White-Washing

Hollywood has been known for, "white-washing," its movies. Also referred to as," race-bending," whitewashing happens when most, or all of the characters in movie, or television show, are portrayed by white actors. From Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra in 1963, to Joseph Fiennes playing Micheal Jackson, white-washing has been a problem for a long time. Recently, Lions Gate Entertainment released "Gods of Egypt." The movie focuses on the ruthless battle between the god of darkness, Set against a mortal named Bek, and powerful god Horus. Each character is supposed to be an Egyptian native, but almost all of the actors were far from, "Egyptian." A mixture of, French, Danish, Australian, and English actors, who were white, bombarded the cast, upsetting millions of viewers. Realizing that they had upset a lot of people, Lionsgate released an apology saying," 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," as well as, "We have, can and will continue to do better."  Movies should reflect diversity, not only to create an accurate depiction of the time period in the movie, but  also to reflect the audience watching the movie. Giving people the opportunity to see people that look like them on a large screen is important, because it shows them that they are capable of doing big things as well.