#BoycottExodusMovie

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This is Joel Edgerton, who plays Ramses II in Exodus. Interestingly he is Australian.

Joel Edgerton is indeed a fellow Australian. I have to admit it's hard to imagine O'l Joel (a fairly laid back blonde haired blue eyed beer loving Aussie) playing Ramses an Egyptian king of African and middle-eastern origin? Having said that Ramses was fond of his beer as well...

He *almost* seems to pull it off, but the structure of his face doesn't really suggest an Egyptian to me. Also, his skin could be a bit darker. If I'm correct, the ancient Egyptians had fairly light skin, but not like white skin.

Then again, a still frame can't really reflect what things look like in motion. He could be extremely convincing as Ramses II, for all I know. I'll just have to wait and see.

Why boycott? Isn't that what cinema is all about, not being realistic, being able to do what you want, if tomorrow I wanted to make a movie Martin Luther King and I hired a white actor I should have the right to, it's only a movie, not reality, it's the beauty of cinema, doing what you want. Period.

Good point:



Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan

We all know that Ramses II was a Gypsy from Finland!

That's why he looked so much like Yul Brynner.

Even Geico had to search out an actor who looks like Yul Brynner to play him in one of their current spots.

Mel Brooks as Moses just before he drops the tablet emblazoned with commandments 11 through 15.

The hollywood actor's face that most closely fits Ramses is Ben Kingsley who ironically was cast as Nun in Exodus. Another person who might fit the facial profile is Jeff Goldblum

I think minorities have a hard enough time getting parts in film and television. So when a film comes along where every character should be played by a minority group it's a little bit of a slap in the face. However, I understand Ridley Scott wanted good actors rather than authentic looking faces. So your point is valid.

yup, planning to boycott this whitewashed stupidity. seriously, f**k Ridley Scott. he should just retire and shut the f**k up like any good old white man.

the way Hollywood's been going it looks like we're about to go back to the era of white actors doing black characters in blackface. how come movies and tv show from the 80's were so much more diverse?

Yul Brynner was Russian.

His best-known roles were as an ancient Egyptian prince/king, a Siamese king, and a rather bad-tempered robot.

His performances were splendid......I personally am glad for his casting, at least in those particular roles.

There are still people who expect accurate historical truth and/or religious education to come out of Hollywood???

That's news to me.

It's a MOVIE, people. It has but one (dual) purpose: To entertain you, and make money doing it.

That's it, that's all.

If you want a history lesson, use it as a springboard to get the kiddies interested before you talk about what REALLY happened (and maybe work on those critical thinking/comparison and contrast skills).

If you want a religious lesson, ditto.

If you just want to be told a story, well, I haven't heard much about the plot, but the special effects look pretty awesome.

Yes. One part exotic, and ethnically ambiguous, good looks. And ten parts talent, and charisma.

The recent book "Bury Me Standing" , about Gypsies, said in passing that he was a Gypsy of Finnish extraction.

But according to Wiki you seem to be right. His dad was a Swiss businessman, his mom was half Slavic Russian, and half Buryiat (a subgroup of the Mongols in Siberia). And he was born in Vladivistok (the main port of the Russian far east). So his background was almost as exotic as his looks. So racially he would be classified as 'Eurasian' (mixed "White" and "Oriental").

Though Wiki doesnt mention any either Finnish, nor Rom, connection to his ancestry- it does say that "he strongly identified with the Rom people, and in 1977 he was made the honorary president of the International Romani Union". So - I dunno whether his gypsiness was only in spirit, or was also in blood.

How a mixed Russian/Swiss/Mongol background qualifies you to play an Egyptian? - is an open question. But atleast Brynner was not quite as white bread looking as Ridley Scott.

Hollywood needs to go back to the drawing board when it comes to casting decisions and historical accuracy. The concept of race wasn't even around in ancient times, or was it? You can't change history. Besides there's no need to cast bankable stars (coded as white because it thinks white people are appealing to the box office) in leading roles. I'm fed up with movies that feature white people as as if they were superman to the world. Too much whitewashing. Too much messing up with history.

I meant "Joel Edgarton". Not "Ridley Scott".

I have not seen the film so, I can't really say if there needs to be a boycott however, there have been films through the ages which were either boycotted or outright banned due to content or artistic interpretation. A good example here was the mid 80's movie,"The Last Temptation Of Jesus Christ" which not only met with boycotts all over the place but, wound up being banned totally due to the directorial vision which the presented as well, it took a radical look at Jesus Christ and relating characters,history,etc.. So, that along with many other films that had material which was not completely accurate does not mean you should boycott rather, don't go to see the film..