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Just as an aside, I never understood why the Frank Burns character on MASH was so reviled. Yes he was a best an "only OK" doctor, but anyone who can hack that k
by RichardCA 8y ago
Just as an aside, I never understood why the Frank Burns character on MASH was so reviled. Yes he was a best an "only OK" doctor, but anyone who can hack that kind of combat surgery deserved a medal. I always liked the episodes where he got to be a foil for Hawkeye's arrogance. Like gee, I'm sorry I'm not in your cult of hyper-competence. Too bad you have patients that go south just like the rest of us do.
There was also a political subtext. Burns' motivation was patriotism.
- scottLobster 8y agoQuestion: If you had to pick a Doctor for your operation, would you want Hawkeye or Frank? :D I actually found Frank to be somewhat sympathetic and to have some valid points on a few episodes, but many times he was just grossly incompetent to the point of threatening his patients' lives and his co-worker's careers. He wasn't just honestly mediocre, he rationalized it in all sorts of ways from extreme Patriotism to racism to outright denial, and was constantly looking for empty, sometimes underhanded ways to prove his supposed superiority.
- RichardCA 8y agoThe show was careful to never show someone getting killed due to sheer incompetence. But to be fair even "realistic" shows like ER would tread lightly when they went there, it's nearly always depicted as a systemic failure due to poor communication or some other unforseen circumstance. But since the overall topic is the nature of elitism, I would volunteer that when I've had a friend or relative at a hospital with an "elite" reputation, that was no guarantee against episodes of incompetence. But that's a completely different topic.