shoop and the 80s, part 1

I tried to block out most of the 80s. The 80s was college, and college wasn't much fun. The second half of the 80s was realizing that I wasn't ready for the outside world, despite college, and that wasn't much fun, either. But a few things stayed with me--you can't block out a whole decade. I guess I was thinking about the 80s with the passing of John Hughes, whose movies defined the 80s for a lot of people. I was also thinking about the 80s because I used a Barnes & Noble gift card to pick up a DVD of another Big 80s moment--the final episode of "MASH."

When it first aired, it was second semester, sophomore year at Georgetown. The residents of Arts Hall, and some residents' friends, had gathered in the basement to watch it on TV. I was late--I was rehearsing something or other, I think. By the time I came in, most of the Heavy Stuff had already happened, and I remember laughing too loudly at Colonel Potter saying love always gets you into trouble, because I had a crush on someone--I couldn't swear who it was, but I can narrow it down to two or three. And it ended, and that was it.

It's a long episode that doesn't get played in the regular syndicated rotation very often. I caught it once or twice, but I still wondered if I was missing something--a scene here, a moment there. So I bought it, it arrived, and I watched. And it's interesting--I offer a few stray observations.

The big story was Hawkeye--he's cracked up by the time the episode begins. And it's dramatic as all get-out, no question--must have been quite the shock 26 years ago. (The peasant woman didn't really kill her chicken.) And yes, Klinger stays in Korea--heavy duty irony. Father Mulcahy loses part of his hearing, but did we ever take him seriously, anyway? (At any rate, I never did.) The story that stayed with me was Winchester--the proper Bostonian, always just on the verge of caricature. He has to learn yet another lesson about pride and vanity--how many of those lessons did he have to learn over the years, anyway? And why didn't any of them stick? Nevertheless, the episode is hardest on this character--the storyline takes away his beloved classical music, a cruel reminder of the slaughtered innocent musicians he had come to befriend. Overall, I would call it worthwhile viewing if you're a MASH-watcher.

In the end, though, I'm only getting a xerox of the main event. The main event was 1983, and there was a community of fans laughing, tsk-tsking, and sobbing over old fictional friends. I suppose I can't recreate 1983 any more than I can block it out.