Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on December 11, 2014

Ridley Scott's Biblical Epic Struggles With Its Identity

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

Bale Out: Christian Bale stars as Moses in Ridley Scotts Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Published December 11, 2014.

The biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt is a classic story of freedom from bondage, of the raising of the downtrodden, of God avenging the weak and punishing the mighty. It also raises some unpleasant questions. According to the Talmud, the angels wanted to sing praises when the Egyptians were killed, only to be rebuked by God: The work of my hands is being drowned in the sea, and shall you chant hymns? Yet he drowned them all nonetheless.

To its credit, Exodus: Gods and Kings, the new biblical extravaganza from director Ridley Scott, doesnt avoid hard questions about Gods justice, or the chosenness of the Hebrews. If you come to the movie from a religious perspective, you may leave with some problems. Less to its credit, the movie raises a different set of uncomfortable issues. Like, why is the lead cast entirely made up of white actors, when the mythology it portrays is set in the ancient Near East?

The whiteness of the casting plus the fact that the roles of servants, slaves and criminals seem to have been reserved for actors of color have led writers like David Dennis, Jr. and others to level charges of racism at Exodus, and to call for a boycott of the movie. And there is obviously racism present.

But its worth trying to parse what racism means in this context. In his response to the charges, Ridley told Variety: I cant mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammed so-and-so from such-and-such. In other words, not only does he claim that the film wouldnt be financed with an obscure actor in the lead which is probably fair but that the lead actor also couldnt be non-white (and certainly not named Mohammed). Hes not denying the racism here hes passing the buck.

But does a racist Hollywood system, and racist casting, make the content of the movie also racist? And if so, how?

It seems ridiculous to insist that the casting of Exodus reflect historical or geographical reality. The question of race when it comes to the ancient Egyptians is a subject thoroughly colonized by cranks and hacks (many of them racists themselves), while the scholarly consensus is that contemporary notions of race are not applicable to the ancient world. I have no problem, for example, with the ethnically ambiguous John Turturro playing the pharaoh Seti, in what is the movies sole bit of inspired casting. And even if Moses probably didnt look like Christian Bale, he certainly didnt speak English. Clearly, this is a fantasy and a fiction, not a historical recreation.

Read more:

My 'Exodus' Problem And Ours

Category: Talmud
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