[ SECRET POST #2601 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2601 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 098 secrets from Secret Submission Post #372.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

09. http://i57.tinypic.com/5oi7bs.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

i always felt kiiiiiinda bad for frank. but remember when his 'amusing anecdote' was the story about the wheelchair kid who lost control of his wheelchair and crashed into his dad's car? and the story about how his mom had to invite a ton of kids to his birthday parties just to get a couple to show up? and later, when everyone was stranded on the bus and frank hoarded his stash of candy bars until he was basically forced to share [which doesn't really have much to do with hawkeye, even tho he was there]?

hawkeye might have fanned the flames of frank's jerkitude, but it existed before he met hawkeye.

[tabaqui]

This, exactly. He often said, basically, 'nobody has ever liked me my whole life', and so - yeah, it makes you feel kinda sorry for him, 'cause he was a good guy a couple times (that time that Hawkeye had ragged on him in the OR and then Hawkeye's patient almost died because he's missed a tiny nick in a hard-to-reach part of the colon, and Frank said 'anybody could have missed that'....) but mostly he seemed to just be an unpleasant person.

[(Anonymous)]

Can't it be both? I mean, there are a lot of things he does that just make him seem like an inherently dickish, selfish and incompetent person but being around Hawkeye and Trapper/BJ probably didn't help matters and there were a few times where I felt legitimately sorry for him.

[dwell_ondreams]

Hahaha, M*A*S*H secret FTW.

But yeah, I think Frank was always a dick, but Hawkeye probably made him MORE of a dick. (And I do think Hawkeye is funny, but I also think he's a douche)

[nyxelestia]

Came here to say both of these! :D

[(Anonymous)]

+1

[(Anonymous)]

Also agree.

I would have put a pillow over Hawkeye in his sleep (or at least fantasized about it regularly) if I'd have had to put up with him.

[gaffsie]

Hawkeye brought out the worst in him for sure, but I'm pretty sure Frank was always a dick.

[(Anonymous)]

Pretty sure he was a jerk from day one, but Hawkeye, Trapper and B.J. made it worse. They intentionally provoked him a lot of the time, and while I can't say he didn't deserve it in general, there were instances where he hadn't done anything specific to deserve that particular day's prank, and some of his jackassery that was a direct result could probably have been avoided if they'd just left him alone.

[skippydelicious]

I put the blame on Henry, he should have broken that crap up day one but he was too useless and gutless to do anything. He was a shit CO whose absence improved the camp remarkably, sadly for Frank it was too late though because the pattern of provocation and dickish behavior on both sides was too entrenched by the time someone competent took over.

TL;DR Sharing the Frank was a dick and that Hawkeye was an equal dick sentiment, but blaming the CO who let it fester.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

I have nothing to add, because you summed up my feelings perfectly.

[intrigueing]

While IA that Henry was a crap CO, I think that's a completely unfair assessment of the situation. Henry never asked for the job, in fact, he expressed nothing but complete hatred and unease bordering on horror with his job, nor did he ever make a mistake out of arrogance or self-satisfaction or a refusal to listen to reason. He made mistakes because he was utterly unqualified for the job and had no one was qualified to help him. He was not anyone with leadership experience, or with a leader's nature, nor was he a career army man. He was a doctor who had been drafted and promoted up to the rank of Lt. Colonel and dumped into a leadership position he had no desire to be in. And therefore he a) was a terrible leader, b) knew full well he was a terrible leader c) hated his job with a passion d) lacked the ability to change his job and e) had no access to anyone whom he could ask to help him do a non-crap job. All he could do was solder on and pray that Radar would stop him from letting everything go up in flames, because he knew full well that screaming to HQ for help would result in nothing.

Henry's probably the character I feel most sorry for, because while everyone else could have made different choices about how they did their jobs, Henry had basically no choices available to him at all, except for the choice between his brand of incompetence and Frank's brand of incompetence. Henry's incompetence was never due to anything like arrogance, or contrariness, or dickishness, or unwillingness to listen. He was simply stuck with a job he was hopelessly unqualified for. Henry's absence wasn't what improved the camp. It was the presence of Potter, a guy who was highly experienced and qualified in army leadership and who was a natural leader who liked leading -- y'know, someone who was actually capable of doing a non-shit job -- that improved the camp.

ITT

[(Anonymous)]

waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy overthinking a slapstick comedy O.O seriously guys now come on

Re: ITT

[(Anonymous)]

If you think M*A*S*H was just a slapstick comedy then I think you watched a different show

[(Anonymous)]

Didn't Larry Linville say that Frank was just an awful type of person?

[(Anonymous)]

he did, and as i recall, the reason he left the show was b/c he felt that frank's character couldn't really go any further than he already had

[intrigueing]

Nah. His jerkiness had very little to do with Hawkeye, except in the extremity of how it was expressed TO Hawkeye. He was a jerk to many people and in my situations that had nothing whatsoever to do with Hawkeye. And "being frustrated by a childish roommate" is possible the weakest, shittiest excuse for jerkitude I can think of.

I do sometimes feel sorry for Frank, I think a lot of his jerkiness came from factors he couldn't really control. But no, his jerkiness was sure as hell not Hawkeye's fault. I'd say some of his jerkiness to Hawkeye was Hawkeye's fault, but not his jerkiness in general.

[truxillogical]

Eh, he was the dude cheating on his wife, and he had plenty of points in the "He's a dick" category. But Hawkeye probably brought out the worst in him.

I do feel bad for him sometimes, especially with Margret. And it's so clear he was just always very Bad At People, so yeah, his dickishness probably comes from that too.

Linville was such a sweetie, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Most of how Hawkeye acted towards Frank was because he wasn't a nice guy at all. Notice the difference in how Winchester gets treated - under the jerk clothing Winchester was dedicated doctor who did care about his patients, a loving son and brother, and I rather decent man that just happened to be stuck up. Frank was kind of a bad doctor who often didn't care about those under his care, cheated on his wife without hardly any guilt, was rather racist, and didn't seem to grasp the reality of war.

And well Hawkeye didn't want to be there.

[lunabee34]

I will join the "Frank is a dick; Hawk and Co. didn't help" bandwagon.

[abharding]

I don't think we can blame Hawkeye for Frank's dickish behavior - I think the damage was done long before he came to Korea. Hawkeye just knew how to bring out the worst in Frank and because he was also something of a dick took delight in doing so.

[(Anonymous)]

Probably both. Frank was no picnic but Hawkeye sure did like to give him hell.

[(Anonymous)]

Hawkeye and Trapper were insufferable. Frank was also a dick.

In reterospect the only characters in that show who actually seemed liked people I'd want to hang out with were Charles, Potter and Father Mulcahy.

[katiemariie]

I don't think Frank was born an asshole, but he was definitely a piece of work before he got to Korea. The war, tensions within the camp, Hawkeye's needling, Frank's abusive upbringing (there was a comment at some point about Frank's father punching him in the face as punishment), and his social location within a very specific white, (upper) middle class American culture of the 1950s that encouraged him to cover up his vulnerabilities and declining mental health with a veneer of patriotism created a perfect storm of douchebaggery. Frank's arc is essentially the same as Hawkeye's wrt mental illness, except Frank broke down earlier because he didn't have a strong foundation laid by supportive parents and a happy childhood.