#fully doesnt question klinger

[radarsmenagerie]

i want what they have

[seefasters]

Regina spektor anon back at it again. I was wondering about something and it made me also wonder what you thought: ive been thinking about the very fraught dynamic between potter and charles and wanted your thoughts. So like the potter charles dynamic is really rich and it has. Alot of fascinating angles to it, but the crux of that dynamic for me comes down to this: charles is a wealthy, old-money northern urbanite and he is- in career terms at least- in his prime His affect is very contemptuous and aristocratic- hes a member of the elite class in every sense and he knows it. Meanwhile potter is past his prime, a middleamerican/southern dude from what is clearly a rural working class or poor background (i mean i think so. It strikes me as wildly unusual for a wealthy teenager to lie about his age to enlist as a low army grunt, which seems to be what potter did in ww1. Even if potter did come from a stable household economically speaking, he didnt have much in the way of social status- hes a farmboy) All this to say: theres major tension between them. in civilian life charles has absolutely all the power and would never have reason to give potter the slightest bit of regard. Yet this isnt the situation theyre in- charles has been drafted against his will and is at the mercy of potters authority as a commanding officer. Thats not to say that charles doesnt deserve potters ire for being very arrogant and condescending; but you get the sense, especially early in charles's time in mash, that potter gets serious glee out of taking charles down a peg; based on the social dynamic i just mentioned. Which is undeniably satisfying and funny, but its also kind of fucked up too? Like the draft is unjust, charles has been removed from his life to give over his talents to the war machine. He doesnt want to be there. Conditions are terrible. His consent is not relevant. His skills are barely relevant, hes been thrown into a totally unfamiliar mode of medical practice to what he is used to. The show knows all this and for the record i dont think it wrong to mine humor from charles's situation, even though it is wildly unfair and unpleasant and more or less forced labor as is the case for all draftees regardless of background. I was just curious what you thought about potters dynamic with charles or with people in the camp in general (his dynamic with Klinger is similarly fascinating and fucked up though it distinguishes itself from charles because 1. Klinger is not at all on equal or higher standing than potter in civilian life 2. He offers potter respect that charles does not. Which makes potters glee in fucking with klinger less based in class resentment (which colors his dynamic with charles) and more interpersonal (if youre being charitable) or more racist/sexist/classist bullying (if youre being uncharitable). What do u think of potter as an authority figure on mash? what you thought about mash's relationship to the draft as a concept?- service as a moral duty or trying to go AWOL as an immoral or cowardly act versus conceptualizing the draft as an injustice since imo mash seemed to go back and forth about that. Forgive me for the many many words!

hiiiii!!!! i haven't put much thought into the potter and charles dynamic if i'm being fully honest, but i never saw what potter was doing to charles as particularly cruel. charles was already drafted but had managed to secure a fairly comfortable position due to his class (i assume, i don't think the show ever tells us). he also seems to be there in a teacher/lecturer position as opposed to being a doctor who actually treats wounded soldiers. potter needed a capable surgeon to save lives. the morality of being an american army surgeon in a foreign war is a different question though (not that mash hadn't touched on that as well)

if we're not talking about potter keeping charles as a surgeon though, i do imagine potter takes quiet personal glee in fucking with charles because charles is a dickhead lmao

and i don't think potter is ever fucking with klinger? the potter/klinger relationship is pretty straightforward - klinger wants out, potter can't permit that, so klinger comes up with ridiculous schemes to try and convince potter, and the schemes get more and more ridiculous until it becomes a real boy cried wolf situation. everything potter does is (mostly) always in response to whatever klinger is doing

mash is pretty clear on the draft (it should not exist as much as war should not exist) but what happens after is a bit more complicated. i mean, it's never described as a cowardly act - scully went AWOL and hawkeye and BJ shield him, henry remarks that if they all had any sense they would've gone off camp (with the latrine) like hawkeye did, and klinger's schemes are played for laughs but his desire to leave is never painted in s negative light

that being said, none of the commanding officers ever actually let people leave without due reason. and there's the whole shooting yourself in the foot business obviously to which most of the responses are 'we get that war is shit but don't do it again please' (which like, as doctors they're bound to not let people mutilate themselves but you know). people being AWOL is a bit of an awkward topic in mash and i'm not sure if it ever formed a concrete opinion on that