Netflix’s docudrama Alexander The Great has drawn the ire of a conservative social media commentator who accused the streaming platform of making the former Greek king gay.
The firestorm started on Monday when X (formally Twitter) social media account End Wokeness – which is well known in far-right conservative circles – took to the microblogging site to air their grievances about Alexander: The Making Of A God.
The account wrote: “Netflix has made a new documentary about Alexander the Great. They made him gay within the first eight minutes.”
It also posted a video of two men kissing from the docuseries – Buck Braithwaite who played Alexander, along with Will Stevens who played Hephaestion – and the promotional poster.
However, many historians over the years have indicated that Alexander the Great had sexual and romantic relationships with men, as many believed him to be bisexual.
Netflix’s docudrama Alexander The Great has drawn the ire of a conservative social media commentator who accused the streaming platform of making the former Greek king gay
The firestorm started on Monday when X (formally Twitter) social media account End Wokeness – which is well known in far-right conservative circles – took to the microblogging site to air their grievances about Alexander: The Making Of A God.
It also posted a video of two men kissing from the docuseries – Buck Braithwaite who played Alexander along with Will Stevens who played Hephaestion – and the promotional poster
End Wokeness’ post received a lot of attention, including those who share similar beliefs to the right-wing narrative.
One commenter wrote, “I hate wokeness, but listen: chances are he was at least bisexual because that was kind of the Greek thing to do.”
End Wokeness didn’t waver on their beliefs, replying, “It’s still unproven speculation and certainly shouldn’t be shoved into the first eight minutes.”
Others targeted the account and tried to pin the blame on the streaming giant.
One X user wrote: ‘I don’t think it was Netflix that made him gay.’
This is not the first time that Alexander the Great has been portrayed as bisexual, as his sexuality was shown that way in the 2004 film Alexander, in which the conqueror was played by Colin Farrell.
Netflix dropped Alexander: The Making Of A God. on January 31, when it told the story of his transformation from an exiled young man obsessed with defeating the powerful Persian Emperor Darius, who helped him conquer the known world in just six years.
It contained interviews with historians and dramatic reenactments from the life of Alexander the Great, including attention to his sexual orientation.
End Wokeness’ post was met with a lot of criticism, including those who share similar beliefs to the right-wing narrative
End Wokeness didn’t waver on their beliefs, replying: ‘It’s still unproven speculation and certainly shouldn’t be shoved into the first eight minutes’
Many took to the comments section to challenge the account’s claims
In the first episode, Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones from Cardiff University in Wales says same-sex relationships had become normalized in the Greek world.
Alexandra Birch, a history graduate from the University of Manchester in England, previously wrote about the era for The Manchester Historian: ‘Sexual orientation was not the determining factor in sex, but rather the role each participant played: the dominant, older partner of higher class. an active role, and the younger lower-class partner played a passive role.
‘Yet gay men from the same class experienced social stigma because the passive role was effeminate. As Macedonian king, Alexander could have sexual relations with anyone, as long as he retained the dominant role.’
A major reason why people believe that Alexander the Great’s sexuality is not entirely clear is due to previous scholars erasing LGBT references in earlier eras, including the Byzantine and Victorian periods and even modern times.
This is not the first time that Alexander the Great has been portrayed as bisexual, as his sexuality was shown that way in the 2004 film Alexander, in which the conqueror was played by Colin Farrell.
A major reason why people believe that Alexander the Great’s sexuality is not entirely clear is due to previous scholars erasing LGBT references in previous eras, including the Byzantine and Victorian periods and even modern times (the Alexander Mosaic is around sown 310 BC).
Professor Athena Richardson of George Washington University wrote, “Even in a culture that accepted bisexuality, Alexander and Hephaestion’s relationship was an outlier and thus treated differently.
‘My research shows how this same-sex relationship was erased, censored and adapted to the norms of subsequent cultures.
‘Ancient biographers may have employed censorship to conceal any implication of femininity or submissiveness in Alexander that this relationship dynamic might suggest. As a result, later cultures would also have kept the relationship hidden.”
Alexander: The Making Of A God is currently streaming on Netflix.