Robert Altman's Mash takes us to the front lines of the Vietnam War in metaphor, which is to say the Korean War. It's an unlikely place to look for comedy, but it spawned a hit film and one of the longest

running dramaties in television history.

It's an irreverent take on the chaos of war.

The conflicts depicted aren't only geopolitical.

They're also interpersonal, romantic, and often alcoholic.

Hijinks at the Field Hospital are a coping mechanism to deal with the hellish circumstances of war.

But the chauvinism and retrograde sexual politics

are a time castle for how comedy and the targets of comedy

have evolved over the decades.

Told in a series of vignettes rather than the straight narrative story arc,

MASHES an iconic film of its time,

and a foundational work from which Myriad films have borrowed.

It won countless accolades in its own time, but modern

viewers may be appalled, not so much at the depictions of violent death as at the rampant

punching down.

This isn't a hospital, it's an insane asylum, and it's also today's friendly fire as we discuss

the 1970 film, Mash. Mash. What is the good for? Absolutely.

Nothing.

Uh-huh.

Welcome to Friendly Fire.

It's the podcast that plays dirty football,

but reviews war movies very seriously.

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