History GenreDeconstruction / Film

* ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' is often cited as the archetypical EpicMovie, even though it largely subverts the genre's conventions. The hero isn't an upright, masculine strongman but a neurotic, AmbiguouslyGay genius; there's no love interest (unless you count [[HoYay Sherif Ali]]); the elements (namely the desert), and the hero's [[ObstructiveBureaucrat own commanding officers]], are more of an obstacle than the enemy; the Arabs [[WeAreStrugglingTogether have their own ambitions]] which often run counter to Lawrence's. Even the battle scenes are marginalized, Creator/DavidLean preferring SceneryPorn over bloodshed. It culminates in a DownerEnding where [[spoiler:the protagonist [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge gives in to mindless killing]], the Arabs collapse, the British take over, and Lawrence can't [[DoomedMoralVictor even claim a moral victory]])]].