Historical Beauty Update: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== Several Media ==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130511160824/http://womenshistory.about.com/od/westernamerica/ig/Calamity-Jane-Pictures/Calamity-Jane.htm Calamity Jane]'' was often mistaken for a man, and not just because she often wore men's clothing. However, she's been played by [http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/06/15/article-0-0027576E00000258-645_233x264.jpg Doris Day]. ''[[Deadwood]]'' goes part of the way toward averting this, and even has Jane tell an anecdote about being mistaken for a man, but Robin Weigert is still far more attractive than the real thing. The [[Lucky Luke]] album ''Calamity Jane'' averts it [http://www.tweede-hands-stripboeken.nl/data/upload/Shop/images/lucky-luke-nr-30-calamity-jane-1977.jpg all the way]{{Dead link}} [http://www.stripsuithedenenverleden.nl/Image/Lucky%20Luke/Calamity%20Jane%20volgens%20Morris%20en%20in%20het%20echt.jpg and then some].
* [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Kleopatra-VII.-Altes-Museum-Berlin1.jpg/452px-Kleopatra-VII.-Altes-Museum-Berlin1.jpg Cleopatra] was subject to this even in her own day. The legend of her beauty comes partially from Octavian's propaganda that Marc Antony had been bewitched by her. Over the years, Cleopatra is typically portrayed as each generation's version of their ideal beauty. She's sometimes even given a [[Race Lift]], despite the fact that she was of Macedonian descent. However, portraits of her give her a noticeably large nose. Plutarch describes her as not particularly attractive, but with a beautiful voice and charming personality. Cicero also downplays her appearance, though he is a biased source.
* Robespierre, though this definitely influenced by the sympathies of the artist or casting director. Portraits during his rise to power show him as quite attractive, while he gets less attractive during his downfall. When he's given the [[Historical Villain Upgrade]], he's often shown as quite ugly. In the interest of [[Anvilicious|making its point]], the ''[[Sandman]]'' chapter titled "Thermidor" makes him appear decidedly overweight as well.
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* Boudica, the British queen who rebelled against Roman rule, was noted for her imposing height and bearing, and, of course, her iconic red hair, but later depictions tend to place her very definitely in [[Hot Amazon]] territory. A rare exception is the eponymous 2003 British production (known as "Warrior Queen" in the United States), which starred the attractive but believable Alex Kingston.
* Vronsky, the romantic hero of ''Anna Karenina'', is depicted in the text as balding and with a mouthful of rotten teeth. Don't expect either of these characteristics to make it into any dramatization. Bad dental hygiene was commonplace in Russia (and most of Europe) at that time, so contemporary audiences would not have seen any Narm in this depiction of an accomplished seducer.
* Recently, there was [
* [[Jesus]] is probably one of best examples of this trope (though definitely not the oldest). Ignoring controversy over a historic Jesus , most Western depictions tend to favor a tall, slender borderline-[[Bishonen]] man with pale skin, long brown hair, deep soulful eyes (blue being surprisingly common), and a neat beard. Many other cultures and ethnic groups have likewise developed their own depictions (e.g. Hispanic Jesus, Black Jesus, Raptor Jesus)that tend to fit their own ideas of beauty and ethnicity. Hardly surprising when the person in question is ''literally'' worshiped as a deity. Any historic figure, however, would have had features more appropriate to a first century Middle Eastern Jew, e.g. swarthy skin, dark hair and eyes, and a beard would almost certainly be present. Assuming that biblical sources can be trusted the Gospel of Matthew states that when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane the soldiers were unable to tell Jesus apart from his disciples indicating that he probably had roughly average features and height (about 5'1"). Likewise in 1 Corinthians Paul both claims to have seen Jesus and states that long hair on a man is a disgrace. Short hair was likewise more typical of men in his particular place and time and given his ethnicity it was most likely tightly curled (though only his hairdresser knows for sure).
* [[Amelia Earhart]] wasn't ugly, but she wasn't exactly ideal. She even had the nickname "Lady Lindy," partially because she looked like Charles Lindbergh. Expect her to be played only by stunningly beautiful actresses. After all, what's the point of being an accomplished female pilot [[Broken Aesop|if you aren't pretty?]]
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'' is a textbook example of this. Virtually every [[Historical Domain Character]] is just as much [[The Beautiful Elite]] as the original characters. Admittedly, in Parisian society at the time, one pretty much ''had'' to be breathtaking at every public event, but this being a shojo series, [[Bishie Sparkle]]s abound.
