Dear Hollywood,
It’s me, one of your loyal customers. I have been watching your movies for most of my life now and I have to say it’s one of my favorite pastimes. The imaginative ways that your directors and writers reproduce historical scenarios or even completely fictional situations have always left me entertained. I’ve been loyal. I’ve been there through the highs like "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and the lows of "Hail Caesar!" However, now, I’m here to tell you to stop. Your audiences have had enough.
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about yet, I’m talking about movies like "Gods of Egypt." Why did you think that this was a good idea? Is it because Gerard Butler is in it? No matter how many well-defined abdominal muscles you can Photoshop onto that gorgeous man, it won’t take away from the disaster that will be this movie. Not only did you cast Leonidas as Set in this new movie, more importantly, you cast a white man as an Egyptian God, an Egyptian God with the head of some fantastic animal. Which one of you thought that this was a good idea? You need to have a serious discussion with them about the skin colors of their characters.
I know what you’re thinking, “It worked for '300,' why wouldn’t it work for this?” First of all, nothing really worked with "300." Second of all, this is 2016, while "300" was released in 2006. It’s been 10 years and you’re still committing the same mistakes. The graphic novel that "300" was based off of allowed for some of the discrepancies in their dress and overall manners to slide, but this just won't do with "Gods of Egypt." One of your writers came up with the idea of two of the most powerful Egyptian gods fighting and needing a mortal’s help.
Even if you don’t know anything about the Egyptian gods--which I’m willing to let go of begrudgingly--that's not the worst crime that is being committed by this movie. We’re getting sick and tired of seeing white men play people of color in movies. Egypt is in Africa. The people who inhabited Egypt were not white and there are plenty of great actors in Hollywood that are of Egyptian descent who could have played one of Ancient Egypt’s most famous and important gods.
When I saw the Facebook article about how much of a box office fail this movie is going to be, I couldn’t even be sad for you. Shame on you Hollywood. Do better. It’s been a long time since "Troy" and you need to learn that socially conscious people will not let you get away with casting in this manner anymore. Pick a plot that’s realistic, follow the culture that you’re basing it off, no matter how slight, and, for goodness sake, cast better people. I know that you can do it.
Gerard Butler is a great actor and I love seeing him in films, but not these kinds of films. No matter what everyone says, you’re not a bunch of idiots. You’re just lazy and you don’t care. Well, if you don’t want to lose over $124 million on your next fantastic historical movie, you’ll start listening. We want people of color playing people of color and we want some type of historical accuracy. Apply some effort, Hollywood. Your biggest fan is rooting for you.
