I often complain, to whoever will listen, as to how sad it is that most people seem to get most if not all of their notions about history, and historical figures from films.

While sometimes Hollywood does get history right, more often than not it doesn't. Take for instance the image above. Most people will immediately identify with it as Cleopatra VII and only will do so because of Hollywood.

Prior to the 20th century Cleopatra was not pictured thusly, and why is that you may wonder? It is because this is how she was presented in the two biggest films made about her. In 1934 the actress Claudette Colbert played her with this hairstyle because she herself had a fondness for it, and in the 1963 remake with Elizabeth Taylor it was copied because bangs were all the rage back then.

So what was the real Cleopatra's hairstyle like? Well, she wore a very tight curled wig over a shaved head.

Hollywood also gets it wrong when it comes to the Pharaohs. They are usually presented as clean shaven, when most wore long, braided goatee-style beard wigs, and even reigning Queens tended to wear them!

So dear reader take historical films for what they are, entertainment, and not a substitute for good historical texts.

I have a feeling that now that I've opened the Hollywood does history floodgates you'll be seeing more entries like this one in the near future.

Source: Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of World History By: Richard Shenkman

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