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- Can we un-make a hero?
In case you somehow missed the news: Ben Roberts-Smith is a war criminal. That is, according to the wealth of evidence and witness testimonies evaluated by a Federal Court judge in a defamation case that BRS himself brought. The problem is Australia had already made him out to be the war hero. Can we un-make a hero? What do we do with lore we built around him, now that we’ve been given the legal approval to call him a murderer and a bully?
Australian public society frothed over this man. He wasn’t a niche defence figurehead – as my pal Jordyn eloquently put it, he is “that army guy”. A humungous portrait of him hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. He was Father of the Year in 2013 and photos of him in the pool were a talking point on morning TV. If he hadn’t been married, he would have 100% been a CLEO Bachelor of the Year. His uniform and medals are in the Australian War Memorial museum – not just an example of the uniform that troopers wore in Afghanistan, but his uniform specifically. The clothes that were wrapped around the body of a HERO.
Now, we want to take it alllll back. People are calling for BRS be stripped of his medals and awards, and to remove his display in the War Memorial. Chairman of the museum, former Labor Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, says they’re not going to remove the BRS display… and personally, I agree.
I KNOW! But just wait and hear me out.
To dismantle the BRS shrine would be to give ourselves the easy way out. We turned him into a public figure. We celebrated him. And now that we’ve know the truth, we shouldn’t be allowed to erase our poor decision making as if it never happened. As much as BRS needs to face accountability for what he has done (and it looks like he might still face criminal charges), so do we.
This is an opportunity to bring uncomfortable honesty into our re-telling of the war in Afghanistan, particularly relevant now that we know it was flop-ish. It’s part of Australian history. Documenting the true story would be to include the accounts of heroism that made him a celebrity right next to the accounts of his murders, intimidation of fellow soldiers, authorisation of torture, and callous attitude to killing. It would be to include the recruitment, training and conditioning required to produce someone like Roberts-Smith; the Australian army made him a leader, either they created his worse traits, or chose him because he displayed them. It would be to include the photo of him posing with other soldiers as they drink out of the prosthetic leg of one of his victims, and ask the viewer to reflect on who the heroes are in any war, let alone this one.
A really bold reimagining of his display would include commentary that says: “This was an SAS trooper who we trained and sent to kill people, and applauded for doing so. He is an example of the dangerous and violent masculinity that is so central to Australian identity, and a symbol of the war we should never have been involved in.” Fuck, I’ll write it if they want – for free too!
Let him keep the medals! So long as the public record of recipients has an asterisk and note next to his name: “Subsequently found to have committed war crimes.” In 100 years when high school kids are studying history, let them him be the example of why celebrating war is only ever a bad thing. Not only does BRS seem like the kind of guy who’d hate that, it’s also just true.
FWIW, the Australian War Memorial press release said they are “considering carefully the additional content and context to be included in these displays.” That’s promising, but I don’t think they’ll be as frank as they should be. We have a habit of trying to avoid the ugly parts of our history… maybe that’s human nature?
It might be part of a self-preservation instinct, but I don’t think it serves us anymore.
Good stuff on Zee Feed rn:
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Smart stuff on the Internet 💭
All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:
The Return of Ryan Gosling on GQ
Incredible insight into the Barbie movie, this interview could not be more perfect. ““Ken,” Gosling says, “his job is beach. For 60 years, his job has been beach. What the fuck does that even mean?”
What Does It Mean to Be “Black Famous” — and Whose Approval Do We Need? on Teen Vogue
Super curious about this concept of being ‘niche famous’. This is a really in-depth piece about Black creatives not being on Hollywood’s radar, and the same would be true among local communities too. Who is Indigenous famous here? Queer famous? What talent are we missing because the entertainment machine won’t push them up the totem pole?!
The Optimization Sinkhole on Culture Study substack
Woah. “Remodeling is supposed to make your house feel more welcoming, just as wellness culture is supposed to make you feel more “grounded” in your body and productivity culture is supposed to feel more confident and in control at work. Instead, they just introduce you to areas of your life you didn’t even realize needed optimizing.”