M*A*S*H’S USE OF KOREA AS AN ALLEGORY FOR THE VIETNAM WAR
Noah Hellum
Throughout the history of the moving image, films and television shows have commented on issues of the day while having stories set in completely different time periods. The Wizard of Oz was an early example, acting as a parable for populism, and the trend continues to this day with the film Avatar acting as an allegory for colonialism. In 1970, director Robert Altman acted in a similar fashion, taking a stand against the Vietnam War with his Korean War set film M*A*S*H. The film and television show M*A*S*H used the facade of the Korean War to effectively act as an allegory for the Vietnam War because its anti-establishment themes and harsh criticism of the war’s excessive violence and farcical nature were too radical to be directly consumed by the American audience.
The Vietnam War began in 1955 as a war between communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. The war soon grew to become a Cold War proxy war. United States involvement became prominent in the early sixties, reached a peak in 1968 and came to a conclusion in 1973. The war was quite controversial for multiple reasons. First, many Americans saw the war as an example of unnecessary American interventionism. Second, over 58,000 Americans lost their lives in the gruesome, guerilla-style war. Third, the use of military brutality and domestic surveillance to protect liberty was seen as hypocritical. These negative aspects of the war led to a growing sense of anti-establishmentarianism and distrust in government. Mass opposition to the war existed in places such as protests, songs and documentaries. No commercial, narrative film that criticized the war reached massive commercial and critical success until Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, in 1970.
M*A*S*H told the story of the adventures and hijinks of an American mobile hospital during the Korean War. It’s main character, Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, is a skilled yet witty doctor who prefers cocktails and women over following military orders. The film is told through a series of episodic vignettes that while appear comedic have serious undertones critical of the war.
One vignette that perfectly blends farce with harsh criticism is the “Last Supper” scene. In this vignette, the dentist Captain Waldowski wants to commit suicide. He asks Hawkeye’s sidekick, Trapper John, for a “black pill” to commit suicide with. Trapper John tells him he can acquire one, while actually giving him a sleeping pill. The hospital staff then stage a “Last Supper” for him, complete with eerie candles, a long table and a coffin. As Waldowski enters the coffin and people pay their respects, a corporal plays the song “Suicide is Painless”. The ludicrousness of the scene and the dramatic irony of knowing the pill is fake creates comedy. The eerie lighting, the biblical allusion and the scene of another soldier dying unnecessarily, however, provides a somber moment to criticize the Vietnam War’s excessive death.
Another way the film M*A*S*H comments on the Vietnam War is through it’s surgery scenes. A long lens zooms continuously during the scenes, beginning at the entrance to the surgery room and ending up on a closeup of the body in surgery. Altman doesn’t shy away from showing gruesome injuries and excessive blood. Throughout the scene, the surgeons make witty remarks to another. The combination of the extreme gore and the surgeons’ unknowingly jovial mood comments not only on the excessive violence of the war, but also soldiers’ and citizens’ desensitization to it.
The other major topic M*A*S*H discusses is the growing sense of disillusionment and anti-establishmentarianism in many Americans. Gene Siskel perfectly encapsulated the film’s theme of disillusionment when he said in his review of the film, “For me, M*A*S*H contains as much depression as humor. I don’t think I ever recover after a soldier says about a Korean, ‘he’s a prisoner of war.’ The reply is ‘so are you’.” Here, Altman shows the feeling among soldiers that they were merely pawns with no autonomy. Another way M*A*S*H shows disillusionment is through its non-combat characters. The surgeons and nurses of the camp are not in Korea because they want to fight, but because they were drafted for their skills.
Hawkeye and his ally Trapper John embody the anti-establishment ideals the film references. This is shown throughout the film as they run around the military camp in Hawaiian shirts, drinking martinis and pulling pranks. One scene specifically embodies their casual, anti-war, anti-establishment views. They are playing golf on the helicopter pad. A helicopter flies in to drop off an injured soldier. Their game is interrupted and Trapper John says, “I wish they wouldn’t land those things here while we’re playing golf.”
The film M*A*S*H was an enormous success, being nominated for five Academy Awards and winning one for Best Screenplay. Based off its success, it was decided that the film would be turned into a television show, also titled M*A*S*H. It contained many of the same characters as the film such as Hawkeye and Trapper John, but with different actors. The show ran 11 seasons, met extreme critical and commercial success and continued to act as an allegory for the Vietnam War, but with darker and more overt criticism.
