WHAMMO!

Venus | she/they | M*A*S*H side blog because I am unwell about these doctors

[m--bloop]

S1E12 - Dear Dad

S7E14 - Dear Sis

S9E5 - Death Takes a Holiday

[myrmeraki]

can i wake you up in the middle of my insomnia episode and stare at you like this

[hawkeyespierces]

Adding AGAIN to this post because I’ve been going insane thinking about it. After WWII, there was a doctor shortage so the US implemented a new system that would help replace the number of doctors lost: accelerating medical school programs. Medical school was now three years, meaning you could go to undergrad, go to med school, and become a doctor before the age of 30. When Margaret and Frank are gushing over BJ being a recent med school graduate at the beginning of season four, he was only 25. That’s only a quarter of the way to 100. The same goes for Hawkeye and Trapper, who are constantly mentioned as being fresh out of med school or at least VERY early on in their careers. They would’ve been anywhere from 25-28.

We see Radar having to get his GED overseas because he wasn’t able to graduate high school before being drafted. In Mad Dogs and Servicemen, he says “I’m gonna live past 18” and by that point they’ve been there for almost a year. He started that war at age 17, not a legal adult.

Nursing school in the 40s ranged anywhere from 3-5 years, including some kind of undergrad within that timeframe. Margaret isn’t that far ahead of Hawkeye, Trapper, and BJ in terms of age. She could fall anywhere between 25-33 years old. Once again, incredibly young.

And what about Charles, who already had a comfy job as a surgeon before and after the war? He wasn’t that much older, if anything 30-36 tops.

Hell, even Frank of all people isn’t as old as you would think he is. He’s had the opportunity to have a head start on his career, attending both nursing AND medical school all while having a home, yacht, and tween aged children. It’s safe to assume Frank would be anywhere from mid 30s to early 40s.

These people are so horrifically young it’s not even a joke. It makes you wonder just how much coping came with the years after the war, learning to be “normal” when normal hasn’t been a thing for a long, long time. How do you live with yourself when three years of war does irreparable damage to your way of being?

[hawkeyespierces]

mash is all fun and games until you realize that historically speaking, everyone is way too young to be going through everything they’re going through and it fucks with me more than i’d like to admit it does

[mashhistorian]

Happy Anniversary, M*A*S*H! The series debuted on CBS 53 years ago today!

[humanundead]

go white boy go

[epitome-of-an-openbook]

Inspiration

[daringdarlingdt]

[mashandmartinis]

never not thinking about the shirt grab

[tiredandoptimistic]

The thing that I think is most important about Klinger as a character is that he's deeply kind. He couldn't get a section eight because he wasn't willing to commit to making himself a danger to others. His dramatic wardrobe and escape acts never impacted anybody else (other than giving Henry and Potter some extra paperwork on occasion), and he's still a first rate soldier when they need him. He's always in the thick of things carrying litters or donating blood or delivering x-rays. The example I always remember is when he pretended to think he was in Toledo. He wore civilian clothes and talked to Potter as if he were a traffic cop, but he was still doing his job correctly and efficiently. His behavior is a protest more than anything else. It's a statement that he may be acting like a soldier to save lives, but they'll never make him think like a solider; he will do his part to lessen the suffering but he cannot support the war itself.

There's an episode with a guy who actually gets a section eight, and he's so clearly contrasted with Klinger because the other guy isn't just talking to his socks, he's firing into the minefield. Klinger tells Sidney that he hates the war so much because of the death, that he can't stand being a part of all that killing. If he just wanted to go home then he could do it, but that wouldn't actually help anybody. He's a lot like Hawkeye in that way. Sticking around and making it clear how much they hate it while working every day to save lives is the best way to fight "the war against the war" as Hawkeye calls it.

On a less serious note, Klinger is also just a really nice guy. He's even friendly to Frank, who only ever has awful things to say to him. He's surrounded by hate and violence, he's constantly overworked; and yet he shows up, goes above and beyond in his duties as a corpsman and clerk, is genuinely kind to everybody he meets, then spends his free time sewing elaborate outfits and constructing getaway schemes. That's just plain incredible. He never lets his hatred for the war turn him hateful, and instead he makes an effort to brighten up the 4077th with his wackiness.

[beejwatch]

MASH s04e24 - The Interview

[mxmorel]

[hawkeyespierces]

if more people in the 4077th had brown eyes a lot of the things that happened could’ve been avoided

[m--bloop]

M*A*S*H - S11E16 "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen"

[hawkeyespierces]

I can't believe a show about gay doctors from the 50s has such a hold on me this is insane