Rupert Murdoch To Twitter: ‘Since When Are Egyptians Not White?’
Rupert Murdoch faced some Twitter attacks over the casting of Christian Bale as Moses in the upcoming Bible-based film Exodus: Gods and Kings. Fans have been slamming the film, claiming that with Egypt being an African nation, casting mostly white people is racist and inaccurate.
Similar uproars have occurred surrounding other films, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens when the initial casting announcements revealed a predominantly white male cast. The fans appear to have been placated when two of the main characters in the film turned out to be black and female.
Other arguments erupted over the casting of Apocalypse in the upcoming X-Men ensemble film. Being an Egyptian, many have stated that casting a white actor (Oscar Isaac) in the role is wrong.
Rupert Murdoch has taken to the social media site to tell the fans to “calm down,” and that Egyptians aren’t all black. He stated that Egyptians are as varied as any other nation, and in Biblical times, they “treated blacks as slaves.”
Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) November 29, 2014
Other major characters in the film are being portrayed by Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Ghostbusters), John Turturro (Transformers), Joel Edgerton (Warrior), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Need for Speed), while some “lower class” characters are black, including a thief. This is allegedly the reason for the outcry over the film’s cast, with critics screaming “racism” across Twitter.
Everybody-attacks last tweet. Of course Egyptians are Middle Eastern, but far from black. They treated blacks as slaves.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) November 29, 2014
Director Ridley Scott previously explained his decision against casting Arabs and Egyptians to play the lead roles as a financial one.
“I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such. I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”
After a statement like that, Scott probably escalated the racism debate that Rupert Murdoch is now defending. Though Murdoch is not involved in the film, his involvement in the discussion has grouped him with Scott in the ensuing public lynching.
The same decision was made decades ago with the same kind of film when Charlton Heston played Moses in The Ten Commandments. It became one of the classics, popular among Christian crowds as a go-to film.
That fact isn’t stopping critics and fans alike from calling out Murdoch as a racist.
Exodus: Gods and Kings is likely to have its success tainted upon release due to this debate, and Rupert Murdoch has now brought himself under fire along with Ridley Scott.
Do you think the upcoming Moses film should be recast with more black actors in lead roles?
[Image via Yahoo Movies]
