Gold Digger: Difference between revisions

A common subversion is to have her turn out to be a [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold]] after all. Another way that works play with this is to have a rich man pretending to be poor, so as to ensure that any woman he becomes involved with loves him for himself and not his money. Yet another way to play with it is to have her [[Becoming the Mask|genuinely fall in love with her meal ticket]]

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* One of the ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu]]'' mangas has Patty, the local thief in Generation 2, as this, [[Played for Laughs|playing it completely]] [[Rule of Funny|for the lulz.]] {{spoiler|She ends up falling in love with the a poor guy, though: [[Kissing Cousins|her cousin]] Lester.}}

* ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma One Half]]'': Nabiki Tendo is a very good example. She'll fleece and blackmail anyone who has a crush on her dry.

== [[Child Ballads]] ==

''Fair Annet she has gat nane;

''And the little beauty Fair Annet haes

''O it wull soon be gane.'' }}

== [[Fan FicWorks]] ==

** Ginny Weasley is often [[Ron the Death Eater|portrayed this way]] by people who dislike her (particularly the [[Die for Our Ship|Harry/Hermione shippers]]). The problem with this idea is that Harry ''has '' always'' been willing to share his money with the Weasleys, but they won't accept it.

== [[Film]] ==

* Deconstructed in ''[[Legally Blonde]]''. Elle points out that the new wife of an septuagenarian millionaire who is used to getting divorced on a whim, has to work extremely hard to ''stay'' married to the septuagenarian millionaire. The wife in question was also independently wealthy (she was a fitness guru), and claimed that she has a [[Bigger is Better in Bed|bigger reason]] to stay with her husband than his wallet .

* ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'' centers on not 1one, not 2two, but 3''three'' women trying to be gold diggers. {{spoiler|[[Lauren Bacall]]'s character succeeds--unwittingly at first--and the remaining two fail, but all are happier for it}}.

* Discussed in ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]''. Lorelei Lee (played by Marilyn Monroe) is an overt gold digger and defends it from criticism in the film, frequently proclaiming the benefits of marrying (or dating) wealthy men to anyone who will listen. At one point, she even attempts to set her friend up with a rich "man", who turns out to be a young boy.

* Nick Charles is one in the "''[[The Thin Man (film)|Thin Man]]"'' series of films. He marries Nora with the intention of retiring from the detective business and living off of her money.

* Ricky Bobby's wife in ''[[Talladega Nights]]'',. sheShe was married to Ricky for over ten years but the day that he's fired from the team, she dumps him and got together with {{spoiler|his best friend, Cal.}}. She even makes it clear that she is married to a driver and she does not work.

* In the original version of ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]'', has Nick'sfather (Mitch's inhas the original)a young, opportunistic fiancée Meredith (Vicki), who is only interested in Nick's money.

* Clarice Kensington of ''[[It Takes Two]]'' is a socialite who is engaged to Amanda's father and only wants to marry Roger for his money.

* ''[[Tommy Boy]]'' has Tommy's father marrying a woman (interpreted by [[Bo Derek]]) who only wants his money. When Tommy's father died at the wedding party, she and her son from a previous marriage {{spoiler|actually her husband, making her marriage to Tommy's father illegal}} commented how it was better than her original plan of living with him for one year and then divorcing him. {{spoiler|In the end, she sets her eyes into another target}}.

* [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructed]] in ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]''. Elizabeth Bennet is not a typical Gold Digger, despite her comment that hints she first began to love Darcy when she saw his beautiful estate in Derbyshire. At first, Elizabeth shied away from Darcy in part ''because'' of his wealth. Her mother, however, pressures her and her sisters into chasing rich men. The eldest daughter, the perfect Jane, falls in love with a rich man geniuelygenuinely, the youngest sister, who feels unworthy because she can't do the only thing her mother would approve because she isn't charming enough shies away from the world and retreats in books at first, and the third and fouthfourth sisters are airheads who end up risking a lot to do this. As the most intelligent of them, Elizabeth realizes how self-destructive and crualcruel it may be, so she settles for a compromise : she won't marry a poor man, but will marry a rich one ''if she falls in love with him''. She proves her genuine intentions when she despises Mr Darcy, a rich but very snob man. However, it takes no more than a polite endeavour from Mr Darcy and the view of his beautiful estate for her to feel tempted to consider letingletting him court her. It's interesting to note that the turning point in their relationship is her visit to Darcy's estate and first-hand experience of his wealth, though it is not otherwise as decisive as more romantic events. Mr. Wickham, on the other hand, is a typical Austen Gold Digger; it's eventually revealed that he tricked wealthy Georgiana Darcy into running away with him {{spoiler|(but he's thwarted before he can get at her money)}}. It's implied that he courts Elizabeth only until he realizes she isn't an heiress, and runs away with Lydia because he thinks he can get away with debauching a girl who's too poor to marry.

