Back in the 60s Klinger dressed up as a woman to convince his superiors of his mental unsuitability (in other words, insanity) in order to escape being in the army. Today, this kind of behaviour is endorsed and encouraged, much to the loss of real women and girls. Biology is genetic and can't be changed. People can do and dress how they like but this is not, and never will be, normal. Nor should it be.
I always wondered why Klinger wouldn’t have been sent home after the very first letter. Did the army confirm,that his dad wasn’t dead to begin with? If so,then I’d understand why he wasn’t sent home,for that one,or any of the others.
"Klinger aren't you ashamed of yourself?" "Yes sir, I don't deserve to be in the army." For me that was the best scene ever. Klinger just couldn't give up and exploited any angle he could. Way to go Max!
This cross dressing behavior was considered to be psychotic. That's the whole point of this character. What changed? Nothing. It's still psychotic behavior.
This scene makes fun of a serious matter. When my husband was in ICU we contacted the Red Cross to reach my son in Korea, so he could come home. He was able to come home and even got help with his rental car when there was a payment snafu. While I know this is comical, it is a real need for many of our men an women around the world.
“I hate to bother you in the middle of a war but I’m afraid I have some terrible news. Your father is very sick. If he knew I was writing to you he’d be very angry. Fortunately for us he’s in a coma.”
The funny thing is that Klinger was supposed to be a background character much like Nurse Kellye(who like many of the nurses were originally named Able and such) but much like Kellye got a lot of positive feedback from the fans so he gradually worked his way into being a major part of the cast. And Jamie Farr reminds me so much of my dad right down to the honker of a nose.
When MASH was shown here in the UK it was broadcast without the laughter track, now I know why. I believe Alan Alda likes it that way too. We don’t need to be told what’s funny, it just is.
For those MASH fans… If you remember the episode where BJ wanted to have all the families back home have a party all together. They sent a pic back to the states but Klinger did not want to be in the pic because he was under the belief that his mother thought he was in New Jersey. But here in this very early episode his mother writes to him while he is in Korea.
