#mash and aesthetics

[grayrazor]

The oddly specific aesthetic of mid-90s space shows.

[tuttle-did-it]

A lot of your questions, I'm not really qualified to answer as I was not in the writer's room. I have written on the show academically, about the queer and camp relationships, but as to how much was intentional, I cannot say as I was not in the writer's room. Maybe some of the writers intentionally put things in, maybe they put it in cos they thought it would be funny. I can't say. Maybe get in touch with writers like Ken Levine and ask him most of this.

But whether intentional or not, there are queer signifiers within the show. And a lot of it has to do with the visuals of queer in 1970s. I was alive then, and I was queer, and most of the queer men looked like BJ, Fonzie and Thomas Magnum.

I think it’s been said that it was Alan’s idea for the BJ moustache— but that could be wrong. Whether intentionally or not, BJ’s moustache and over-all appearance with the moustache does fall in with the post Stonewall gay scene— particularly the ‘Castro Clone.’

Archetypes like sailor, biker, etc— these clones were a send-up of the hyper-masculine — so butch it’s gay. Ever notice how gay Fonzie seems coded on Happy Days? Clone. Why Thomas Magnum on Magnum PI felt somehow really gay even if he was kissing a woman? How gay the Village People (All stereotypes of hypermasculinity) all were not in spite of the hyper-butch outfits, but because of it. All worth a very similar aesthetic.

BJ’s hair style, moustache and that straw hat, the pink Henley with red braces, a green vest, slightly curly hair and bit longer than traditional, occasionally a tighter t-shirt, the motorbike, and occasionally in the skates with a lot of chest hair. These images were very common within the clone look.

Couple this with VERY lesbian coding of Margaret (especially when Helen visits), the occasionally usually quite limp-wristed performance of Hawkeye (along with the occasional straw cowboy hat), and how often Hawkeye and BJ tend to touch and embrace, shower together, and their general body language—intentional or not— made them visible to us queers who recognised those aspects.

Let’s take this single moment:

BJ’s hands on the hip, the swagger, an arm around him slightly possessively— met with Hawk’s entirely unnecessary grabbing of the fabric on his waist and holding it there— for most of us, there is nothing heterosexual about this moment. It’s too intimate— especially as it’s in front of so many people, showing a comfort and confidence that this kind of touch it’s normal and acceptable.

And because there are repeated moments like this in most scenes in nearly all the episodes.

There is a reason I say that the final scene with Hawk and BJ in GFA is the most romantic divorce in cinematic history. With the queer coding especially with BJ’s aesthetics, there is and has always been a romantic element to this scene. And most of their scenes.

I think that if you showed this scene to someone who didn’t know the episode, didn’t know this show, and told them to focus primarily on body language, they would say this looks like a break up between these two men—neither of whom want to leave the other. That is a very intimate move. Watch that whole scene i entirety-- watch their body language, their expressions. Watch it with the sound off.

Especially because the hand on the back of the head is how Hawk has previously hugged his canon lovers.

How he held Kyung Soon:

And Carlye:

Thanks to @efort for the pics and so quickly!!

When Hawk loves someone and hugs them, he holds their head. This is just a Thing He Does. Did Alan do it to show that Hawk was gay? I doubt it. But I am convinced he did it because Hawk loved BJ.

Did the writers all decide to make M*A*S*H incredibly gay? Did he actors unconsciously about this body language? Did the costume department decide to queer BJ up? I doubt it. Could one or two of the actors or writers see things this way and decide to play off it? Possibly. Do any of them in the show intentionally construct all of this? Did it just magically happen? I don’t know. Wasn’t there in the room with them.

But I can tell you that to those of us who recognised those queer signifiers, seeing body language like this constantly, there was no question. Did the straights get it? Probably not. But that doesn't mean we didn't see it.

Whether they meant it or not, most of the M*A*S*H characters are queer-coded in one way or the other. But BJ is probably the most visually queer, whereas Hawk 100% is a bisexual disaster. On purpose or not, that's what the show definitely makes clear.

you know we’re all rational adults: there’s no way we all hallucinated gay mash narrative out of nothing

[cait-sith]

Lone Gunman

[happyheidi]

[vintage-tigre]

[magpie-trove]

What Star Wars did with classic literature, Skeleton Crew did with Children’s literature

[the-mad-prince-of-denmark]

M*A*S*H, 1970, dir. Robert Altman

[druh19]

༝ Mashle Icons |like and reblog if saved|

[mcr-themed-brain]

Watching MASH after watching modern shows is lowkey kind of refreshing because everyone in MASH looks like a normal fucking person. Hawkeye is greying. Radar is balding. Margaret has wrinkles. Nobody is concerned with being drop-dead gorgeous (aside from Klinger, of course). I think it's good to remind yourself that not everyone has to be beautiful all the time

[r0sa4077]

Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce - M*A*S*H

[strangergraphics]

hey hehe would you mind making some potato dividers please :3

hello! and here you go, hope you like them! ♥️

please like and credit if you use, reblogs are appreciated! thank you! 💕

[aneverlastinghalloween]

Two of my favorite albums as a kid!

[moonreimo]

⌕ : ​ᴍᴀꜱʜ icons ୨♡୧ 冫ᴍᴀꜱʜʟᴇ

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝

ᴍᴀꜱʜʟᴇ: ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴜꜱᴄʟᴇꜱ

[kettle-bird]

Monster Mash Commissions: Now Open!

In celebration of the spookiest time of year I thought I'd offer something special over on my Ko-Fi!

For 30 USD, I will transform a character of your choice into a classic halloween monster in a cute retro artstyle! I currently have 5 slots open, but I may open more if I have time later in the month! Go check them out at the link above!

Slots: 4/5 Open

(Once again thanks to @grapplemace for letting me borrow her boy Brock!)

[fisheito]

Well THat doesn't seem right....