Egypt, Morocco Ban ‘Exodus’ Movie Over ‘Historical Inaccuracies’

*The backlash against “Exodus: Gods and Kings” has extended beyond director Ridley Scott’s white-washed cast. The film has now been banned in Egypt and Morocco due to “historical inaccuracies.”

Scott has been criticized for casting white actors in Egyptian roles, including Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Ramses. In an interview, Scott told critics who have a problem with the cast to “Get a life.”

More controversy popped up today when Egypt’s censorship board banned the film over objections to its depiction of Jews as having built the pyramids. The board also didn’t agree with the film showing an earthquake as having parted the Red Sea, and not a miracle by Moses.

In the book of Exodus, Jewish slaves were led to freedom by Moses after God inflicted a series of plagues on Egypt.

The belief that Jewish slaves built the pyramids is part of the Christian and Jewish faith, but folks in Egypt believe the pyramids were built from Egyptian hands, alone. Also, many historians believe the Pyramids were built about 1,000 years before the Bible’s account in Exodus.

Earlier this week, it was reported that “Exodus: Gods and Kings” was also banned in Morocco, where parts of the movie were shot. The state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM) had given the film a green light, but local business website Medias24 reported that officials opted to ban the movie from being screened the day before its premiere, according to AFP. It doesn’t help matters that Muslims consider Moses a prophet, and Islam opposes the depiction of its prophets in works of art, making the release of “Exodus” in any Muslim country an issue.

At the film’s New York press junket earlier this month, Ridley Scott laid out an overall defense of his creative choices in “Exodus,” and explained how a visit to Ramses’ sarcophagus underscored his desire that the film “always be real.”

“It has to be as real as I can make it,” he said, incredulously.