MovieChat Forums > Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Discussion > British propaganda

British propaganda

posted 15 years ago by enriquegoni
160 replies | jump to latest

It is obvious that the film is anti-Spanish and a piece of British propaganda. They not only fail to depict the calmed and strong character of Phillip II, but also fail to depict his most basic physical appearance, he was blond and with blue eyes. Of course, this was not the kind of image that they wanted to give to the evil king of Spain, as he would be too similar to the "heroic" and "tolerant" English people, so they "changed" him to have a black beard with dark eyes and dark hair. It is also a piece of British propaganda. Elizabeth I killed thousands of catholic priests, so she was obviously as intolerant as anyone of the time. Of course, this is not showed in the film. It was not the kind of image they wanted to give to the "heroic" and "tolerant" English queen. Do not take this film seriously, any resemblance to any real character is pure coincidence.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Sphinxara 12 years ago

When were the Catholics driven out of Britain? I'm still here and I'm Catholic.

Your name is of no importance and you live in the pipe in the upstairs water closet.

[–] ecuelles 12 years ago

The starting point of the Spanish decline was actually the death of Phillip II, because he was a great monarch, one of the best Spain has ever had.

Someone here says the above....this is absolutely not true.

First of all his father was one of the greatest monarch Spain ever had, Charles the 5th. Philip bankrupted his country in getting bogged down in endless religious wars. Also against the Netherlands. Here in the Netherlands, Philips is knows as one of the most cruel monarch that ever was, definitely not the greatest.

[–] subterranean_catalyst 12 years ago

TIL Modern day Hispanic film makers, writers and artists are far less biased than any other nationality or ethnic group /sarcasm.

Also: I'm glad that Spain did not dominate or conquer England. I guess I should put in my disclaimer than I'm American with part Native American, Korean, English and German in my blood as I say this? LOL

[–] user-153 11 years ago

Having stumbled across this thread as I watched this very average film, it soon gained my attention and I ended up missing much of the film as I read through the rants. Highly amusing to read such incandescent reaction to Hollywood abusing history once more for the sake of entertainment.

One final thought is what the trolls think of Gibraltar. A rather charming little piece of the British empire, don't you think?

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

One final thought is what the trolls think of Gibraltar. A rather charming little piece of the British empire, don't you think?

oh yes, that minuscule piece of nothing hanging like a little pesky turd from the butthole of spain with the brits clinging to it like parasitic worms cause it still beats living in the uk.. LOL

bottomline:

land mass of spain: 504,645 square kilometers

land mass of great britain: 229,848 square kilomters

spain is more than twice the size of the uk so I say let the brits hang on to their little turd of a rock if it makes them feel a little less geographically inadequate..

btw, check this out:

world heritage sites belonging to spain: 44, all within spain's european land mass.. the 3rd most densely historical country on earth after italy (49) and china (45)..

world heritage sites belonging to the uk: 27 and that includes 3 outside the uk's european land mass, so if you take those 3 away, the uk only has 24..

the brits just can't match spain's historic-geographic carbon footprint no matter how hard they try.. and by desperately trying to cling to that tiny, godforsaken turd of a rock, all you brits succeed in doing is demonstrating to the entire world your eternal penis envy with regards to the former spanish empire as the uk feels downright 'honored' to have some microscopic piece of old mighty spain, even if it's just a piece of rock no one would give a s#ite about otherwise.. aaah the sad irony of it all: britain clinging to a sad little piece of barren rock just so they can claim some worthless foothold in mainland europe and feel somehow still 'imperially relevant'.. LOL

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Britain has more World Heritage Sites by size than Spain?

pssssst.. even going 'by size,' portugal and greece have you guys beat hands down, especially with regards to 'quality' sites,' so if I were you, I wouldn't be heading down that road, trust me..

now go back and scrape up another pile of worthless rocks and stand them on end to see if they'll let you call it a 'world heritage site'..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

And just to clarify, you're saying that if Britain was the same size as Spain it would have more world heritage sites.

no, I'm saying you are an idiot and britain is a s#itehole with an appalingly small mumber of world heritage sites for a former imperial superpower.. was that clear enough?

obviously size alone has nothing to do with heritage sites or with a nation's cultural footprint.. i.e., spain is only a fraction the size of china and yet china only has one more world heritage site.. spain: 44, china: 45..