One idea that the television show M*A*S*H frequently commented on was the constant, never-ending violence of war. The episode “Dear Sis” from 1978 epitomizes this concept. The episode begins a couple days before Christmas with all the characters homesick and depressed. Through each others’ compassion and friendship however, the episode culminates with a joyous Christmas party. Charles Emerson Winchester III, a serious, cold surgeon, is even brought to tears as Corporal Radar gives Charles the old sledding cap that Charles would wear as a kid. Charles begins singing “Dona Nobis Pacem”, which literally translates to “Give Us Peace”, and everyone joins in. Their singing is interrupted however by the sound of incoming sirens. Here, the show displays how war is unrelenting and doesn’t stop for festivities. More specifically, this scene might be a reference to and criticism of the Christmas Day bombings of 1972, where Americans bombed Vietnam villages during and around Christmas, which many saw as sacrilegious.
Another issue of the Vietnam War that the television show M*A*S*H specifically addressed was the mental health of soldiers. The most famous episode to address this conflict was the finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, Amen”. At the beginning of the episode, Hawkeye in a mental health hospital being treated for a nervous breakdown. Through extensive counseling, it is revealed that while Hawkeye and the camp were returning from a beach outing, they picked up some refugees and soon after had to hide to avoid being detected by North Koreans. Hawkeye remembers a refugee baby was crying and that the baby’s mother smothered it to death to avoid the group’s capture. This moment drove Hawkeye to have his nervous breakdown. In this episode, the show poignantly comments on how the horrors of war can lead to severe mental health issues in soldiers. This idea was still significant at the time of the show’s finale in 1983, after the war’s end, because Americans were dealing with mental health issues of Vietnam veterans.
The purpose of the film and television show M*A*S*H, which was as an allegory and criticism of the Vietnam War, begs the question: Why did the creators of the film and show set the story in Korea? In order to answer this, one must look at other films about the Vietnam War. Until Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter in the late seventies, no fictional, commercial film directly addressed the issues of the Vietnam War. Some might say that due to the success of these films, M*A*S*H could’ve been set in Vietnam. This is not true however, because no film commented on Vietnam’s farcical nature to the degree of M*A*S*H. In order to criticize an ongoing and later very recent war in such a radical way without offending anyone, the setting had to be elsewhere. The Korean War offered that solution.
M*A*S*H not only used the setting of Korea to prevent offending anyone, it also used the setting of Korea for commercial appeal. Mass audiences, seeking an escape from the war, did not want to watch a film/show about that war. By changing the setting to Korea, large amounts of viewers would watch the show oblivious to the anti-Vietnam themes the show was communicating. Mike Budd and Clay Steinman describe this solution in their journal article “M*A*S*H Mystified: Capitalization, Dematerialization, Idealization” when they say,
With the country polarized and traumatized by a horribly divisive war, the Vietnam war, in general, was “not commercial.” Like a traumatized patient, the culture industry was drawn to the subject it feared, so inescapable had Vietnam become. It needed an alibi to exploit the enormous, seemingly unexploitable emotions the war had generated. Korea was the perfect mechanism of disavowal; for opponents of the war the resemblance to Vietnam was obvious, while for supporters of the war the differences would be crucial.
The plan worked. For M*A*S*H’s finale, 125 million tuned in to watch it, setting the record for the most-viewed television program until the 2010 Super Bowl. Thirty second spots cost a record 450,000 dollars. M*A*S*H had achieved its goal of being a serious criticism of the Vietnam War while also achieving serious commercial success.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
M*A*S*H. Film. Directed by Robert Altman. Twentieth Century Fox, 1970.
The film M*A*S*H is a satirical black comedy set in the Korean War about a medical unit. The film is a commentary for the Vietnam War. This source is credible because it is the actual film that the writing pertains to. It is an important source because it provides quotes that can be used as examples of the film’s anti-Vietnam commentary.
M*A*S*H. “Dear Sis” Directed by Alan Alda. 20th Century Fox Television, 1978.
This episode of M*A*S*H is about the hospital during Christmas time. This episode provides an example of how the show comments on the Vietnam War, specifically the never ending violence of it in this episode.
