Historical Hero Upgrade: Difference between revisions
→Live-Action TV
Line 113:
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' gives this treatment to [[Vincent van Gogh]] in "Vincent and the Doctor". Ol' Vinny goes from a tortured painter to [[Badass]] {{spoiler|hunter of invisible monsters who eventually kills the [[Monster of the Week]] by impaling it on the anchor spikes of his easel.}} Other historical figures that the Doctor encounters in his travels get this trope in smaller doses as well: Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, Agatha Christie, Churchill...
** Of course, this is often a pretty good example of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], as meeting historical characters in a show like Doctor Who would be pretty boring if they weren't involved somehow in timey-wimey shenanigans. (Also, "Vincent and the Doctor" being widely regarded as one of the best and most touching episodes of the entire series.)
* ''[[The Tudors]]'' does this with Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. Anne in fiction is usually portrayed as a scheming whore, while Cromwell is often made pure evil. The show portrays Anne as being honestly in love with Henry and a devoted mother. Cromwell, while still rather ruthless, is seen as very human, and quite sympathetic.
** To be fair, Anne is also depicted as intending (at least at first) to manipulate Henry using both lust and love, and to maneuver him into serving the schemes of her father, a notable member of Henry's court, long before she begins to legitimately care for him. Both depictions are much more morally gray than normal, and as such, probably a more accurate depiction of real people, at least morally if not historically.
*** She is also portrayed as having slept with Sir Thomas Wyatt before her marriage with Henry VIII. There are indications Wyatt may have had romantic feelings for her, though there is no proof that Anne reciprocated, and certainly not that they had sex, as it would have gravely endangered any future marriage of Anne's if she were found to not be a virgin. Wyatt ''was'' arrested for adultery with Anne, writing a poem about witnessing the beheadings of Anne and her co-defendants from his cell window in the Tower of London, but released a year later.
**** If anything, Anne was more fairly depicted in The Tudors--though her sex life is probably exaggerated--while Cromwell is, for once, treated as a human being. He's usually given a [[Historical Villain Upgrade]] due to the exultation of Thomas More. (Who, while in actuality being quite judgmental and sometimes extreme, was given his typical [[Historical Hero Upgrade]] in [[The Tudors]].
== Theatre ==
| |||