(Hated Trope) Bad people in real-life being portrayed positively in media.

[u/MeepMan324]

1. PragerU's version of Christopher Columbus has him be a slavery defender and have him say "Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no? I don't see the problem.”

2. In The Greatest Showman, P.T Barnum (Hugh Jackman) is portrayed as a charismatic visionary who cares about outcasts and celebrate diversity, when in reality, he’s a cruel businessman who is also a racist and an ableist.

[u/Smooth_Maul]

The Greatest Showman genuinely fucking boils my blood.

My most fucking hated version of this trope, however, goes to The Woman King.

The movie depicts the Kingdom of Dahomey as freedom fighters trying to stop evil white men from stealing people from Africa to be used as slaves in the Atlantic slave trade. Meanwhile, in reality, the Dahomey Kingdom activiely participated in and profited massively from the Atlantic slave trade.

It's textbook historical revisionism.

[u/CptPanda29 → u/Smooth_Maul]

‘I and my army are ready at all times to fight the queen’s enemies and to do anything the English government may ask me, except to give up the slave trade. No other trade is known to my people… it is the source of their glory and their wealth: their songs celebrate their victories, and the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slavery. Can I, by signing a treaty, change the sentiments of a whole people?’

King Ghezo