4 countries in mainland europe outrank you brits when it comes to world heritage sites and global significance.. heck, outside of europe, even india and mexico outrank you guys:

italy:49
spain:44
france:38
germany:38

india:35
mexico:32

uk:24 <-----

I can see this is all too advanced for your i.q. level.. perhaps I could get a 10-year old to explain it to you in terms you're more familiar with..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

So you're saying if Britain was the same size as Spain, it would have more world heritage sites?

no, the only one who has suggested that bit of idiocy is you..

france is larger than spain and still its 38 world heritage sites cannot surpass spain's 44, so I seriously doubt a s#itehole like britain would..

Why do you hate Britain so much?

LOL are you gonna start crying now too? and no, kiddo, I don't hate britain.. I just hate ignorant brits like you who love to talk s#ite and then crap their pants the minute the facts are presented to them..

Don't get me wrong, Spain in a nice place to go on holiday, if you can't find somewhere in Greece, Italy or Portugal.

considering that spain's the top european destination for brits, I suspect your ignorance has shone through once again.. in fact, I'd be shocked if an ignorant oaf like you could even afford to go 'on holiday,' much less to southern europe..

once again, you'd be better off not speaking on matters you obviously know nothing about.. toodles!

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Can you please explain the relevance of the number of world heritage sites to our discussion?

sheesh.. are you so thick than you cannot keep up with your own ignorant postings? it was you who first started your bulls#ite about spain's sole contribution to the world being franco.. I simply responded by addressing that ridiculously ignorant comment of yours with an extensive list of world contributions which naturally include world heritage sites, as they are a very relevant example of a nation's cultural significance/footprint upon the world..

better yet, what do 'football fans' have to do with anything? a son of britain, the nation that gave the world the lovely cancer of 'football hooliganism,' ought to know better than to open your piehole about such an issue.. why are you so dumb?

besides, why are you so 'angry' about the issue of world historical significance/world heritage sites? does it make your jingoistic british pride feel inadequate vis a vis your mainland european counterparts? I guess I touched a nerve.. honestly, why do you harbor such penis envy with regards to mainland european countries and their much greater cultural footprints upon the world?

a discussion of historical/world heritage sites has a lot more to do with a forum of discussion devoted to a historical film/period drama than do your foolishly desperate attempts to bring 'football fans' into it..

it's all rather pathetic of you, isn't it? then again, british penis envy usually is..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Isn't penis envy normally attributed to aggressive name-calling?

no, it's attributed to jingoistic individuals such as yourself who feel inadequate and resentful over the fact that others possess bigger/greater assets..

in this case, you simply couldn't stomach the fact that spain is over twice the size of your beloved britain and possesses infinitely more unesco-sanctioned world heritage sites within its european borders..

why does that make you so angry? care to tell us?

britain has always coveted the historical and cultural riches of mainland europe and imperial spain has always been the primary target of the brits' notorious penis envy..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

aww yet another sophomoric and totally off-topic attempt to hijack attention away from the uk's embarrassingly meager number of world heritage properties..

italy:49
spain:44
france:38
germany:38

india:35
mexico:32

uk:24 <-----

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

right after you tell us how come the uk can't scrape up 25 world heritage sites within its own borders..

stop trying to change the subject, darling..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

still trying to change the subject, darling? tsk-tsk-tsk

answer the question already: why does britain possess such a pitifully small number of world heritage sites?

culturally and geographically, britain appears to have quite a small penis, no?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Britain had..

yes, it had.. past tense..

but now, in the present, it only has a sad and pathetic small number of world heritage sites to show for it..

please explain..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

What was Franco like as a leader? Was he good to his people? Did he admire Hitler?

no, but it sounds like you do judging from your obsessive fascination with hitler and fascism..

