaena), whose ancestors are another long list of Ptolmies.

This wasn't a family tree, it was a stump.

If Cleopatra (VII, Philopater) had been anything other than the legitimate heir via the legitimate wife of her father, given how contested her rule was, you'd think more use would have been made of that by her many, many enemies.

So. Cleopatra VII Philopater, most likely probably largely Greek, lived in a broadly Greek cultured court that only slowly adapted the customs of their kingdom, (almost 300 years they ruled, and only Cleopatra actually learned Egyptian...)

By contrast, if Egyptians wanted any influence or standing they had to adopt the Hellenistic culture of their rulers. Very much in the same way Romanisation worked across the Roman Empire once it left the civilised confines of the Med.

So the bottom line is, the current Egyptian population is entirely unlike the population that would have been in Egypt 2000 years ago. Cleopatra herself was not Egyptian and was culturally very different.

Cleopatra described herself as Greek.

My main issue is if you go by Plutarch, Gal Gadot is most likely too attractive to play Cleopatra, a lot of contemporary and near contemporary sources said she was not particularly beautiful, it was her intelligence, charm and charisma that made her stand out.

Also completely ignores the economics. There is not (afaik) an actress of what they consider the correct heritage (even though they're wrong) with the name and reach that Gadot has. Plus she is producing the movie, attracting funding, most likely on condition it stars her.

Your choice is not Gal Gadot or somebody else, your choice is Gal Gadot or no movie.

And if you go by the sources, Gal Gadot is not 'too white' to play Cleopatra, she's too beautiful.
13/13

A coin, of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, issued in Egypt to commemorate their rule. Coin portraits were personal, and they were propaganda. This is how Cleoptra wanted to be seen. Wearing a Hellenic diadem as a sign of her rank.

Also, I'm going to add, that in the wake of Alexander's conquests of the entire area, there was significant Hellenistic influence and indeed Judea was for some time ruled by the Selucids, another Hellenistic Greek dynasty. They didn't last as long as the Ptolemies...