* Lord Robert St. Simon in the ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' story ''"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor''" is only marrying American heiress Hatty Doran for her money, and she's only marrying him because her first husband was abducted by Indians years ago and is probably long dead. {{spoiler|He isn't.}}

** ''"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist''" centered around two men trying to court a young music teacher because they knew that her uncle was rich and had no will - making his niece, as next of kin, [[Unexpected Inheritance|the heir to his fortune by default]].

* Noelle Page in ''[[The Other Side of Midnight]]'' is a poor French girl who is (in essence) sold to a disgusting-but-rich shopkeeper as a mistress by her father. She flees after bilking the shopkeeper out of some money, but then falls in love with and is abandoned by an American pilot. In order to destroy him, and having learned her lesson from the prior experience, she proceeds to woo increasingly powerful men—culminating in becoming a Greek tycoon's mistress. Wooing the right men also helps her become an internationally beloved actress, which is all part of the plan.

* Prince Thanel in the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series. Then, once he finally gets it through his head that under Valdemaran law, marrying the Queen does not automatically make him King, he seeks to murder his wife so that he become ''de facto'' king as regent to their infant daughter. (Fortunately, he fails.)

* Claire from [[P. G. Wodehouse|PG Wodehouse]]'s ''Uneasy Money''.

* In [[Devon Monk]]'s ''[[Allie Beckstrom]]'' novel ''Magic to the Bone'', Allie's stepmothers. Perhaps even her mother.

** Kelly occasionally played this role. Ironically, despite Al typically being an [[Overprotective Dad]] in beating up most of Kelly's boyfriends, he actively encourages the relationship whenever she lands a rich guy, mostly so he can exploit it for his own gain. Not that she's a very good one, incidentally, as she has very poor choices in targets. In one episode she tries dating a Senator, not picking up hints that [[Your Cheating Heart| he's married.]] (Hints like [[Failed a Spot Check| his wife calling and threatening her]].) In another episode, she falls for "the ex-husband of [her] dreams" at her high school reunion, disregarding that she treated him cruelly back when he was a "nerd", and is easy prey for [[Best Served Cold| his revenge plan]]. (Which Bud helps him with, as he has one of his own against another girl.)

* In Hispanic [[Soap Opera]]s, when the villain / rival isn't the already-rich [[Clingy Jealous Girl]], then she is this trope (or she ''can'' be rich already, but wants even more money as well as the male lead). The heroines tend to be accused of this, whether it's true or not. When it ''is'' true, then they become more of an [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroine]] or even [[Villain Protagonist]]s, who more often than not {{spoiler|[[Laser-Guided Karma|end up dying]] in very [[Anvilicious]] manners}}.

** One emblematic example is Maria de Fatima of ''Vale Tudo'' ("Anything Goes / Everything countsCounts"), a poor-to-middle-class young woman who makes a mission of her life to marry into a rich clan no matter how, to the horror of her way more honest mother HelenaRaquel. While Fatima ''does'' find her [[Meal Ticket]], the "anything goes" method she used to get it caused more problems tofor her than if she hashad just worked for her money, {{spoiler|and very controversially, she gets a [[Karma Houdini]] end by literally escaping out of the country and not facing any consequences of her evil acts after being revealed as a complete bitch}}. This is contrasted with Raquel who, after being left in the street by Fatima (and that just being just one of the many betrayals her daughter did to her), manages to become rich by entering the food-making business with her honesty and hard-working nature being her biggest assets.

** And there was the titular anti-heroine of ''Rubi'', who essentially screwed around the lives of her best friend and their respective romantic interests just because she wanted to marry into riches and her true love wasn't rich enough for her. {{spoiler|In the original, and almost every remake save one from the latestmid-2000s, she was [[anvilicious]]ly killed; in the latestsaid Mexican remake, she just leaves her former circle to be [[Happily Ever After]] and direct her charms to unsuspecting foreign millionaires...}}

* The Brazilian telenovela "''Anjo mau"'' ("Evil Angel/Angel Malo"), in all of its versions (the original Brazilian soap and its remake, an ''iconic'' Chilean remake in [[The Eighties]], and a modern Mexican version), discusses and presents this trope both in the main plot and in other minor stories:

** Berenice aka Nice, the [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroine]], is one. As the [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|wholesome-looking]] babysitter for a '''very''' wealthy [[Big Screwed-Up Family]] and the eldest daughter of their [[Old Retainer]] chaffeurchauffeur, the beautiful and greedy Nice plans from the beginning to marry either Roberto or Ricardo, the two young and handsome uncles of the baby boy she takes care of, so she can get out of poverty. {{spoiler|In the original Brazilian version and the classic Chilean remake, she [[anvilicious]]ly falls victim to [[Death by Childbirth]]; in the Brazilian remake, she survives.}}

** ''Both'' of Nice's love rivals have the trope invoked on them. One of them is Lia, a sweet girl [[Impoverished Patrician|from a formerly rich famimilyfamily]] who's genuinely in love with Roberto and is about to go the [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] route with him, but is pressured by her [[Rich Bitch]] mother into marrying him only for the family's benefit. The other is Roberto's original girlfriend Paula, who sees her parents lose a good part of their wealth, and after her [[Smug Snake]] father fails to steal the main family's riches he also pressures her into marrying one of the two guys. (The fact that she cheated on Roberto with Ricardo in the beginning, which is what drove her scorned boyfriend to Nice's arms in the first place, doesn't help).

