Line #12 Series/AlgoHabranHechoPorLaHistoriaArgentina


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/algo_habran_hecho_serie_completa_en_dvd_cuotas_s_interes_d_nq_np_993424_mla27842626788_072018_f.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:History is full of lies... and those are the guys who will set things right.]]
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4	''Algo habrán hecho por la historia argentina'' ("They must have done something for the history of Argentina") is an Argentine documentary that explains the history of UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}}. It is presented by historian Felipe Pigna, who explains things, and entertainer Mario Pergolini, who acts as the AudienceSurrogate. The narrating jumps between scenes of Pigna explaining things to Pergolini at the historical sites of the events being mentioned, and brief dramatizations of the events (sometimes with Pigna and Pergolini being in the middle of them as they unfold).
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6	The documentary, an adaptation of Pigna's books of the same name, has three seasons. The first one starts with the British invasions to the Río de la Plata (1806), up to the fall of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Battle of Caseros (1852). The second season continues up to the suicide of Leandro N. Alem (1896). The third season continues up to the meeting of UsefulNotes/JuanDomingoPeron and UsefulNotes/EvaPeron (1944).
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8	!Tropes
9	* AllOfTimeAtOnce: Pigna and Pergolini jump back and forth between the past (when explaining past events during recreations) and the present (at the historical sites, museums, or other related locations) at will, and sometimes both are used ''at the same time'' for humorous effect. For example, Pigna explains the route taken by the British army that conquered Buenos Aires in 1806, and Pergolini points that it's similar to the route of bus 22. Suddenly, a lot of creole peoples are escaping, and British soldiers are firing at them. Pigna and Pergolini join the people who are escaping... and they all board the bus 22.
10	* AppropriatedAppellation: The phrase "Algo habrán hecho" (They must have done something") was used during the UsefulNotes/NationalReorganizationProcess dictatorship. Once someone was abducted by the government forces (or was suddenly missing in unknown circumstances), most people replied in disdain with that phrase. Meaning, "they must have been secretly involved with Montoneros, ERP or one of these terrorist gangs, and the government found it out". There was a lot of backlash against the phrase and its mindset later on. The documentary shares it, and uses for the national heroes of Argentina instead.
11	* BeenThereShapedHistory: Downplayed. Pigna and Pergolini appear in the middle of several historical events, but only to witness and explain it.
12	* DocumentaryOfLies: This documentary claims that history as we know it was "WrittenByTheWinners", and that it will reveal the true history. But for actual historians, there's nothing new under the sun here. Felipe Pigna follows the discredited doctrine of Argentine revisionist history[[note]]Do not confuse with the historical revisionism of the Holocaust, usually called simply "Revisionism", this is historical revisionism focused on a completely different history[[/note]], that posits that there is a ForeverWar between "the people" and those against the people (foreign powers, their local agents, the oligarchy), and that every event in history can be explained under this light. Of course, as history has more than just two sides and one motivation, this means that all the info that contradicts that idea (side A doing bad things, side B doing good things, people on opposing sides working together and people on the same side fighting against each other) has to be either downplayed or completely silenced.
13	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The documentary starts by saying that "History is full of lies".
14	* LaResistance: The intro points that Argentina is a WretchedHive, but also that there has always been a resistance against the evil governors.
15	* ManipulativeEditing: Pigna reads a letter that the Supreme Director Carlos María de Alvear sent to the United Kingdom, proposing to turn the country into a British colony. A surprised Pergolini asks what should be done with a traitor like Alvear, and Pigna points several things named after him (avenues, hotels, etc). This scene, however, completely skips the ''context'' in which Alvear made that proposal,[[note]]the independentists of the UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWarsOfIndependence were in their bleakest hour, Spain was preparing a huge expedition against Buenos Aires, and the Spanish victory seemed inevitable. Being a colony of a constitutional monarchy seemed better than to fall again into an absolutist monarchy, and the retribution against the independentists that would surely ensue. Alvear had no way of knowing that the independentists would really manage to turn the tide of the war, and that the Spanish military expedition (that Pigna did not mention at all) would riot and never leave the shores of Spain[[/note]] and suggests that those locations are named after Alvear because of this proposal, as he does not mention his historical feats[[note]]the most important one, for example, was the capture of the Royalist stronghold in Montevideo[[/note]].
16	* NationalAnthem: The intro (see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7HrNT_I5cw here]]) provides some narration and images of historical events and people, with the background sound of the national athem of Argentina.
17	* TacticalWithdrawal: Pigna points that, when the British invaded Buenos Aires, they forced all local politicians to swore loyalty to the United Kingdom. All except Belgrano, who escaped from the city specifically to avoid doing this. Pergolini points that someone else did not swore loyalty: viceroy Sobremonte, who also escaped.
18	* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: Defied. The text in the beginning says "The events and characters of this program are based on reality. Any similarity is intentional".
19	* TheWatson: Mario Pergolini asks the questions that the audience would ask, and jumps to say a piece when Pigna, MrExposition, is about to mention a topic that is Common Knowledge.
20	* WretchedHive: The intro describes UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}} as such. It has eight times the size of France, but half of its population. Most presidents have been imposed by dictatorships or electoral frauds. In less than 200 years it waged two wars against neighbors and two others against world powers. Their highest national heroes die impoverished or in exile, and its dictators name important streets of the capital city. Each new kid that is born owes 4,000 dollars to people he does not even know.

Context Series / AlgoHabranHechoPorLaHistoriaArgentina