now it all makes perfect sense..

what turned you into such a neo-nazi, dear? do tell..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Thank you

you thank me for calling you a neo-nazi?

well, at least you're a proud little fascist pig, aren't you? and you're welcome by the way!

unfortunately, I don't engage in silly arguments about fascism with arrogant british neo-nazis..

now go back to masturbating your tiny little penis over pictures of hitler if that's your thing..

meanwhile, your fascist fantasies still won't do a thing to increase britain's paltry global geographic and/or cultural heritage/standing vis a vis the rest of europe..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

largest european countries:

1 russia 3,782,688
2 ukraine 603,700

3 france 547,030
4 spain 505,992
.
.
.
.
.
5 sweden 449,964
6 norway 385,155

7 germany 357,050
8 finland 338,145

9 poland 312,685
10 italy 301,318
.
.
.
.
.
.
11 united kingdom 244,820 <----

helps explain the brits' notorious european 'penis envy,' no?

and no, I couldn't give a s#ite about football if I tried..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

franco had nothing to do with this:

italy:49 world heritage sites
spain:44
france:38
germany:38

india:35
mexico:32

uk:24 <-----

britain's poor and unimpressive native culture is the laughing stock of europe? how does that make you feel?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

why do you keep trying to change the subject away from this?:

italy:49 world heritage sites
spain:44
france:38
germany:38

india:35
mexico:32

uk:24 <-----

is it because you're ashamed that britain's poor and unimpressive native culture is the laughing stock of mainland europe?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

How many Spanish were killed in the civil war?

italy:49 world heritage sites
spain:44
france:38
germany:38

india:35
mexico:32

uk:24 <-----this many..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

when was the last time england won a fifa world cup?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

how many uefa european championships has england won?

come on, tell us.. don't be shy..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

Is Spain proud of Franco?

of course..

is britain proud of its uefa european championship record?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

how did that opening match against italy turn out today?

italy didn't even have their star keeper, buffon, today.. so I'm guessing england must've scored what? 6-7 goals at least?

care to tell us, mr. salazar?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

LOL what happened? i thought you liked football..

oh well.. how about tennis?

how well did andy murray do at queen's club this week?

oh, britannia.. you suck at pro sports..

britain/uk/england.. by any other name, the s#itehole and laughing stock of the entire world..

spain's number-one-ranked rafael nadal destroyed andy murray at the french open semis 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1 this year (ouch!) and now italy has wiped their arses with your overrated world cup side..

rule, craptania, rule..

*pathetic small number of world heritage sites surpassed even by mexico and india..

*tiny geographic land mass that doesn't even rank among the top 10 largest countries in europe..

*pathetic pro sports athletes..

*pathetic national football side which is the laughing stock of the fifa organization both in europe and at the world cup level, with not a single world cup final in 48 years?

what cruel joke will history play on poor craptannia next? stay tuned..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

user-153, you sound scared and demoralized.. what happened? did your tiny british c ock shrivel up to the size of a pea all of a sudden?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27183851

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz lol dude, if you're gonna post a link, at least make it clickable by 'activating it,' comprende?.. otherwise, I ain't bothering..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] MrSiegal 11 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=butZyxI-PRs

How do the angels get to sleep when the Devil leaves his porch light on?

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

poor england has sunk to irrelevance in yet another field: football..

not a single fifa world cup final in 48 years.. yikes!

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] Targetrich 11 years ago

What can you tell us about Spain's economic crisis?

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

so user-153, why the sudden change to targetrich? didn't think I'd be able to spot you, did you?

btw, spain's financial woes are part of a global recession, just like the rest of europe and the world are experiencing, save perhaps for germany..

what difference does it make anyway? financial ups and downs follow a normal cyclical (see transitory) pattern that never lasts forever.. all of which suggests that your silly attempts at hijacking the subject won't help you here..

however, changing the topic to finances or the economy (two issues which are hardly unique to spain) still won't change the fact that:

1. the uk SUCKS at sports, especially soccer, and has been doing so for the last half century..