* Tracey Barlow in ''[[Coronation Street]]'' dates her grandmothers boyfriend believing him to be a millionaire but later finds out he is lying about being rich

* ''[[Frasier]]'' briefly becomes this for none other than [[Patrick Stewart]], who gives him expensive watches and introduces him to celebrities. In turn, Frasier lets the guy kiss him and treat him like a boyfriend, contstantlyconstantly "forgetting" to tell Stewart's character he's straight.

* The ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' episode "When You Wish You Were the Star" is a [[Wonderful Life]] episode in which Miley/Hannah finds herself in an [[Alternate Timeline]], wherein, among other things, her father is married to her former homeschoolhome school teacher, who admits to a friend over the phone that she only married Robbie for his wealth and status.

* Discussed in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'': Clyde cites this as a reason to check up on Sarah Jane's new beau.

* Played with in Fox's reality show ''[[Joe Millionaire.]]''.

* Logan's mother on ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' is said to have met her rich and unfaithful husband in a bar.

* ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' rogue Penguin once teamed up with a gold digger who married an elderly wealthy man who, instead of dying and leaving her his estate, divorced her and all she got from him was a race horse and some umbrellas she tried to pass as a valuable collection.

* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knLd8bfeWtI "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend''"], famously sung by Carol Channing. Also by [[Marilyn Monroe]] in the film ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', and later a signature song for Carol Channing. The famous dance number in which sheMarilyn sings it was also donerecreated by Madonna for her "Material Girl" video.

* [[ACDC|AC/DC]], "What Do You Do for Money Honey." ("Money Talks" is an inverse example, with a man seducing a woman he ''thinks'' is a Gold Digger.)

* This is one of the methods of getting rich discussed in the [[ABBA]] song ''"Money Money Money''".

{{quote|''You dress me up; I'm your puppet

''You buy me things; I love it

''You bring me food; I need it

''You give me love; I feel it }}

*:* The [[Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine|Carter USM]] cover of the same song tends to avoid this trope, putting more emphasis on singing about the love angle and emphasising the lyrics "Words mean so little, and money less / When you're lying next to me." It comes off as more about a poor guy in a relationship with a richer girlfriend/boyfriend rather than the relationship between a prostitute and his client or a downright Gold Digger.

== Theater[[Theatrr]] ==

** In the musical based on ''Shrew'', ''[[Kiss Me Kate]]'', Petruchio (not Fred) not only admits it outright several times, but he has an entire song about it. Just to even things out, though, Lilli Vanessi (not Kate) is planning to marry at least in part for status (in the stage show, her fiance is a retired General who is intended to be the next Vice-Presidential candidate) or money (in the movie, he's a wealthy Texas cattle baron).

== Videogames[[Video Games]] ==

** In ''[[The Sims]]|The Sims 2]]'', Dina Caliente is implied to be this. She married Michael Bachelor and has the memory of "Married a Rich Sim", and he died before the game started. When the game starts, she's in love with Mortimer Goth, whois also very rich.

* ''[[Dragon Age: Origins]]'': A variant occurs within dwarven society. Dwarves have a very strict caste system that determines each dwarf's profession, with casteless dwarves filling the very bottom rung. Female casteless dwarves commonly engage in "noble hunting," where they seduce a male dwarf noble and have his child; if that baby is a boy, the casteless dwarf and her relatives can be accepted into the noble's house. This is even encouraged in dwarven society, as their population is dwindling from constant attacks by the darkspawn.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

== [[Web Western Animation Original]] ==

* Victor Quartermaine from ''[[Wallace and& Gromit]]: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit]]''. He's already a rich nobleman, but unlike the former of the title characters, he was wooing Lady Tottington solely for her money.

* [[Dark Action Girl|Shego]] was this close being it in Season 4 of ''[[Kim Possible]]''. Granted, considering how proud she is to be an evil [[The Dragon|Dragon]]/EvilOverlord[[Evil Overlord]] that was more of a [[Out of Character]] moment.

** A straight example is [[Alpha Bitch|Bonnie]] going after Ron StoppablesStoppable's 99 million dollars. She promptly leaves after it gets stolen because she told Ron to keep it in his pocket. InIronically the endenough, she becamelater Señordates Senor Senior Junior's girlfriend.but Señor Senior Senior, you'd'isn't'' betterdating hopehim Junior learnedfor his lesson from [[Broke Episode|Vincent Wheeler]]money.

** And she got the surname "Terwilliger" from Sideshow Bob, who tried to kill her for money and would have gotten away with that if not for [[You Meddling Kids|that meddling Bart Simpson]], who was wary of trusting him following the incident where he successfully framed Krusty for armed robbery.

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