Some Assembly Required

I am trying to keep myself working around “writer’s block” and other moments of low inspiration and output. It may be helpful to remind myself of the things that inspired me to write. It is helpful to look at the “things” that have gone into the thought behind the writing. It will be an exercise in “trying to connect the dots.” And this exercise will most likely the first of many more postings on this idea to come.

I know we now live firmly in the “digital age” of media. There is something that I find is now an idea that is fading away. The linear notes. Also known as the credits. The notes those who created the work make telling about all the “who, what, where, when, why and how’s” went into making it. I do like reading the credits because I start making connections on how the individuals involved contributed to each “piece” they were involved with. A couple of examples from the movies. I can tell by the names of certain cinematographers how a film will look. I also know that there will be certain themes used by a specific director. It is like reading the ingredient list of a recipe to get some idea on the taste and flavor of the meal may turn to be.

I was watching a few episodes of M*A*S*H a few weeks ago. And I will say this again. If you watch the show on DVD then do yourself a favor by turning off the laugh track in the audio options menu. As a writer (and also being myself), you find many people want their humor and their drama kept into two separate and distinct categories. And any attempt to mix the two is messing with a very dangerous “gray area”. But I think in exploring ideas in this “gray area” can lead to producing something that has better. This “gray area” also the potential to alienate the audience. This where the “buttons are being pushed”. It all depends on how you handle the material. You can go too far over the audience’s “head” and come off like a snobby avant-garde art film. The act of being “pretentious” is not a way of being “vastly intelligent”. And on the other hand, “shooting below the belt” relying on just “bathroom humor” is the best way to “lighten the mood”. There is a “fine” line between the two. And they can coexist in a piece. Every day, you experience the wide range of human emotions. And sometimes this can happen in the space of a short amount of time. I think that it should take place in writing too. You should basically “aim for the head” with the audience. Personally speaking about my own writing style here. I like a humorous conversation. I am not the best at writing a lot of things that build up to one ultimate “punch line” to hang the conversation on.

The best example of a fictional character that balances these two ideas of drama and humor is Hawkeye Pierce on the television show M*A*S*H. I read the following somewhere and at the moment I cannot remember who or where (so the following quote is not exact). “You have to give Alan Alda credit for playing this character because he made you both laugh and cry with the same emotional integrity within his acting”. It also shows what can happen with a script when it is given to right person to act for it. Hawkeye is still one of the most famous characters in television history. And here is another idea that I cannot remember who said it first. “He had the most important trait for a character. He has a difference that sets him apart. And a real belief in that difference”. Hawkeye knew he was a good doctor in which he showed the ability instead of told you his ability. Just like in real life. I would rather know you have some skill by doing it. Rather than constantly reminding me you have a piece of paper on your wall saying you have that ability. The show was also a sign of the times they were filmed in too. Where a medical show on television these can show some of the “gory” details in surgery M*A*S*H could not do to the standards of that day. So instead what they showed was the “emotions” of the surgery is where the “price” the characters had to be paid. Hawkeye did not want to be in that war zone either but if he was going to be there then he would do medicine to the best and beyond of his own abilities. He was not going to do it on the Army’s term either. This was how he was going to preserve his humanity. Another thing that goes into writing a good character is those little details. Hawkeye got his name from the book The Last of the Mohicans which the only book his father ever read. Quirks like this make characters better.

I could not find any clips on line to show as examples of the Hawkeye character. But here is the Theme Music to the show.

So I am going to tell you about some episodes to look out for if you should catch the show on a television station.

Chief Surgeon Who? Hawkeye is appointed to being the outfits’ head surgeon even though he is outranked by Major Frank Burns. Colonel Henry Blake says that the position belongs to the doctor who has the best skills when “the heat is on”. Note. That in the history of the show Hawkeye would at least acknowledge he was the “head surgeon” but he never used this title as “trump card”. I think if he did then he would have hated himself for it because it meant he had bought into the bureaucracy of the Army. And that is the last thing he would ever allow to happen. Once again he would rather rely on his own skill.

Sometimes You Hear the Bullet. I have heard in interviews with the producers of the show that this is the episode when they realized what the show was truly about. This is the show that was the first to show me the balance between drama and comedy. In this episode Hawkeye’s childhood friend Tommy visits. He is now an infantryman in the war and is writing a book about his experiences. Sadly, later on he arrives at the hospital badly wounded. Hawkeye with all of his abilities is unable to save him. And this leaves him with one question. Why didn’t he cry over the other dead soldiers?

Fallen Idol (No link available). This episode is an examination of “hero worship”. Radar O’Reilly is wounded in this episode and Hawkeye has trouble coping with it. This leads him to get too drunk and unable to operate. Radar is upset that his idol could fall like this. Hawkeye unloads on him that his purpose is not to live up to anyone expectations. He is there to save lives without going insane. This defines and redefines their relationship with each other.

Life Time (No link available) This episode was done in real time with no laugh track. There is a clock shown ticking in the corner of the screen. This is a good example of drama and humor colliding in a story. They must safe a soldier’s life and avoid paralysis by doing an aorta transplant. They are fighting the clock. And it does not help that the donor soldier who is brain dead has not died yet.

Hawkeye provided a lot of memorable dialogue throughout the series.

You can see the influence of this character in other shows. The best examples, I can think of are the characters of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie, House, M.D.) and Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney, E.R.)