The Depiction Of Ancient Egyptians In Film And TV

The portrayal of ancient Egyptians across film and TV has been a source of immense controversy for many years. Often shown as having very European features across media with no solid factual evidence of such. I look at the relationship between media and colonialist messaging across film and TV that has managed to keep a foothold up until the present day.

From Exodus: Gods And Kings to The Mummy, darker-skinned characters have been notoriously left out of retellings or fictional stories. The most infamous example is Cleopatra in 1922. Historians, Egyptologists, and Anthropologists have chalked this up to several factors with a key through-line throughout.