2. the uk SUCKS with regards to globally relevant historical properties as it has an embarrassingly and pitifully small number of unesco-sanctioned world heritage sites, coming in at number 8 and even surpassed by mexico and india..

3. your so-called cuisine SUCKS on an epic scale..

4. your native culture and arts are the laughing stock of europe seeing as how 90% of the stuff your so-called 'british' museum(s) (of which remarkably little is in fact native to britain) and national gallery hold is actually not even native to britain at all but in fact stolen from elsewhere..

5. you guys copied spain's global empire and then filled your museums following the old napoleonic 'small penis complex' of stealing art from others, except at least the french have an extremely rich native culture of their own to begin with, whereas britain does not as all you've ever done is stock your warehouse-style museums to the rafters with art you've stolen from others.. which is why london feels like the old lady who pads her bra or the old pathetic gent who shoves a sock in his shorts, in both cases to give the 'illusion' of 'native endowment' to mask a sad cultural inferiority/insecurity complex vis a vis the rest of europe, especially mediterranean europe..

by contrast, the greatest treasures in spanish, italian and greek museums are actually native to those areas.. you guys can't even begin to claim the same..

face it, britain has the biggest cultural inferiority complex in europe.. and, unlike the ups and downs of the global economy, your cultural inferiority issues appear to be a 'permanent' fixture..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

what can you tell us about all those posts of yours you've deleted?

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

franco's still dead, the queen of england's still an old, irrelevant bag and britain still has the fewest unesco world heritage sites of any major country in western/southern europe.. some things never change..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] HunterSVonnegut 11 years ago

ROFLMFAO

[–] LocoHero 10 years ago

What can you tell us about Spain's economic crisis?

😂😂😂😀😀😀😁😁😁😁 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Rule Brittania!

[–] jvw08 10 years ago

Spain has very high youth unemployment at the moment. This anticaria guy is obviously unemployed and has nothing better to do than spend his time trolling the internet. We should have pity on the guy.

[–] anticaria 10 years ago

jvw08? lol

locohoho, is that you? dude, exactly how many sock puppet accounts do you have? dang.. it seems you're the one with much too much time on your hands to be creating a new troll account every 15 minutes.. 😂

sad but true.. <gasp>

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] LocoHero 10 years ago

One final thought is what the trolls think of Gibraltar. A rather charming little piece of the British empire, don't you think?

💂💂💂

👍👍👍

🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[–] anticaria 10 years ago

don't you mean gibralAtar? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] wulfthar 11 years ago

Ehi Enrique, I'm Italian and the times of the Spanish domination in Italy was a century of disaster for the Italian population, the Dukedum of Milan that before the Spanish invasion was one of the richest places in Europe was almost completely obliterated economically speaking for the Spanish rule and their priests, the only light of the Italian Reinessance remained the Republic of Venice.

IMO the movie is even too historically accurate, if you don't believe that, just read Manzoni's "I promessi sposi" that deals with a guy called "Don Rodrigo".

Juliet Parrish: You can't win a war if you're extinct!

[–] ValeriaMessalina 11 years ago

You know, I took the liberty of reading the boards before watching the movie itself. And when I came across threads like this I thought "Oh come on, surely you're overreacting, there's no way the British could be that straight forward and jingoistic in their approach." Well, having watched the actual movie now, I have to agree, this is pretty much British propaganda, and I say this as a sort of "3rd party neutral observer" as I am not British or Spanish, not protestant or Catholic and not even a native English-speaker or raised in English-influenced culture. I honestly gave more credit to British film-makers before, believing them to possess a more nuanced approach to history, but if this movie is any indication, I was dead wrong. As another poster somewhere on this board noted, the British like to give Americans a hard time about jingoistic "patriotic" movies, but this movie is very much like those, in the worst ways. The costumes were nice though.

[–] dannieboy20906 11 years ago

Maybe history is written by the victors. However, history it is and no amount of caterwauling and mud sling will change history.

I love the movie, but then I am descended from the English. Well, sort of English. My father's family came from the Scottish lowlands near the English border and my mother's family came from the border lands between Wales and England. Their ancestors came here long enough ago that nobody in my extended family thinks themselves anything but American.

