M*A*S*H

In the film M*A*S*H, there were a few things that struck me about the movie. One of which was that it reminded me of the book “The Things They Carried”.  I was reminded of this because it is as if the main characters are scarred from their experiences and are looking for an outlet anyway that they can.  The beginning sets the stage for this feeling after showing the evacuation helicopters carrying wounded soldiers and showing the wounded at the hospital camps.  This would be a scarring sight for anybody, but it is even more scaring for those that were actually there and cannot just simply look away.  This scarring is what reminded me of the book, as “the things that they carry” are the memories and experiences of the battle.  There is a difference in how the burden of war is handled in film and in the book, but the premise is still very much the same.  That premise is to do whatever it takes to try and remove the images that are imprinted on their memory, and if they cannot remove it, then try to create a stimulus that is large enough to avert their attention away from the gruesome images imprinted on their minds.  In the M*A*S*H, this was done through the way of practical jokes, this is why we laugh at this movie, not because it is inherently funny, but because after making that connection with the characters, it is an outlet for us as viewers, in the same way it is an outlet for the characters.

What I loved most about this movie is that they present humor in a way that is not expected or overly done.  The perfect example of this is the football game.  The football game is presented with the assumption that we know the rules of football, and with this assumption the film makes this scene humorous by having things happen that would never be allowed in a “real” football game.  They rely on “legal cheating” to win.  They also use center eligible plays and the lot in order to outsmart their opponents.  This is a great moment in the movie as it would have been very easy and simple to go for the physical comedy and have some people get ran over, but instead this film gets its comedy from the way the game is played.  This movie glorifies brains over brawn in the aspect of comedy.  What makes this scene so great is that it does not go for the physical humor that is all too easy to obtain, but wants us to use our minds and think about the situation and in there is where the comedy lies.