History Main / HookerWithaHeartofGold

This is particularly true if the character in question is in the "street-walker" category - they are generally the most [[WrongSideOfTheTracks poor]] and [[DarkestHour desperate]], have gone through the most [[BreakTheCutie embittering experiences]], and frequently have debilitating drug addictions that wreak havoc on their looks and their [[DespairEventHorizon personalities]]. Not that you an tell, of course, as Hollywood hookers tend to be gorgeous and never suffer from meth bugs or malnutrition.

* All four main characters in ''BadGirls(Film) Bad Girls''.

* All four main characters in ''BadGirls''.

* 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.

* Heavily averted in ''TheShield''. The show includes two major hooker characters, but they [[strike:realistically]] brutally depict them suffering from every kind of abuse you can name.

->''"You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man."''
-->--'''Cheyenne''', '''''Once Upon A Time In The West'''''

-->''You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man.''
-->'''Cheyenne''', Once Upon A Time In The West.

[[folder:Films]]
* Ophelia from the 1983 film "Trading Places", helping Louis after he lose everything, letting him live in her house and taking care of him when he gets sick.

[[/folder]]

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

* Sofia Semenovna Marmeladova from [[FyodorDostoevsky Dostoevsky]]'s ''{{Crime and Punishment}}'', who comes complete with a [[FreudianExcuse really heartbreaking story to justify her prostitution]] and ends up as a love interest as well as a sort of spiritual guide to the murderer Raskolnikoff, taking his confession of his sins and guiding him to the beginning of a "New Life."

* Sara (Elisabeth Shue) in ''LeavingLasVegas''

* [[KingOfTheHill The Hills]] take in a woman that turns out to be a hooker, trying to earn her GED and lead a better life, but "fell back into" prostitution because of the money she ''wasn't'' making at Strickland Propane. She, after a series of events where Hank "bought" her from her old pimp, she became somewhat of a family friend, eventually attending Luanne's wedding.

* [[KingOfTheHill The Hills]] take in a woman that turns out to be a hooker, trying to earn her GED and lead a better life, but "fell back into" prostitution because of the money she ''wasn't'' making at Strickland Propane.

* Averted in Sin City where the prostitutes of Old Town are armed to the teeth and are willing to mow down anyone who gets in their way.

* 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 intelligent, good people who are no different from anyone who works any other job.

* The first season of ''{{CSI}}'' has Nick falling for a hooker, who is indeed killed by her pimp. However, there's a slight subversion, in that her pimp claims she did not have a heart of gold, and was going back to school to ''recruit'' for him.

This is particularly true if the character in question is in the "street-walker" category - they are generally the most [[WrongSideOfTheTracks poor]] and [[DarkestHour desperate]], have gone through the most [[BreakTheCutie embittering experiences]], and frequently have debilitating drug addictions that wreak havoc on their looks and their [[DespairEventHorizon personalities]].

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