Dear BBC.... Well this is Awkward

Rantings of an English Major:

Dear BBC,

I have to say... I never thought we would have this talk.  Largely, I'm a fan of your work.  In fact, I would say that with the one exception I am about to examine, I've never seen a production of yours which I didn't like. However, every so often there is some detail in a movie, major or minor, which really throws off the whole show.  And I finally found one of your productions with an irksome flaw.

In a Shakespeare film too... for shame!  I am speaking about the 1981 version of Antony and Cleopatra.  For the era, excellent filmography.  Caesar was phenomenal.  Octavia was, for her minor part, well played.  Antony displayed a good balance of joviality and soberness.  But that Cleopatra!  Come on, BBC,  you can't mess up Cleopatra!  She's like the most iconic female in pre-Christian history!

Vivien Leigh, you classy Queen of the Nile!

 Now, you may feel that you had a pretty good little Egyptian queen going on there... but I beg to differ.  Given, she  was about as over-the-top dramatic as I'd expect to see in that particular play.  But what's with the makeup and costuming?  It just killed half of the character.  Her hair was some boring mousy brown and she was wearing a far-too-Westernized dress.  She didn't look Egyptian at all.  If before watching the movie I had seen still shots of Cleopatra, Charmian (who also looked nothing like an Egyptian), and Octavia, I would have had no idea which one was which.  I think, unless I miss my mark, you should be able to tell a Roman Caesar's sister apart from an Egyptian queen.

And she looks old too.

However, I'm willing to cut you a little slack because this film is now 30 years old... but one more thing.  I'm pretty sure that even as far back as 1981, it was widely accepted that not everyone in the world had a British accent.  It's like Helen McCrory in Masterpiece Theatre's Anne Karenina: if both Scarlett Johansson and I can fake Russian accents, so can an actress as talented as McCrory.  Likewise, I'm sure you could find some way to make your Romans and Egyptians sound different than modern English speakers.

Sorry for getting on your case, just thought you should know.

Sincerely,

Julie Anne