One person’s hero is another person’s villain, right?
Or, maybe we’ve been programmed for so long to think certain people and characters were heroes the whole time, but when examined more closely, we realize that might not really be the whole story…
Whatever the case, people got pretty fired up when they were asked about who they believe has wrongly been portrayed as a hero.
Let’s see what AskReddit users had to say about this.
1. A hot take.
“Jack from jack and the beanstalk
The guy literally sold his fathers cow for some beans, and then he’d break and enter into the giants home and then MURDER him.”
2. Rotten to the core.
“As a naive kid who didn’t understand the concept of an unreliable narrator I thought Greg Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid was pretty cool
As an adult he is a rotten little piece of shit.”
3. Thoughts on this one?
“J. Jonah Jameson here to talk about the menace to the lovely city of New York… Spider-Man!
Jokes aside, he is legit a good guy.
Barring Spider Man, he is a good influence on Peter’s life even as rough as he is, and is again, rough on his employees but puts his everything behind them when the going gets tough for them (like encouraging Ben Urich to write a Kingpin hit piece during Daredevil Born Again, despite the guy having several attempts on his life already)”
4. Mr. Barnum.
“PT Barnum in the Greatest Showman. Dude was definitely not a nice guy and completely focused on exploiting anyone with strange features.
He touted an old black woman around as George Washington’s 160 year old nurse and, when she died, had her autopsy performed live on stage for an audience.”
5. Zeus.
“Zeus is a horrible person if you look at the actual Greek myths.
Zeus was disloyal to Hera and is a rapist and it’s treated like a running joke. Hades was loyal to his wife and even the idea that he “kidnapped” Persephone has been mostly discredited in modern translations/interpretations.
It’s likely one of the most loving and consensual relationships in Greek mythology. All of the gods are flawed and jealous and everything but altogether, Hades (and Persephone) are some of the least so, while Zeus is one of the worst.”
6. Walter White.
“I wouldn’t say he’s portrayed as a hero but a lot of Breaking Bad fans seem to think Walt is a hero who didn’t do a thing wrong.
He did plenty wrong.”
7. Zombie alert!
“Rick Grimes.
The show is called the Walking Dead and it’s interesting how the main “threat” changes season to season from being less about the zombies and more about the other human beings who are alive.
Rick is no better than any of the other leaders out there. I have always said that he and his group are the real walking dead. Everywhere they go ends up getting tons of people killed.
He is a bad leader and the reason they can never find anywhere to settle is because of his decision making.
I’m generalizing, of course, to keep the comment short. Rick Grimes – not a hero.”
8. A lot of theories about this one.
“Robin Williams’ character in Mrs. Doubtfire. As a kid, I was mad at Sally Fields for ruining everyone’s fun, but as an adult, holy shit, Robin Williams’ character is the WORST.
He sabotages his own career, destroys his house with zoo animals (going behind his wife’s back to do so, after specifically being told not to have a crazy party), and literally tries to murder the new guy his ex-wife is dating (Pierce Brosnan’s character) by serving him food he’s allergic to.
Not to mention the basic plot of the movie, which is establishing a new identity to get closer to his kids whom he’s not allowed to be around.”
9. Hmmm…
“Steve Jobs.
Despite being worth a tremendous amount of money, he had to be sued for child support. Choosing to not provide for your family makes you a dirtbag.”
10. The good witch.
“Glinda the Good Witch (Wizard of Oz) She used Dorothy to kill the witch of the east (house) tricked Dorothy into stealing her shoes and then getting her to walk all the way to Emerald City just to literally melt the Witch of the West.
Glinda also used Dorothy to send the Wizard back to Kansas leaving Oz with no natural leader other than her.
Glinda knew THE WHOLE TIME that Dorothy could have clicked her heels together and gone home!
Who now rules Oz completely unopposed? The ‘Good’ Witch Glinda.”
11. A legend of the West.
“Wyatt Earp.
He was a complicated guy and an outlaw, bouncer, vagrant, gambler and possibly a pimp. He was arrested for stealing a horse, then broke out of jail and skipped town. He was also accused of misappropriating funds and back-handing a prostitute.
Virgil was much more of a heroic lawman.”
12. Imagine that.
“John Lennon.
He took a holier than though approach to telling the world Imagine if this was a better place. When he wasn’t telling other people how to live their life, he was brutally terrorizing and neglecting his family.
Imagine? Imagine Julian doesn’t exist, that’s what John did. Peace? More like piece-as on a couple of occasions John chipped a piece off Cynthia’s tooth by back handing her.
Lennon was a talented musician who made a few feel good songs. When he wasn’t writing/playing music he was a monster to those who were closest to him.”
13. Anakin.
“Anakin Skywalker.
It’s questionable whether his one good deed at the end of his life redeems all the atrocities he committed as Darth Vader. His motives for turning back were also pretty selfish when you think about it, since the Emperor had just told Luke to kill him.”
14. Started a burger empire.
“Ray Kroc.
He stole a business from two hard working people and shafted then out of what little they would’ve had when they sold it. Yes he built a fast food empire, but he’s still a prick.”
15. A saint?
“Mother Teresa.
Although she did some good, she also spoke against women rights, contraception (which led to widespread STDs). She also had a very colonial perspective on people, people of color needed salvation because of their inherit sin and inadequacies of being black.”
16. The inventor.
“Thomas Alva Edison.
He is portrayed as the inventor of the lightbulb (he bought or stole the patent and credited himself) he refused to reward Tesla when he built him an AC generator (he promised him 1 million dollars) and even killed animals big and small with AC electricity to bring Tesla down, not to mention many patents that he stole from Tesla.”
17. A business titan.
“Henry Ford was human garbage.
18. Dangerous…
“Maverick from Top Gun.
Iceman is right. Maverick is dangerous and has no business operating an aircraft. He lacks emotional regulation, procedural adherence, and knowingly violates rules.
He is in no way representative of what great pilots are and his attitude is toxic and dangerous.”
What about you?
Who do you think is wrongfully portrayed as a hero?
Tell us all about it in the comments!
