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M*a*s*h

helgi

New Member
I think Henry Blake's fishing cap is a symbol of the military, the hooks a shifty symbol for enlistment or better said enrollment. Behind his desk is a skeleton, that which I think is a complementary symbol, a man hung upon a hook as it were he a fish?
 
I think Henry just likes fishing and wants little to do with military protocol. In a few episodes we see him fly fishing. As for the skeleton, he is a doctor after all.
 
Yeah, Henry's a doctor, but we do not see any practical use made of the skeleton. It may be there more for a MASH unit being a hospital rather than for Henry being a doctor.

And as for the hat, Henry's a general, and so it is all the more conspicouse because of his high ranking. Henry's nonchalant attitude towards the military may not be a complete explaination of the authors' choice of the fishing cap. Just as the hat itself can serve two purposes, to hold hooks and shade Henry, consider that the hat might also have a symbolic function.

Symbolism can be attached to objects that are put to use. Afterall, if Henry never went fishing, I wouldn't take that as a point in favor of the symbolism.
 
Yes. He was the CO until he was replaced by Col. Potter.

Don't think I have forgotten that they brought Harry Morgan in to play Maj. Gen. Steele and thought we wouldn't notice when he returned later as Col. Potter.
 
Hooks = conscription. No wait, was that just the British Navy?

yeah the hooks can suggest conscription for any service with a draft. The idea of "fisher of men" exists already, and it could be said the service is a fisher of men. The Christian act of conversion is more like fishing than the army's act of conscription, but I think the metaphor was nevertheless intended, and is also suggested by the skeleton hanging in Henry's office.

Henry wears the cap in every one of his episodes I think, accounting for half the episodes about? so it is a constant apparition in the show, in difference to the bathrobes or gorilla suits of Pierce ond Makentyre or Klinger's dresses. Being such a constant, it seems like it would be a convenient way to convey a motif, in this case an affirmation of peril for the enlisted, conveyed without literal detection, in order not to always dampen the comedy with the weight. War is looked at like a face from different angles in MASH, and usually it is the 3/4, allowed by the grace of such symbolism as Henry;s hat or by comedic situation. Of course, in some of the episodes the face of war is more direct, but never completely, for the sake of the show I think
 
Yes. He was the CO until he was replaced by Col. Potter.

Don't think I have forgotten that they brought Harry Morgan in to play Maj. Gen. Steele and thought we wouldn't notice when he returned later as Col. Potter.

yeah I notticed it was the same actor, but I had figured he'd got demoted until I saw it a second time and realized they were calling him a different name.
 
I think you may be looking a bit too deep into M*A*S*H. Especially considering you're refering to the earlier comedic seasons which were fairly light in subject matter and introspection. With a couple exception episodes.
 
I think you may be looking a bit too deep into M*A*S*H. Especially considering you're refering to the earlier comedic seasons which were fairly light in subject matter and introspection. With a couple exception episodes.

Thank you! A voice of reason.

I don't think M*A*S*H had any underlying meanings until Alan Alda started writing and directing episodes. Then it got preachy.
 
Thank you! A voice of reason.

I don't think M*A*S*H had any underlying meanings until Alan Alda started writing and directing episodes. Then it got preachy.

in those episodes the same meaning is made clear, and is not as underlying but more at the front, and this might allow you to call them preachy episodes. You don't mean to say preachy is subtle, or do you?

In the earlier episodes some of the ideas of war could have been conveyed by symbols to creat an underlying effect of taboo or fear, since subtle anxiety is an atmosphere condusive to comedy, so as not to interfere so much with the comedy, something Alda himself may not have grasped, maybe explaining why some of the later episodes may not have been as popular.

But I don't mean to drown out the voice of reason.
 
In the earlier episodes some of the ideas of war could have been conveyed by symbols to creat an underlying effect of taboo or fear, since subtle anxiety is an atmosphere condusive to comedy, so as not to interfere so much with the comedy, something Alda himself may not have grasped, maybe explaining why some of the later episodes may not have been as popular.

I think you're looking into it too deep.
 
Yes. He was the CO until he was replaced by Col. Potter.

Don't think I have forgotten that they brought Harry Morgan in to play Maj. Gen. Steele and thought we wouldn't notice when he returned later as Col. Potter.

There were a lot of actors that played multiple roles. I guess they weren't worried about reruns.
 
I just mean that a lot of actors had multiple roles. Dick O'Neill for example played Admiral Cox, Col Pitts, and General Prescott.
 
Thanks a lot for replying. Oh, by the way, how can I make a poll in this forum? Can you explain it a bit?
 
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