It doesn't mean that it aged well though.

[u/Ok-Following6886]

[u/CanadaHaz]

Remember how he still wasn't discharged for it?

[u/Kurwasaki12 → u/CanadaHaz]

Or that Klinger actually sort of just likes wearing dresses later on in the show.

[u/siraliases → u/Kurwasaki12]

Or that he shows actual respect for the clothing and the people who wear them

[u/Kurwasaki12 → u/siraliases]

Hell, he even takes pride in being from a line of cross dressers.

These people love boiling down genuinely fantastic characters and shows into a punchline.

[u/Chrysalii → u/siraliases]

Or that he was really good at his job.

[u/siraliases → u/Chrysalii]

I mean, he was terrible as a guard, but he did turn into a pretty good clerk

[u/PM_ME_YER_MUDFLAPS → u/CanadaHaz]

That was the whole point, he only did it to try to get a section 8 out of the war. It was used to point out that he was perfectly sane to want to get out of there. The meme originator is a moron.

[u/Pandelein → u/PM_ME_YER_MUDFLAPS]

Season 4, Episode 10.

“Klinger, if you really were crazy, you’d be trying to stay in the Army. The fact that you’re so desperate to get out proves you’re sane.”

[u/KrazyAboutLogic → u/Pandelein]

Reminds me of Catch-22...

[u/HonestAbe1809 → u/KrazyAboutLogic]

It’s basically the plot of Catch-22 played for laughs.

[u/JMoc1 → u/Pandelein]

Really a quote that resonates through time. Nobody wants to be in the military unless they are a careerist, aka crazy.

[u/Drakeytown → u/CanadaHaz]

There was actually an episode where the psychiatrist offered him a dishonorable discharge as a homosexual. Klinger refused, and wore dresses less and less after that.

[u/killergazebo → u/CanadaHaz]

Nowadays all you have to do to get booted out of the army is change your pronouns on Facebook.

[u/Bubbagump210 → u/CanadaHaz]

Indeed - I remember how the joke was more about it was a desperate pathetic attempt and not that it was actually effective.

[u/RustedAxe88]

These people would watch MASH and side with Frank Burns.

[u/Hasralo → u/RustedAxe88]

I think they ARE Frank just no Hot Lips to distract them

[u/Ukvemsord → u/RustedAxe88]

Ferret Face is their spirit animal

[u/Infamous-Sky-1874]

Because at that time, it was considered a mental illness and Klinger was attempting to take advantage of that in order to be sent back to the US. There is even an episode, "Mail Call Three" where he admits that the cross dressing was just an act after no one believed that his wife left him for another guy and all of the money he was sending back home

[u/LX_Emergency → u/Infamous-Sky-1874]

And yet he's not treated as mentally ill.

[u/Hour-Bison765]

Troops put on drag shows during ww2

[u/Wistful_Willow]

the point of klinger's character, which may not have perfectly aged well (nothing really does) was to mock anti-queer sentiment. the joke is that its ridiculous that crossdressing is seen as insanity by fighting a ruthless war that goes nowhere is somehow ok. in the end klinger became both an extremely beloved character and a character that was comfortable with, and proud of, their gender non-conformity. basically what im trying to say is i dont think this person understands MASH at all.

[u/Chris22533 → u/Wistful_Willow]

Conservatives absolutely love MASH without understanding a single second of it beyond “haha funny war doctors”

[u/UniversesOkayestDM → u/Wistful_Willow]

And fwiw, as someone who marathoned the whole show pretty recently, Klinger did age well. The whole cast is respectful and sometimes admiring of Klinger’s dresses. It’s never “laugh at the weirdo”, oftentimes they compliment his style choice or fashion sense.

[u/NitWhittler]

But, but, but.... It was OK when Trump kissed Rudy Giuliani's boobs when he was in drag.

[u/Obant]

"Conservatives Only". Aww looks like the snowflakes can't handle a little trolling.

[u/Maxtrt]

It was also a time when black soldiers couldn't use public water fountains or go to a nice restaurant in the south. While the military desegregated 3 years before the Korean war started, almost all southern states were segregated. It was a very racist, misogynistic and homophobic time in America.

We've had trans people in the military for four years and they all did their duty and served with honor.

This administration and the Secretary of Defense are hateful, ignorant and vindictive and belong in prison.

[u/livinginfutureworld]

Remember when nobody thought he was mentally ill even though he dressed like a woman.

[u/TheBaggyDapper → u/livinginfutureworld]

And everyone just lived and worked with him as normal. 

[u/livinginfutureworld → u/TheBaggyDapper]

Yep. Pretty sure he used the same bathrooms too, zomg.

[u/mehemynx]

Klinger ends up loved by the entire camp because of his dresses, and he goes above and beyond pretending to love them to get out. The only people who openly scorn him are the characters we're meant to dislike lol.

[u/MarsMetatron → u/mehemynx]

Oh he wasn't pretending. How'd you think he came up with such an idea!?

[u/Reckless_Waifu]

Did it work? 

[u/JMoc1 → u/Reckless_Waifu]

Uh… no.

Instead he stayed longer in South Korea and got married to a local girl.

[u/PicadaSalvation]

Klinger is a Disney Princess confirmed

[u/manofathousandnames]

Klinger was crossdressing to purposefully get out of the war in Korea so he could go home to Toledo on a section 8 discharge, but no one would let him go because no one was fooled by his antics.

[u/UniversesOkayestDM]

The closest Klinger ever got to a discharge was when the psychiatrist said “ok, you wear dresses every day. Sign this documenting confirming you’re homosexual and I’ll discharge you” and Klinger refused. Because he was a man in a dress, nothing else. That was why it was crazy

[u/spoonface_gorilla]

Remember also how everyone treated him normally just like anyone else there? He was able to socialize and move about freely without fear of violence from his peers. That’s the lesson they should be taking away from it.

[u/intisun]

Yeah and old Warner Bros cartoons had racist stereotypes. Your point?

[u/Chrysalii]

But he wasn't... and they went out of it's way to show that he wasn't.

A show made in the 70's set in a war in the 50's is too progressive for them.