By Anita Bennett
“Exodus: Gods and Kings” (20th Century Fox)
As the film arrived in theaters, haters took to Twitter in droves to mock the Biblical epic and urge a boycott
“Exodus: Gods and Kings” won the weekend box-office crown with a $24.5 million debut, but the Biblical epic was crucified on social media in the process.
For months, director Ridley Scott has faced criticism for casting all-white actors as Egyptians in the lead roles. The film stars Christian Bale (Moses), Australian actor Joel Edgerton (Ramses), Sigourney Weaver (Tuya) and Aaron Paul (Joshua), while non-white actors play slaves and servants.
Despite the backlash, Scott has staunchly defended the drama. When asked to expand on his self-described “careful” casting of the 20th Century Fox film earlier this year, he told Yahoo he knew Bale “was the right actor for the role” of Moses.
Also Read: ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Review: Christian Bale Makes a Stiff White Moses in Ridley Scott’s Stolid Epic
Last month, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch also waded into the debate, questioning what all the fuss was about.
“Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are,” Murdoch tweeted on Nov. 29.
He immediately came under assault, and fired off more tweets on the subject.
“Everybody-attacks last tweet. Of course Egyptians are Middle Eastern, but far from black. They treated blacks as slaves,” Murdoch tweeted before finally admitting, “Okay, there are many shades of color. Nothing racist about that, so calm down!”
Also Read: Rupert Murdoch Defends ‘Exodus’ All-White Cast: ‘Since When Are Egyptians Not White?’
But it seems his call to “calm down” fell on deaf ears. As the film arrived in theaters this weekend, critics took to social media in droves. The Twitter hashtag #BoycottExodusMovie continued to gain steam and it was almost unanimously fueled by hate-filled posts.
