How the dark, violent medieval origins of Robin Hood were erased

bbc.com

6 points16594470917 comments

> When he encounters a woman who talks about the virtuous, justice-seeking Robin Hood, he denies who he is and speaks of himself in the third person. "He was not a hero. He robbed and killed for the joy of it, nothing more."

What better time to rewrite Robin Hood as an unambiguous villain who rejects his own legacy wholesale than during an era of unprecedented and rapidly increasing wealth inequality in the US? This feels rather deliberate.

Well there is a movie coming out.

It was released a few days ago.

If that wasn't clear, the quote is from the movie, as cited by the news article. The movie is depicting him as an unequivocally evil person. It is essentially a political propaganda piece rewriting a folk hero to condemn him.

Subverting the stories that a culture promotes to encourage "this is who we are" is a time honored way to attack the culture.

Both are, of course, propaganda

I can't find it but my favorite Robin Hood comic strip was one where Robin Hood robs from someone rich and gives it to someone poor.

I'm rich! shouts the poor person.

You're what? says Robin Hood.

"This redistribution of wealth is trickier than I thought!"

- Dennis Moore, as quoted by Monty Python.

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