The opening dream sequence is that of Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. In her dream, Margaret is wearing a wedding dress. She is greeted by her "Mr. Right," who is wearing a tuxedo. Just as the happy couple is about to kiss, a war erupts around them. Margaret's white dress becomes stained with the mens' blood. This is often referred to as the show's "Lysistrata scene." (For those who haven't read any of my earlier posts, Lysistrata is an anti-war play by Aristophanes in which a group of women in war-torn Ancient Greece protest war's devasting effects on family life. Incidentally, "Lysistrata" is my stage name when I perform my spoken-word pieces.) Margaret herself is all-too aware of how war is bad for marriages, since she divorced her soldier husband in the show's seventh season. I think this scene is very timely in that the number of divorces related to long and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is reportedly quite high.
Next up is Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt's dream. Here, B.J. imagines that he is at a gala of some sort and is about to dance with his beloved wife, Peg, but is abruptly jolted back to the reality of the O.R. In a sense, Beege's dream is the male answer to Hot Lips'. Through this sequence, viewers see just how much of a devoted family man Hunnicutt is and that he just wants the war to end soon so that he can go home to California in order to take care of Peg and daughter Erin.
Then, Col. Potter dreams that he is at home in Missouri, horseback riding, celebrating the Fourth of July, and enjoying his wife's cooking. This one's pretty obvious; Potter is subconsciously wishing to be back in the good ole U.S.A. in order to celebrate the freedom he and so many others are supposedly fighting for in Korea.
Following Potter's dream, Maj. Winchester has one in which he is a magician performing all sorts of magic tricks. The rest of the 4077 is cheering Charles on as he performs more and more challenging feats successfully. All of a sudden, while Winchester is simultaneously tapdancing and holding lit sparklers, a dying patient is wheeled into the O.R. on a gurney. Charles starts dancing and twirling harder and faster, but the wounded soldier eventually dies. The symbolism here is that hot-headed Charles is becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that some of his patients may die under his care, regardless of what he tries to do for them. Being extremely image conscious and narcissistic, Charles fears that if he cannot save a patient, it will reflect negatively on him and tarnish his carefully constructed public facade.
After Charles' "magic act," Corp. Max Klinger dreams that he has boarded a train for his hometown-- Toledo, Ohio. Once he arrives there, Klinger finds himself in proximity to all his old stomping grounds and is immediately comforted by the familiar surroundings. His comfort is short-lived, for upon peering into the window of his favorite neighborhood bar, Klinger sees Col. Potter standing inside, wearing bloody scrubs. Once again, this terrifying vision emphasizes the fact that war is disruptive to every facet of peoples' lives.
The next restless dreamer is Father Francis Mulcahy, who imagines being named Pope. To me, it always seems that Mulcahy is struggling to be a sort of spiritual leader amid all the chaos. Throughout the show's 11 seasons, Mulcahy expresses concern that he feels lost in the shuffle and that his words of priestly wisdom often fall on deaf ears. I feel that the primary poignance of Mulcahy's dream, however, is that political and religious leaders wage wars (or, in politispeak, "police actions"), but, ironically and tragically, these are the individuals who are usually least likely to listen to those who oppose them.
Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, Hawkeye Pierce falls asleep and dreams that he is being asked to remove both his arms. Undoubtedly the most vociferously anti-war member of the 4077, Hawk frequently rails against the fact that he is often forced to commit perceived violations of his Hippocratic oath ('First do no harm.'), including gruesome and disabling limb amputations. Hawk's dream illustrates the ultimate bitch of war: Young people who serve in it achieve "hero" status in the eyes of society, but often at the expense of life, limb, and/or sanity. (On a personal note, this dream sequence illustrates precisely why I named Hawkeye Pierce the greatest TV character of all time on this blog during Emmy week in September.)
To conclude, I'm one of those who prefer the later, anti-war dramedy years of M*A*S*H. Season 8's conceptual episode "Dreams" is one of the main reasons why. I strongly urge everyone to view this episode conscientiously and with an open mind. This episode is pure genius and should be viewed as nothing else.
No comments:
Post a Comment