Domina trailer

[deepsbluesea]

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Domina follows Livia Drusilla, a naïve young girl, whose world crumbles in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination. But using plenty of intrigues she eventually becomes Rome's empress by conniving to marry emperor Augustus. She then ends up navigating her way through a brutal male-dominated society by means of conspiracy, seduction and murder

Comments

[missjersey]

Cool. But NGL I'd love a series like this on Cleopatra too. And not a "she was so hot and that's how she seduced those guys" cause that's Roman propaganda. Like the real shit in how she used charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to secure her throne in Egypt and her alliances with Caesar and Mark Antony.

[er1s]

That'd be a cool show I'd like to watch, but who'd be the lead?

[missjersey]

Now that's the tricky thing. Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian, she was a descendent of Macedonian Greeks. By today's standard she would have been classified as "white" but that A. didn't exist back then and B. was considered "exotic" by the rest of the Mediterranean world. The safest and most "historically accurate" call would be to hire a Greek actress, but personally I think she could also be played by a WOC and/or an Egyptian actress.

[er1s]

As much as I like it, I'm having a hard time imagining the project actually seeing the light of day.
A show about a female protagonist, played by an unknown actress that will need a ridiculous amount of budget in either locations/set or CGI. It's a hard sell but it could be amazing.

Where's HBO when you need them?

[missjersey]

They're too busy spending all their money on George R.R. Martin for projects that will never get past a pilot.

[gloeden2]

I would be happy to have one of these shows where we weren't being seduced by clever script-writing, charismatic actors, and beautiful sets, into rooting for these awful awful people. Just one time, to have a show were it was straight up "These are horrible people who you may see some of your own humanity in, but they are awful and we're not going to let you forget it." "I, Claudius" came closest, I think. And that was nearly 50 years ago.

[missjersey]

I see your point but I personally disagree in this case, if only because that was literally how she rose and stayed in power. She was an exceptional orator and the ruler of the richest country in the Mediterranean. Those were her strengths and she used them at every chance she got. Edit: you could not make a show to accurately talk about who Cleopatra was without having gorgeous sets and costumes because she put on a show every time a politician came to Egypt.

[gloeden2]

Oh, I admire her and other figures of the past

[missjersey]

Oooh I see what you mean. I think if that was kept in mind it'd actually be really interesting with the right writer. Cleopatra definitely made a point to appear as a true Pharaoh and traveled throughout Egypt during religious events and was liked by most of her people, but she also tortured her own prisoners for years. Plus she put her children in so much danger once shit hit the fan. There's a lot of nuance there, but the question is finding a writer who, as you said, doesn't sugarcoat it or make her to be a #bossbitch for modern audiences.

OMG I just thought about it and I would LOVE the writers of Succession to work on a project about Cleopatra. All the characters are pieces of shit and we the audience are aware that they're pieces of shit but the writing is so fucking good and gives so much depth. They would be perfect and be able to make Cleopatra and co entertaining while also making it clear how they ruined so many lives and didn't care as long as they stayed on top.

[curdlesnoots]

I would kill for a Succession style re-telling of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

[aaronnyc89]