Ye Goode Olde Days: Difference between revisions
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Not to be confused with [[Nostalgia Filter|complaining about how things were better in the good old days]]. |
Not to be confused with [[Nostalgia Filter|complaining about how things were better in the good old days]]. |
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== Architecture == |
== Architecture == |
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* The Gothic Revival style had been pushed [[Up to Eleven]] in some German restored castles, and peaked when [[King Ludwig II]] of Bavaria commissioned the building of [[wikipedia:Neuschwanstein Castle|Neuschwanstein Castle]] replacing an earlier ruin - it was [[Awesome but Impractical|practically unusable as a political center]], all efforts being directed into making it as Medieval as possible, but it had poor connection to anything the Middle Ages might have been, being more or less a fairy tale setting with modern amenities as electricity, running warm water or central heating. |
* The Gothic Revival style had been pushed [[Up to Eleven]] in some German restored castles, and peaked when [[King Ludwig II]] of Bavaria commissioned the building of [[wikipedia:Neuschwanstein Castle|Neuschwanstein Castle]] replacing an earlier ruin - it was [[Awesome but Impractical|practically unusable as a political center]], all efforts being directed into making it as Medieval as possible, but it had poor connection to anything the Middle Ages might have been, being more or less a fairy tale setting with modern amenities as electricity, running warm water or central heating. |
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== [[Comic Books]] == |
== [[Comic Books]] == |
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* An Al Hartley-era ''[[Archie]]'' [http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics210.html comic] has the gang transported to an idyllic 1890's small town with none of the ills of today's world...and none of the ills of the 1890's either. |
* An Al Hartley-era ''[[Archie]]'' [http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics210.html comic] has the gang transported to an idyllic 1890's small town with none of the ills of today's world...and none of the ills of the 1890's either. |
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* The people and environments in ''[[Monty Python]]'s The [[Life of Brian]]'', mostly likely due to the practices of the Ancient Romans, and even one of the characters mentioned how sanitation and hygiene have improved since the Romans have been in charge. The fact that it's set in the warm, dry Middle East as opposed to squalid, damp and muddy old England also helps things a bit. Of course, the majority still live in disgusting, tiny hovels, begging lepers are a common sight (unless Jesus comes along) and people are executed horribly for minor offenses. |
* The people and environments in ''[[Monty Python]]'s The [[Life of Brian]]'', mostly likely due to the practices of the Ancient Romans, and even one of the characters mentioned how sanitation and hygiene have improved since the Romans have been in charge. The fact that it's set in the warm, dry Middle East as opposed to squalid, damp and muddy old England also helps things a bit. Of course, the majority still live in disgusting, tiny hovels, begging lepers are a common sight (unless Jesus comes along) and people are executed horribly for minor offenses. |
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* [[Keira Knightley]]'s Guinevere in ''[[King Arthur]]'' was immaculately manicured despite the fact that the audience is told that she had had her fingers broken while in captivity -- during a closeup on her perfect nails. |
* [[Keira Knightley]]'s Guinevere in ''[[King Arthur]]'' was immaculately manicured despite the fact that the audience is told that she had had her fingers broken while in captivity -- during a closeup on her perfect nails. |
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** Some [[Truth in Television]], surprisingly -- noblewomen were indeed taught the basics of combat and siege defense, in the case the enemy attacked when their husbands weren't around. Passive princesses were the ideal of a later age. |
** Some [[Truth in Television]], surprisingly -- noblewomen were indeed taught the basics of combat and siege defense, in the case the enemy attacked when their husbands weren't around. Passive princesses were the ideal of a later age. |
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* [[G. K. Chesterton]] was often accused of making the past look better than the current age. He responded by saying he was correcting the "Whiggish" view of history. That being the view that all the mistakes of the past lead towards a better future. |
* [[G. K. Chesterton]] was often accused of making the past look better than the current age. He responded by saying he was correcting the "Whiggish" view of history. That being the view that all the mistakes of the past lead towards a better future. |
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* [[The Pyrates]] is set firmly in a [[Ye Goode Olde Days]] version of [[The Cavalier Years]]. [[George Macdonald Fraser|The Author]] lampshades this immediately following the idyllic introduction, saying that historians would no doubt point out the complete lack of sanitation, hygiene, or social services. He concludes that the historical characters, "happy conscienceless rabble that they were," likely wouldn't care, and urges the reader not to, either. |
* [[The Pyrates]] is set firmly in a [[Ye Goode Olde Days]] version of [[The Cavalier Years]]. [[George Macdonald Fraser|The Author]] lampshades this immediately following the idyllic introduction, saying that historians would no doubt point out the complete lack of sanitation, hygiene, or social services. He concludes that the historical characters, "happy conscienceless rabble that they were," likely wouldn't care, and urges the reader not to, either. |
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* ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', despite [[Word of God|being set in a world like the 17th century]], has quite high living standards and sanitation. |
* ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', despite [[Word of God|being set in a world like the 17th century]], has quite high living standards and sanitation. |
