To all the young Millenials about to watch M*A*S*H for the first time, do not be turned off by Max Klinger being a guy in a dress.
For those of you unaware, the character tries several schemes to get out of the army on the grounds of being mentally unfit for service, most notably being a man who wears a dress, which no one buys. It’s played off as a joke but everyone loves him and treats him very respectfully unless it’s a character you’re not supposed to sympathise with.
You might want to call bull on the fact that they’re getting a cheap joke at a man in a dress. But, this man in a dress had a gender identity crisis ON SCREEN (although they couldn’t call it that) and also helped pave the way to allow transgender people into the armed forces.
No, seriously. A congressman who was a fan of the show brought up how Max Klinger cross dressing never was an issue at this M*A*S*H unit and it allowed transgender people to serve in the armed forces!
I’m a trans(masc) millenial and the biggest thing I feel was made fun of was how much some people were bothered by Klinger’s clothes, not the fact that he’s wearing them.
Klinger learns a lot about fashion and sewing and seems to develop a genuine passion for it over time.
There’s even one time when he develops a psychosomantic (spelling?) rash during a short time when he has to wear his uniform. Even after it is clear that he’s not gonna get to go home by wearing dresses, he continues – suggesting either a persistent act of defiance to make him feel better, or a real appreciation of the clothes… or both!
He’s clearly coded as straight, is accepted by his peers, and his character arc and development is barely focused on his clothes (rather it focuses on what he wants to do with his life; his dream future).
For a show made in the 70’s depicting the 50’s, M*A*S*H was a show before its time – with feminist messages and anti-war messages, as well as speking out against homophobia and racism – and Klinger was a groundbreaking character.
This is especially true, I think, if you watch the episodes sans the laugh track. Without the canned laughter, Klinger’s costuming comes off as especially sincere.
Klinger is a good man and a great character and everyone in the camp respects him (and if they don’t, it’s not because of his attire).
This is weirdly timely for me because I recently started re-watching MASH. It’s one of my all time favorite shows but this time around I was really struggling with how Klinger is depicted. This put my doubts to rest. I mean, his crossdressing isn’t handled perfectly, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Is there a place where episodes can be streamed without a laugh track? I despise them but I recall really enjoying M*A*S*H when I was young and would like to revisit it sans annoyance.
I have no idea if it’s possible to stream them. The best legal way is probably to buy the dvd box set, which allows you to toggle the laugh track off. (Just check the item description to make sure the version you buy has this option.) Less legal is to torrent the series. There are torrents out there without the laugh track. That’s what we did, but the box set is very much on our ‘to buy’ list for the future. We just completed a complete rewatch, which neither myself or my partner had ever done before, and it’s an amazing thing. The way Klinger was handled was one of my favourite things (along with Margaret’s evolution).
knitting in the dark 