Good old Rupert Murdoch, really knows his way around that tweeter thingy all the kiddies are using.
"Angered by criticism that the cast of forthcoming epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is "too white", Murdoch tweeted that Egyptians are actually white and "far from black". He then backed up his point with the observation: "They treated blacks as slaves".
When this failed to quell the backlash, he told his 535,000 followers to "calm down!", then ordered them to "change the subject".
Exodus is an interpretation of the Old Testament Book of Exodus, which tells the story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt.
But many have questioned why white actors have been cast in the lead roles, including Christian Bale as Moses, Joel Edgerton as Ramesses II and Sigourney Weaver as Tuya.
Tariq Nasheed, a director of the Hidden Colours documentary series, is among those campaigning against the film for what he sees as its attempt at "redefining history".
"The storyline takes place in ancient Africa, but all the African Kings and Gods are portrayed by white actors and all the slaves, thieves and 'lower class' Egyptians are played by black actors," he wrote on Facebook.
Baffled by such criticisms, Murdoch took to Twitter to defend the film, made by his company 21st Century Fox.
"Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast," he announced. "Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are."
[
link to www.smh.com.au]
Australia
what a legend! a great American!! 
