In the last Happy's Corner, I discussed racial issues connected
to "Showboat." Since that time, I haven't been able
to get this racial perspective out of my head whenever I watch
my favorite TV shows. Recently, I watched a rerun of MASH, one
of my favorites when I was a teen. I felt a loss of innocence
as I watched it through more grown-up eyes. Without getting too
weird and philosophical, I'll make my point. First, let me discuss
the episode I was watching.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the show, MASH is
a comedy-drama about an American medical unit's experiences in
the Korean war. It was very successful during the 70s and 80s
and ran for ten years, more than three times as long as the war
it depicted.
The episode I'm discussing revolves around scrip, the currency
being used by the military at the time of the war. From time to
time, the military would issue new scrip at a one-to-one exchange
rate for the old scrip. It did this to control the black market
use of the scrip. Only army personnel could exchange old bills
for the new ones.
The MASH unit (the 8077th), like other army units would occasionally
use scrip to pay for services rendered by the local Korean civilians.
The Koreans could, in turn, use the scrip to buy needed supplies.
The change to new scrip could really screw the Koreans up. They
had been paid for their work in old US military scrip. But, they
were not allowed to exchange it for the new scrip. That meant
that any old scrip they were currently holding would become useless.
It would be as if all the money in your wallet became suddenly
worthless.
One of the doctors in the MASH unit, resident bad guy, Dr. Charles
Winchester, realizes the predicament the Koreans are in. He hatches
a plan to buy up the scrip from the local Korean village at ten
to one. He'll give them one dollar of new scrip for each ten dollars
of old scrip. Then, he'll rush back to camp in time to exchange
the old scrip acquired from the Koreans at one to one. Charles
will make a 900% profit. He strong-arms a local Korean tailor
to help him execute the scheme.
The tailor complains about his plight to two other doctors, the
resident good guys, Dr. 'Hawkeye' Pierce and Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt.
Hawkeye and B.J. decide to concoct a scheme to teach Charles a
lesson.
In the meantime, Hawkeye has a problem of his own. One of the
soldiers in his care, a Private Boone, will be bedridden for the
next little while and needs Pierce to exchange his $400 in old
scrip for him. Hawkeye agrees but the money, placed in a small
sack, is stolen. Private Boone doesn't believe Hawkeye. He thinks
the doctor is giving him a load of crap. Boone thinks Hawkeye
is a thief.
The day of scrip exchange arrives. Charles drives his jeep to
the nearby Korean village and collects the old scrip from the
villagers giving them 10% in new scrip. On his way back to camp,
he's stopped by some MPs (military police). The road back has
been officially blocked . Actually, Pierce and Hunnicutt have
gotten one of their MP buddies to fake this. Charles is forced
to run back to camp on foot. He fails to make the deadline; the
camp is now sealed off to all personnel and Charles is stuck outside.
Just inside the camp, Pierce offers to bail Charles out of his
predicament, but for a steep price. He'll give Charles the same
deal that Charles gave the Koreans. Not wanting to be stuck with
$400 of useless old scrip, Charles agrees to the exchange and
receives $40 in new scrip from Pierce. Charles has been ripped
off the same way that he ripped off the Koreans. Pierce, legally
inside the camp, happily exchanges the old scrip for $400 in new,
crisp bills.
Pierce gives the $400 in new scrip to Private Boone to replace
the money that was stolen. Everyone's happy and bad boy Charles
has been taught a lesson. At least that's how I thought the first
time I saw this episode in its first run more than ten years ago.
When I saw the same episode as a rerun just a few weeks back,
I was disturbed at the fact that everything was wrapped up nicely
except for the Koreans who had still been ripped off.
To make matters worse, the tag (this is the last two minutes or
so of the show that come on after the last commercial) further
resolved things while ignoring the Koreans. When Private Boone's
$400 was initially stolen, Father Mulcahy, the unit's chaplain,
publicly decried the crime over the public address system for
the camp. He called for the criminal to repent and return the
money, anonymously if he wished. Mulcahy's words apparently were
very moving for he found a bag left at his doorstep with the $400,
already exchanged into brand new scrip. Logically, to wrap up
the story, since Private Boone had gotten the Korean villagers'
money, these funds should be given back to the Korean villagers
who would effectively get a one to one exchange. Instead, Hawkeye
advises Father Mulcahy to keep the money for his own charitable
works.
Lets look at the net result of this episode. The Korean villagers
lose 90 percent of their spending power. Father Mulcahy gets $400
for his work. Pierce loses $40 but he feels great because he came
through for Private Boone. Charles comes out even but he's been
taught a lesson about trying to rip someone off. Because the good
Father will most likely spend his money on Korean orphans, the
whole turn of events can be viewed as a monetary exchange from
one Korean group to another. However, control of funds now rests
with an American priest. We don't want to rip off you good Koreans,
but we'd better control the money and decide where to spend it.
Is that the message?
Perhaps I'm pushing the point a bit far. But why did the writers
of this MASH episode choose to end it this way? It would have
been logical to just return the money to the villagers. Moreover,
why didn't Hawkeye and B.J. just offer to exchange things fairly
for the villagers if they were so concerned about morality in
the first place. It seems that the writers were concerned that
the morality of the episode worked out in a pleasing fashion for
the Americans. The Koreans, they're just props anyway. Ain't they?
What do you think?
Until next time, stay Happy and don't take no crap!
Yours truly,
Happy.
