Who writes history? And how often do we question the narratives that are presented to us? I bet the answer is not enough. And it's understandable, life would be exhausting if we constantly doubted everything we know and where that information came from. But we don't really have the luxury of taking the backseat and just accepting things as we're told they are. Not after so many "conspiracy theories" turn out to be true.
One Reddit user wanted to know what people were deemed 'the bad guys' by history, but didn't actually deserve this title. And people were eager to share their picks. There's more to history than the side we're taught in schools, or wherever else we've heard about it, and as it turns out, many people are villainized to fit a certain narrative, or the 'us vs. them' mentality.
Bored Panda collected the most interesting stories of people being vindicated after being portrayed as the 'bad guys' for years. Scroll down and upvote your favorite submissions, and if you think something is missing, make sure to share it in the comments below!
#21
In the film Titanic the character Murdoch [unalived] someone, took bribes and generally came across as a right s**t. He was a real life person who was actually a hero and saved many lives. His living relatives were so disgusted that the VP of Fox travelled to Dalbeattie to personally apologise and presented a £5000 donation to Dalbeattie High School to boost the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize.
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121points
#22
Honestly, I'd say King John of England. Many of the troubles during his reign were directly caused by his brother Richard I preferring to gallivant around Europe and the Middle East.
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116points
#23
In brave heart, William Wallace gets betrayed by Robert the Bruce which never happened, he was loyal to the end
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103points
#24
Not a guy but rather an organisation.
The IRA are practically the sole reason that Ireland is an independent country today, yet their legacy has forever been tainted by an offshoot organisation (the Provisional IRA) to the point that most people outside of Ireland simply view their entire history as terrorists and criminals.
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99points
#25
All of the Black Panthers.
Any American should see it as reasonable to start a militia in order to protect your family, friends, and community from a corrupt and [criminal] state. [Taking out] cops was justice.
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95points
#26
**Herbert Hoover.** He was a lifelong humanitarian and had a reputation as an excellent administrator, which led him to win the Presidency of the U.S in 1928.
- But less than eight months after he took office, the world was rocked by one of the worst economic depressions in history.
- It was also during Hoover’s Presidency that mass media like radio and newsreels started spreading wildly, and Hoover was a breathtakingly awful speaker with poor public relations skills.
So Hoover got trounced in the next election by FDR’s abundant optimism and wide toothy grin, and was forever tarred in history as being the uncaring standoffish bureaucrat who ignored all the hardships of the Great Depression from his White House perch.
73points
#27
Richard III. Demonised by the Tudors, in part due to his curved spine (now confirmed) and their political agendas. He might have been a good King or a bad King/person but it is difficult to determine as the records that followed his death are so incredibly bias.
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66points
#28
Caligula.
A lot of the stories of him being mad were just posthumous propaganda by his political opponents. Considering the horrific abuse by Tiberius he suffered as a child, Caligula was remarkable well balanced.
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42points
#29
Napoleon, there wasn't really a ''bad'' or a ''good'' side in the Napoleonic wars
20points
#30
Carol Baskin. They found her husband alive . People still think she fed her husband to tigers.
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-28points