M*A*S*H. “Goodbye, Farewell, Amen” Directed by Alan Alda. 20th Century Fox Television,
1983.
This episode of M*A*S*H is the finale for the show. It contributes another example of how the show commented on the war, specifically the mental health of soldiers in this episode.
Secondary Sources:
Anderson, David L. The War That Never Ends: New Perspectives on the
Vietnam War. University Press of Kentucky, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wrsx.
This book is a reexamination of Vietnam War events with the knowledge gained from three decades of time for reflection. This book is credible because it’s author is a professor of history who has written multiple books on the Vietnam War. This book provides a brief history of the war which is referenced in the paragraph about the Vietnam War.
Bapis, Elaine M. Camera and action: American film as agent of social change, 1965-1975. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008.
The chapter from this book, No Icon Left Unturned: M*A*S*H and the Project of Anti Establishment, describes the creation, release and effect of the film M*A*S*H. The book shows how M*A*S*H differed from other war films in its showing of soldiers not as glorious, but as pragmatic and in pain. The book also describes the way satire and the setting of the Korean War were used to comment on the Vietnam War. This book is credible as the author, Elaine M Bapis, is a professor of history and film at Westminster College and extensive citations are used in her work. This work supports the thesis because it provides background information on the film M*A*S*H and extensive examples of how M*A*S*H criticizes the Vietnam War.
Budd, Mike, and Clay Steinman. "M*A*S*H Mystified: Capitalization, Dematerialization, Idealization." Cultural Critique, no. 10 (1988): 59-75. doi:10.2307/1354106.
This journal article initially begins with a description of the mass viewing of the show M*A*S*H, especially during its finale. It explains that the series being set in Korea allowed viewers to escape the worries of the Vietnam War, while still having an outlet for their anti-war sentiment. The article then segues into an in-depth analysis of the style of the series and how it related to its Vietnam commentary. This article is credible, first, because it comes from a scholarly journal, Popular Narrative, Popular Images, and second because its authors are both professors of media studies. This article supports the thesis because it provides detailed analysis of the show’s Vietnam commentary and gives an explanation for why it appealed to so many people.
Maguire, Lori. The Cold War and entertainment television. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, 2016.
The chapter from this book, Treating the Nation’s Wounds: M*A*S*H 1972-1975, begins with a brief history of the show. It then discusses the general American opinion of the war. It then ventures into a deep analysis of each idea of the show’s commentary: the physical and mental toll of war, the Cold War and the issues of American interventionism. This book is credible because the author is a French professor of media and history. This book is core to proving the thesis because it gives specific examples of commentary from the show and also provides a background of the public opinion of the Vietnam war.
Milam, Ron. The Vietnam War in Popular Culture. Santa Barbara, California:
Praeger Publishers, 2016.
The chapter from this book, Noncombatants and M*A*S*H, focuses on M*A*S*H’s portrayal of non-soldiers. By focusing on doctors, nurses, chaplains etc., this book believes the television show showed the disillusionment of people who didn’t join to fight, but were merely drafted instead. This book is credible because the author, Ron Milam, is a professor of history mainly regarding the Vietnam War at Texas Tech University. This book is essential because it focuses on the topic of disillusionment, a key topic of the M*A*S*H’s commentary.
Stoffey, Robert E. Fighting to leave: the final years of America's War in Vietnam, 1972-1973. Minneapolis, MN: MBI Pub., 2008.
This book is about the final years of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It is credible because the book’s author was an American pilot in the Vietnam War, receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross. This book provides information about the Christmas Day bombing which is referenced in discussion of M*A*S*H’s commentary on the war.
Wiest, Andrew A., Mary Barbier, and Glenn Robins. America and the Vietnam War:
re-examining the culture and history of a generation. New York: Routledge, Taylor
& Francis Group, 2010.
This book focuses on culture’s relationship with the Vietnam War. A specific chapter, Vietnam and film, discusses movies related to the war. The chapter analyzes how the film M*A*S*H differed from other films about Vietnam in it’s comedic aspect and unflattering tone of the war. The section also discusses M*A*S*H’s criticisms on the military and the United States and comments on the film’s idea that the soldier is a prisoner of war too. This book is credible because all of its three authors are professors of history. This source is important because it shows the difference of Vietnam’s portrayal regarding most films compared to M*A*S*H.