Winning The Lottery Hasn’t Always Been As Lucky As Today

It crops up so often it’s surprising the PR people at Lotto Agent aren’t suing for defamation. The portrayal of winning the lottery should be wall-to-wall smiles and massive cheques. Popular culture, however, never shows the best lottery to play nor the happiest results. They leave that to the news. Instead, on TV and at the cinema, we are treated to an endless parade of lotteries leading to doom. This would be, of course, massively unfair, if it weren’t for our lottery history. 

As a plot device, a moment of easily contrived tension, there’s nothing like a lottery. How often have you seen the heroes draw straws to see which will have to sacrifice themselves? From war movies to sci-fi epics via a whole host of comedies, it’s a well-worn trope. This is not an accurate reflection of most people’s interactions with a lottery. In reality, winning the lottery is a dream come true, not a death sentence. Even when characters actually win the jackpot it never ends well.

In Lost the lottery winner was already dead and didn’t know it. That’s a pretty major divergence from reality. Armageddon saw Ben Affleck lose and face nuclear oblivion. Even It Ain’t Half Hot Mum saw Lofty lose by winning the lottery. It’s all but ubiquitous. It’s certainly not limited to just the men. They might not be very progressive jackpot lotteries but women do get to play their part too. The 1981 classic Dragonslayer featured a lottery deciding which virgin to sacrifice.

Romans To Blame For Bad Lottery PR

Winning the lottery today, as Lotto Agent, home to the best lotto jackpot reviews, will attest, tends not to involve the need to die. It is not a suicide mission. So just how can scriptwriters lean so heavily upon something so unrealistic? Well, in truth it’s only unrealistic at the moment. In the past lotteries didn’t quite have the fun and happy reputation they do now. Indeed, for quite a while the most famous lottery was perhaps one of the most barbaric punishments in the world.

“Well, I guess I won. Now I’m the guy who gets to save the Earth.”

• A J – Armageddon

Ever ask what the Romans have done for you? Well, this is one for the list. You can lay the fault for this constant motif at their door. They had a punishment so horrific it has abided in the common memory ever since. Decimation. When entire units of your military are misbehaving the Romans felt the best solution was killing every tenth man. So, each group of ten men would draw lots. Winning the lottery saw you then killed by the other nine, typically your own comrades. 

Winning The Lottery At Lotto Agent Not A Suicide Mission

This was ultimate Roman punishment for large groups of mutineers, deserters, cowards and the insubordinate. It was not, however, limited just to the ancient world. Trotsky applied it to deserters in the Russian Revolution. In the Finnish Civil War of 1918 the Whites used it upon conquered Reds at the Lottery of Huruslahti. The 64th Rifle Division resorted to it at the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. So for a long time winning the lottery was not a lucky turn of events.

“And all these men who are chosen by lot are bludgeoned mercilessly.”

• Polybius – 3rd Century BC

The media base this portrayal on screen, therefore, on something that is no longer true. However, it is easier to access in the mind of the audience. The collective memory is still strong enough to give it force. It says much about us all. You can more easily get people to identify with the doomed than with people winning the lottery and living happily ever after. The truth, these days, is that some of the best lottery jackpots are available at Lotto Agent and no one will kill you. Promise. 

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We take a look at why the on-screen portrayal of winning the lottery is never anything like the actual reality of doing so.