History Main / HookerWithaHeartofGold

* Honoré de Balzac, being a XIXth century author, ''loves'' this trope. In his works, we find Esther in ''Scenes from a Courtesan's Life'', Coralie in ''Lost Illusions'', arguably Marana in ''The Maranas'' short story or even the eponymous ''Girl with the Golden Eyes'' (though there are [[DepravedBisexual other]] [[PsychoLesbian issues]] at work there)... Of course, it tends to [[RedemptionEqualsDeath end badly]] for the poor girl. Generally speaking, Balzac likes his GoodBadGirls.

* ''ThePhoenixRequiem'' has an interesting variation, in that the story begins several years after she left her former line of work, and she's just beginning to earn a degree of respect in her new hometown.

* Subverted in ''TheBoondocks'', where Granddad dates Cristal who is obviously a prostitute to everyone but Granddad who refuses to believe such accusations despite being given legitimate evidence. Cristal is portrayed as little more than a GoldDigger who has run amuck of her pimp. Despite this Granddad is shown to have fallen hopelessly in love with her at the end of the episode.

** Actually, while Theodora ''was'' a prostitute, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_%286th_century%29#Origin she wasn't exactly a streetwalker.]] She was an actress, and in those times acting involved sexual acts by pretty much default, so she used her good looks as well as her sexual prowess, her brains and her PluckyGirl personality to go up the Byzantine society.

* [[{{TheCinemaSnob}} Brad Jones']] miniseries "Hooker with a Heart of Gold" simultaneously plays with the trope and keeps it straight in that the hooker in question actually has a golden heart. She's still pretty nice, though.

* Stacy-X was a member of the ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' after her brothel was destroyed, and had a rivalry with Husk for Archangel's affections. But like most new X-Men introduced after Bishop, she was [[PutOnABus written off]] when a new writer came onboard.
** Nope, got depowered after [[RewritingReality House of M]]. Survived [[TonightSomeoneDies Decimation]] but died later.

** Being technically a slave of her CompleteMonster of a son, and the one who spoiled him to such condition is not "having a heart of gold" in this troper's books.

-->Cheyenne, ''Once Upon A Time In The West''.

* Kim from ''MissSaigon''. To be fair, she isn't much of a sex kitten (she's a 16 year old prostitute, an orphan and in desperate need of money); John seems to be more attracted to her innocence.

* Most real sex workers do what they do because they need the money to support themselves/school/family/kids/food, and the job does not actually attest as to who they are-they're usually very intelligent, good people who are no different from anyone who works any other job, not to mention many get tricked into doing what they do due to the fact that if you're new to the industry you're probably not very GenreSavvy.
** Not to mention the numerous sex workers that are victims of trafficking and kidnapping.

* Traditionally, Mary Magdalene, friend of Jesus has been depicted as a harlot, but this comes from tradition and not from [[TheBible scripture]]. For an excellent revision of Mary, read Christopher Moore's ''[[LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff]]'', which is essentially a subversion of the entire New Testament.

* Irma (Shirley [=MacLaine=]) in the romantic comedy ''Irma la Douce''.

* Delilah in [[Unforgiven Unforgiven]], the sweetest and most innocent of the working girls, whose ill treatment at the hands of a gang of bad cowboys is the kick-off point for the movie's plot. A case can also be made for Strawberry Alice fitting this trope, as she's the unofficial leader of the working girls and her prime motivation throughout the film is avenging Delilah and defending the other girls.

* Most real sex workers do what they do because they need the money to support themselves/school/famiy/kids/food, and the job does not actually attest as to who they are-they're usually very intelligent, good people who are no different from anyone who works any other job, not to mention many get tricked into doing what they do due to the fact that if you're new to the industry you're probably not very GenreSavvy.

* Belinda in ''NightShift''.

* Rare male example - [[TheWoobie Mike Waters]] in MyOwnPrivateIdaho who is a prostitute because he is from a disadvantaged background and has narcolepsy, thus ensuring that he can't really have any normal job, as he falls asleep at the most inconvenient times. Many of the other prostitutes are shown to be in the profession by circumstance rather than thinking it's a great job. His friend Scott starts out like this, caring for Mike and making sure he stays safe but then [[spoiler: turns into a Jerkass and abandons him.]]

* [[SonOfAWhore Mako "Nakama" Nakarai]]'s HotMom, Miko, in {{Bokurano}}

* Rare male example - [[TheWoobie Mike Waters]] in MyOwnPrivateIdaho who is a prostitute because he is from a disadvantaged background and has narcolepsy, thus ensuring that he can't really have any normal job, as he falls asleep at the most inconvenient times. Many of the other prostitutes are shown to be in the profession by circumstance rather than thinking it's a great job. His friend Scott starts out like this, caring for Mike and making sure he stays safe but then [[spoiler: turns into a [[Jerkass]] and abandons him.]]

* The JuliaRoberts film ''PrettyWoman''.

**** [[spoiler: Following classic wrestling logic, Ram was booked to win. Of course, being a DarrenAronofsky movie with a BolivianArmyEnding, he may have died anyway... SoYeah...]]

This trope is only about prostitutes and other professional sex workers. For people who have sex ForHappiness rather then for money, see instead GoodBadGirl and EthicalSlut. However, the tropes can overlap when it comes to the most benevolent forms of sex work. Any EthicalSlut or person who is ForHappiness is against any form of sex work that is exploitative and/or emotionally damaging, but might consider some forms relatively safe and thus approve of them.

Any female sex-worker with a heart of gold can certainly be considered a GoodBadGirl. She might also be an EthicalSlut, but she is more likely to be a more or less tragic case who is "bad" because she has no other viable choice and will stop being slutty as soon as she gets the chance.