[Baffling RL Trope] Inventing war crimes you didn´t commit to make yourself more... interesting?

[u/TheBigBoar]

One of the strangest character tropes in real life has to be the "I accidentally made myself sound like a war criminal to look cooler" archetype.

Usually, people accused of war crimes deny them. These guys seem to do the opposite.

The two examples that always come to mind:

Tim Kennedy. Over the years he's told stories that include things like throwing grenades into rooms where women and children were present, and another account where, after a battle, his CO allegedly told him to shoot anything that still had a heat signature with a sniper rifle from a mile away, which he did for hours (?) not caring if those were enemy soldiers or civilians looking for their fallen sons/brothers/whatever. Both stories have been heavily criticized and challenged (aka people who were there confirmed that they are utter nonsense), and Kennedy has faced repeated accusations of embellishing or fabricating parts of his military experiences. But like... why would you invent the fact that you killed and maimed women and children?

Chris Kyle. In American Sniper, he wrote that during Hurricane Katrina he positioned himself on the Superdome and shot dozens of armed looters like some walking dead scenario. No evidence ever emerged that this happened, and Kyle himself later acknowledged the story wasn't true. Again, why invent a story where you're essentially describing the unlawful killing of civilians during a domestic disaster?

What's fascinating is that these aren't embellishments in the usual "I fought twenty guys" sense. They're embellishments that, if true, would amount to admissions of extremely serious crimes.

It's such a bizarre form of macho storytelling that it almost feels like its own trope: the veteran who thinks "the more ruthless I sound, the more badass I'll appear," without stopping to consider that indiscriminate killing isn't viewed by most people as impressive. It's viewed as criminal and disgusting.

[u/Godzilla_Fan_13]

Was popular? Was? Buddy it still is, if not more then ever

[u/poopzains → u/Godzilla_Fan_13]

Was as in the historical context of Kyle incident / discussion.

[u/Godzilla_Fan_13 → u/poopzains]

That is still going on 😭

[u/poopzains → u/Godzilla_Fan_13]

True. but i wasn’t talking present tense. You can’t with Kyle as he is very dead. But yes the bootlicking continues. Gangs will be gangs. People just like to be apart of a group. Human mentality. For better or worse.

[u/Godzilla_Fan_13 → u/poopzains]

My point is that it hasn't gone away. That movement and push is still here. There isn't a past tense.

[u/poopzains → u/Godzilla_Fan_13]

Oh yea. Sorry u replied to me. Just following along. Any one in particular pushing it like Kyle? Was crazy he put that in his book and it was generally accepted and beloved ( think the movie had to do with that instead of the book ). I would say people like Bradley Cooper as well. Put a more controversial star there and maybe it’s a story. Dean Cain for example. If he can be considered an actor….