* ''[[Black Butler]]'' has Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] as a major character in a recent arc. Instead of a guy with a bushy [https://web.archive.org/web/20120816135311/http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/sir-arthur-conan-doyle-1.jpg mustache], he's a clean shaven [http://www.mangareader.net/102-40442-18/kuroshitsuji/chapter-39.html bishounen].
* This trope is extremely prevalent in the ''[[Hakuouki]]'' anime, making all of the members of the [[Shinsengumi]] into prime examples of [[Estrogen Brigade Bait]].
* In a similar vein, ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' was known to portray historical figures in more flattering means. Observe:
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** [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Toshimichi_Okubo_4.jpg The historical Okubo Toshimichi] - [http://www.mangarush.com/files/mangas/rurouni-kenshin/55/1.jpg The RK manga/anime Okubo Toshimichi]{{Dead link}}
** Although it should be noted that these were not intended to make them look more flattering. The author at least blames it on lack of reference pictures most of the time.
* [[Alexander Pushkin]] looks better in [https://web.archive.org/web/20100814184124/http://www.unblessed.net/SiH/manga.php?t=4 ''Bronze Angel''] than he did in [[Real Life]].
* ''Bungaku Daishi'' or 'Male Literary Figures' is a book published with manga art profiling famous authors - [[Marquis de Sade]], [[Franz Kafka]], [[Hans Christian Andersen]], [[War and Peace|Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy]], poet Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud, Junichirō Tanizaki (The Makioka Sisters), [[Don Quixote|Miguel de Cervantes]], [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|The Brothers Grimm]], and poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire... All of them are [http://natalie.mu/comic/gallery/show/news_id/52885/image_id/83911 depicted] as [[Bishonen]].
* ''[[Afterschool Charisma]]'': A manga populated by the teenage clones of various famous people, all of whom are uniformly gorgeous. Some of them are people who were well-known for being beautiful in real life, but "gorgeous bishie teenage Freud" and "gorgeous bishie teenage Napoleon" kind of strain credulity.
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* They went through all the trouble of uglying up [[Charlize Theron]] for her role as Aileen Wuornos in ''[[Monster (film)|Monster]]'' and then made her love interest a beautiful Catholic schoolgirl instead of a hefty butch lesbian pushing thirty.
* [[The Runaways]]. Compare [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDn6V7ZLhE this] to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNNp5GyzlKc this].
* Has happened many times with [[Johnny Depp]]: he's played [http://www.xomba.com/files/images/jung.preview.png George Jung]{{Dead link}} in ''Blow'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130713152102/http://www.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200906/johndillinger/johndillinger.jpg John Dillinger] in ''[[Public Enemies]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130728054139/http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F9%2F9c%2FJames_Matthew_Barrie00.jpg%2F200px-James_Matthew_Barrie00.jpg J.M. Barrie] in ''[[Finding Neverland]]'', [http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2009/6/15017132_123133453393.jpg Frederick Abberline] in ''[[From Hell]]'' and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522081832/http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/donnie-brasco/biography/mainContent/0/image/Donnie-Brasco-%28200x200%29.jpg Joseph D. Pistone] in ''Donnie Brasco'', all of whom were arguably somewhat less attractive than the man himself. However, he bears a reasonable actual resemblance to other people he's played, including [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113080732/http://www.hollywoodcultmovies.com/assets/images/EdWood1.jpg Ed Wood], and he's also always up for making himself less attractive in roles, like when he accurately portrayed John Wilmot's horrible death from syphilis in ''The Libertine.'' [[Doing It for the Art|He also wanted to have]] huge ears and a fake nose in ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' and a badly-reattached nose in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', but the studio execs said no in both cases, probably knowing why [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|many people]] [[Fetish Fuel|see his films]] [[Bishonen|in the first place]].
** ''Blow'' does something that could be described as unintentional [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]] of this trope: after Depp has played George Jung for two hours, the movie ends with a photo of the real Jung, who doesn't look like Johnny Depp and isn't conventionally attractive at all. Since most viewers probably didn't know what the real George Jung looked like before seeing the movie, this moment of contrast can be pretty jarring.
* ''[[Amazing Grace]]'', In which we have the short-even-by-the-standards-of-the-time, very near-sighted [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/William_wilberforce.jpg William Wilberforce], portrayed by [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2007/03/05/WilliamWilberforce3.jpg Ioan Gruffudd].
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