MovieChat Forums > MASH (1970) Discussion > Did Anybody Have A Dad Who Hated Them Wa...

Did Anybody Have A Dad Who Hated Them Watching M*A*S*H..


...(the movie or tv show) because he thought they were making fun of the war?

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Lots of people have trouble with war comedies, particularly if they had first hand experience with the death and maiming involved. Watch carnage recycled for laughs whether in MASH or Good Morning Vietnam strikes some as vulgar. Of course others enjoy dark humor and can find the lighter side of any tragedy. Every time a celebrity dies or a person is murdered, jokes circulate -- sometimes too soon.

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My father was a Captain in Navy Medical Corps in WWII, and very conservative. So he
no doubt would have hated it. But he was older, 50 when I was born in 1949, and wasn't
a movie goer. I on the other hand was the perfect age to appreciate the irreverent
anti-authoritarian humor.

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The contrary with me.

It was 1970 and MASH the movie had been out awhile and he had seen it. I had not been "allowed" to -- it was one of them there new "R-rated movies" and reportedly VERY R (sex, nudity, cussing, gore.)

But I was having some sort of really bad day -- can't remember why now -- and he decided to "snap me out of it" by taking me to see MASH the movie.

He knew that the "forbidden thrill" of an R-rated movie would be tonic for me. But he was also a Korean War vet and even though Korea in that movie was meant to be Viet Nam in disguise -- he was very NOSTALGIC for the scenes at the camp and the "shenanigans." I didn't ask him if the sex stuff was part of that nostalgia.

I was thrilled by MASH that day I saw it, and I only understood it better with the passing years.

But who I saw MASH with that day is why it will be an unforgettable day at the movies in my life. With my dad, the Korean vet, because he wanted to share his past with me and to give me an R-rated lift in an emotionally bad time.

The combination package of (1) great movie, (2) who I saw it with and (3) when I saw it (1970, a very different time)...makes MASH my favorite movie of 1970.

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[deleted]

Yes,

"Hey, dad what do ya think?" - Me (I was just baitin' the old man.)

"Bunch a 4-f motherfuckers."

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