Is Queen Cleopatra Worth Watching?

The Queen Cleopatra show on Netflix has been in the news lately, but is it a program worth checking out? While this iconic figure from Ancient Egypt is a huge part of popular culture, might it shed some new light on her life and what she was really like?

How Has Cleopatra Become Such a Legendary Figure?

The last ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra’s reign lasted less than two decades and she could easily have become one of many half-forgotten figures from long ago. Yet, Cleopatra’s ongoing popularity may be due to the way that she’s found a special place in popular culture.

Currently, the online casino at Paddy’s reveals that Cleopatra is still hugely popular in the world of casino games. As well as the Cleopatra slot, games such as Cleopatra Grand and Cleopatra Gold take us back to the time when she ruled. These slots are joined by others on other historic themes, such as Zeus vs Hades and Gladiator Road to Rome., but few characters have as many games with their name in them as Cleopatra has.

The epic 1963 Cleopatra movie from 20th Century Fox featuring Elizabeth Taylor in the title role was one of the most expensive movies ever made and helped establish her as one of the most popular historical figures. We can also see her appear in various other movies and TV shows over the years, meaning that the’s never been far from the public eye.

In fact, she remained a popular figure throughout the Middle Ages and was regularly referenced in books and pieces of art. In the Victorian age, Cleopatra was regarded as one of the most recognizable characters from ancient history, with her face being used on numerous products. A number of 19th-century books about her varied from historical investigations to novels that used her reputation as the basis for exotic fictional stories.

What Is the Show About?

Narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, this docudrama stars British actress Adele James as Cleopatra with Craig Rusell as Marc Antony. It’s part of the African Queens series on Netflix that looked at Njinga, Queen of Ndongo and Matamba in the first season before moving on to the legendary Egyptian Queen in the second season.

Much of the material comes from an interview with Professor Shelley P. Haley, with Pinkett Smith stating that the lack of stories about Cleopatra and other African Queens was one of the inspirations for the series. The show goes through her troubled life as she’s forced to make tough decisions on the way to becoming a tough, inspiring leader.

Given the lack of credible sources on Cleopatra’s life, much of the show focusses on speculation about what she might have been like. Overall, it falls somewhere in between a serious look at the Queen’s life and a soap opera-style re-imagining of her based on current pop culture views.

Is It Worth Watching?

If you’re looking for a historically accurate version of this Queen’s life, you might be disappointed by the speculative nature of the show, as explained here by The Week.  In the same way, you might not be entirely satisfied if you’re looking for a dramatic approach to the story. Instead, this series of African Queens is most likely to appeal to someone looking for a mixture of the two approaches that tell us this story in a reasonably interesting way and with a smattering of facts.