England won in the long haul and completely bested mainland Europe. They were not outdone until their upstart colonists in America became more English than the English and demanded independence. We have had a special, if sometimes strained relationship ever since.

Some day another European power may rise. It does not appear on the horizon yet. Many Europeans have been hoping and chanting for our "comeuppance" ever since we have secured our places in the world and made it a better place. For me, I will enjoy the movie all the more knowing that Europeans are writhing in anger and frustration over the propaganda.

[–] nickm2 11 years ago

...Many Europeans have been hoping and chanting for our "comeuppance" ever since we have secured our places in the world...

I have always told those folks to be careful what they wish for, they just might get it--and they won't like it when it happens.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

For me, I will enjoy the movie all the more knowing that Europeans are writhing in anger and frustration over the propaganda.

hey, knock yourself out.. there's a ton of 'ludicrously' crappy movies just like this one out there for your biased enjoyment..

btw, i'm american myself of german-italian extraction and this pile of jingoistic, ill-informed, pseudo-historical crapola ain't even worth defending, so perhaps you ought to pick your battles a tad more carefully cause planting your jingoistic little 'oh mother britannia' flag on this mess of a film is nothing but a suicide mission and guaranteed to make you look like a complete fool.. godspeed, buddy.. wear that badge proudly!

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] LuisLEONFC 11 years ago

"If God wanted to humble Phillip II, he could have done better, because Phillip II won every war he fought (including the naval war against England). Also, if he wanted to help protestantism, he could have also done better, because the first war Spain lost was against a Catholic country in 1640 (France). Every country of the time had inquisition. In England, around 20,000 witches were burned. The last "witch" was convicted in England in the 20th century. So I don't think that Protestantism is less evil than Catholicism. They have very few differences.
Elizabeth is portrayed as very tolerant, concerned about murdering people, etc. The reality is that she was just as bad as any other monarch of the time. She burned hundreds of Catholic priests in England to make sure Protestantism would dominate.
There is a clear reason why they lied about Phillip II physical appearance; they didn't want him to be confused with an English person. Spanish play the role of fanatic intolerant murderers. English play the role of tolerant, human right defenders. If they had depicted Phillip II as blond with grey eyes (as he really was), he could have been confused with a good English person.
I'm relaxed, but if this movie wanted to change history, at least they could have done it with a good reason. They only change history to send 4 awful messages: Catholicism is bad, Protestantism is good, England is good, Spain is bad. Very weak." Absolutely agree with this, just more English propaganda.

Also, sorry, I'm not really replying to anyone, just wanted to share my opinion.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] LuisLEONFC 11 years ago

huh????????????

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] anticaria 11 years ago

due to its unrivaled omnipotence and far-flung domination across europe and around the globe, spain was seen as the 'evil empire' of its age by the disgruntled, envious, terrorist-sponsoring rogue nations of that time: the english, the dutch, the ottoman turk, etc.. much like the usa is perceived as the 'evil empire' of our time by the disgruntled, envious, terrorist-sponsoring rogue nations of today: iran, syria, north korea, etc..

i.e., it's all about the propaganda of hate and it's been that way for centuries and will remain so for centuries to come: powerful empires will forever be demonized by the resentful, the envious, the disenfranchised and the 'have-nots'..

and so it goes.. it's human nature 'to demonize that which you cannot overcome'.. an unfortunate but truthful measure of humanity i'm afraid..

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] anticaria 11 years ago

this film doesn't just reek of propaganda.. it reeks of crapaganda!

it wasn't the fall from her 16th-floor penthouse that killed her, it was the landing

[–] oscar-35 10 years ago

Bravo...I weep and am saddened by Hollywood's need to turn a real piece of dramatic history into a amateur melodrama complete with black hat baddies and white hatted goodies. History doesn't need any help like this to make a story worth viewing.

Three reasons for Internet bullying of others with public forum attacks: fear, ignorance and envy.

[–] 10 years ago

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