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* Ancient Japan seemed awfully tidy in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', although there is a degree of accuracy here; cleanliness and hygiene were both quite advanced and socially important in Japan. Of course the punishments for failing to uphold the proper level of cleaning etiquette could be pretty draconian. |
* Ancient Japan seemed awfully tidy in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', although there is a degree of accuracy here; cleanliness and hygiene were both quite advanced and socially important in Japan. Of course the punishments for failing to uphold the proper level of cleaning etiquette could be pretty draconian. |
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* The film version of Irish Potato Famine novel ''Under the Hawthorn Tree'' featured three starving, destitute orphans walking the width of Ireland to reach their aunts' home. For malnourished vagrants, their skin and hair were immaculate. |
* The film version of Irish Potato Famine novel ''Under the Hawthorn Tree'' featured three starving, destitute orphans walking the width of Ireland to reach their aunts' home. For malnourished vagrants, their skin and hair were immaculate. |
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** Northern European "barbarian" tribes were surprisingly democratic for their times, but out of necessity rather than choice. ([[Too Dumb to Live|Try to impose your will on a few hundred sword- and axe-armed thugs.]]) All armed men had a word to say in the tribe's affairs and for the important decisions they were required to get a majority opinion. |
** Northern European "barbarian" tribes were surprisingly democratic for their times, but out of necessity rather than choice. ([[Too Dumb to Live|Try to impose your will on a few hundred sword- and axe-armed thugs.]]) All armed men had a word to say in the tribe's affairs and for the important decisions they were required to get a majority opinion. |
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* Some - no, many - people (tend to) overestimate how ''idyllic'' the olden days were in many, if not most respects. This is basically a case of [[Ludd Was Right]] crossed with [[Nostalgia Filter]]. Or for times not actually in one's living memory, simple lack of knowledge. |
* Some - no, many - people (tend to) overestimate how ''idyllic'' the olden days were in many, if not most respects. This is basically a case of [[Ludd Was Right]] crossed with [[Nostalgia Filter]]. Or for times not actually in one's living memory, simple lack of knowledge. |
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* Most of the [http://www.prydein.com/pipes/mnu1/index.html art] of the Middle Ages does not depict the poor as particularly emaciated or horribly dirty. |
* Most of the [http://www.prydein.com/pipes/mnu1/index.html art] of the Middle Ages does not depict the poor as particularly emaciated or horribly dirty. |
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** We're not using 'Medieval' as a pejorative here, mind. The health and sanitation situation was pretty bad just about everywhere. It actually got worse as the early modern period progressed and the towns and cities grew. Grew because of the flow of people in; more people died than were born in every European town and city until the late 19th century with concrete advances in sanitation and public health. |
** We're not using 'Medieval' as a pejorative here, mind. The health and sanitation situation was pretty bad just about everywhere. It actually got worse as the early modern period progressed and the towns and cities grew. Grew because of the flow of people in; more people died than were born in every European town and city until the late 19th century with concrete advances in sanitation and public health. |
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** Early Middle Ages were actually better off in hygiene than the Age of Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution. Bathing was an important social practice, and cleanliness was appreciated. However, a few disease epidemics that started out in public baths combined with the church preaching against the prostitution practiced in them came together as an idea that washing too well or too often was harmful to body and soul, and the belief persisted for many centuries hence. Even the French nobility of the 18th century rather sprinkled wine on their faces, used exessive amounts of perfume and changed their clothes three times a day rather than took a bath. |
** Early Middle Ages were actually better off in hygiene than the Age of Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution. Bathing was an important social practice, and cleanliness was appreciated. However, a few disease epidemics that started out in public baths combined with the church preaching against the prostitution practiced in them came together as an idea that washing too well or too often was harmful to body and soul, and the belief persisted for many centuries hence. Even the French nobility of the 18th century rather sprinkled wine on their faces, used exessive amounts of perfume and changed their clothes three times a day rather than took a bath. |
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* [[wikipedia:Plimoth Plantation|Plimoth Plantation]], the recreation of the Pilgrim settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the early 17th Century, originally suffered from this in spades. The original version of this open-air museum, built in the early 20th Century, was improbably populated with picturesque cottages of quanit design mimicking British architecture of the period, complete with picket fences and paved walkways. When historical and archeological research revealed this to be little more than wishful thinking, the entire village was torn down and replaced with realistic dirt-floored wood-and-thatch huts. Naturally, this upset people who prefered to think that the Pilgrims lived in a suburban subdivision instead of a rough frontier settlement. |
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=== Notable Subversions === |
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== Notable Subversions == |
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* ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]'s [[Big Damn Movie|Apocalypse]]'', where Steve Pemberton starts writing a screenplay for a movie about a plot to assassinate William III, called ''The King's Evil'' (after the disease, which isn't a promising sign), and Geoff Tipps writes himself into the plot so he can heroically save the day and live at the royal court. After he gets there, though, he's horrified to learn that there's a man living in his toilet, waiting to dispose of his "nightsoil". |
* ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]'s [[Big Damn Movie|Apocalypse]]'', where Steve Pemberton starts writing a screenplay for a movie about a plot to assassinate William III, called ''The King's Evil'' (after the disease, which isn't a promising sign), and Geoff Tipps writes himself into the plot so he can heroically save the day and live at the royal court. After he gets there, though, he's horrified to learn that there's a man living in his toilet, waiting to dispose of his "nightsoil". |
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* ''[[Hard to Be A God]]'' by the [[Strugatsky Brothers]]. The plot centers around historians from a 22nd Century, Socialist Utopian Earth going deep undercover on a planet those human-like society is going though an equivalent of early Renaissance. The heroes have to deal with all the discomforts and prejudices of that age, and, over time, some become so engrossed in their roles that they begin to lose sight of their idealism. |
* ''[[Hard to Be A God]]'' by the [[Strugatsky Brothers]]. The plot centers around historians from a 22nd Century, Socialist Utopian Earth going deep undercover on a planet those human-like society is going though an equivalent of early Renaissance. The heroes have to deal with all the discomforts and prejudices of that age, and, over time, some become so engrossed in their roles that they begin to lose sight of their idealism. |
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* In the ''[[Animorphs]]'' novel ''Elfangor's Secret'', the soldiers and villagers of Europe circa the Hundred Years' War are notably ridden with diseases and parasites. This becomes a plot point when the Animorphs need to figure out which soldier of the massed armies is a fellow time traveller, and they eventually look for the one person who is as healthy and unmarked as they are. |
* In the ''[[Animorphs]]'' novel ''Elfangor's Secret'', the soldiers and villagers of Europe circa the Hundred Years' War are notably ridden with diseases and parasites. This becomes a plot point when the Animorphs need to figure out which soldier of the massed armies is a fellow time traveller, and they eventually look for the one person who is as healthy and unmarked as they are. |
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* Otto Bettmann's (non-fiction) book ''The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible!'' is dedicated to debunking this trope, in regards to American society in the late 19th/early 20th century. Child-labor sweatshops, streets filled with manure and trash, malnutrition amongst frontiersmen, etc. |
* Otto Bettmann's (non-fiction) book ''The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible!'' is dedicated to debunking this trope, in regards to American society in the late 19th/early 20th century. Child-labor sweatshops, streets filled with manure and trash, malnutrition amongst frontiersmen, etc. |
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== [[Newspaper Comics]] == |
=== [[Newspaper Comics]] === |
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* ''[[Candorville]]'' averts this in the bluntest way possible--the first instance of time travel in the strip is to the pre-Civil War American South, and the main character is black. |
* ''[[Candorville]]'' averts this in the bluntest way possible--the first instance of time travel in the strip is to the pre-Civil War American South, and the main character is black. |
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== [[Live Action TV]] == |
=== [[Live Action TV]] === |
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* PBS ran a series of reality based programs (the names varied from series to series but were generally ''[Decade] House'' (1900 House, 1940's House) or ''[Setting] House'' (Frontier House, Manor House, Colonial House)) in the early 2000s, where modern families with an interest in, but no great knowledge of, another era were asked to live in a expertly-crafted recreation of that time for several months. |
* PBS ran a series of reality based programs (the names varied from series to series but were generally ''[Decade] House'' (1900 House, 1940's House) or ''[Setting] House'' (Frontier House, Manor House, Colonial House)) in the early 2000s, where modern families with an interest in, but no great knowledge of, another era were asked to live in a expertly-crafted recreation of that time for several months. |
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** The Victorian era family did better than most as they were set up as upper-middle class, but still were shocked at how long household work took and got increasingly squicked by the lack of shampoo. |
** The Victorian era family did better than most as they were set up as upper-middle class, but still were shocked at how long household work took and got increasingly squicked by the lack of shampoo. |
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** The above genre was neatly parodied by ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Situation]]'', with "1990s House". Which was then done for real (to an extent) by BBC Four in 2009. |
** The above genre was neatly parodied by ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Situation]]'', with "1990s House". Which was then done for real (to an extent) by BBC Four in 2009. |
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=== [[Web Original]] === |
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* The ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' game ''Peasant's Quest''. Most of the game is spent trying to convince a guard that you are indeed a peasant; one of his three issues is that the protagonist "doesn't smell like" one. Also, note that all the thatched-roof cottages are realistically one-roomed and have mud floors. |
* The ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' game ''Peasant's Quest''. Most of the game is spent trying to convince a guard that you are indeed a peasant; one of his three issues is that the protagonist "doesn't smell like" one. Also, note that all the thatched-roof cottages are realistically one-roomed and have mud floors. |
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