Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[LTberrywtr AT aol.com]

   Well Jim, your take on Hawkeye and Trapper is a little more nuanced than 
mine and Walker's (though we're nearly eye-to-eye on Archie). They (and later 
Hawkeye and B.J. Hunnicut) came across to me as irony-free, holier than thou, 
spoiled brats. That's why their juvenile anti-authority stance just didn't 
work 
for me (I take my anti-authority straight up - the Marx Brothers and W.C. 
Fields). That's why I had to laugh near the end of "Thanatos" when Walker 
gets on 
them for just those charges and specifications. Later comments by the actors 
who played Trapper and B.J. (and most of the folks in Hollywood on most 
issues) would lead me to believe that nuance and irony are not a big part of 
their 
game. The show wasn't a total loss for me though. Hawkeye et al, could be 
funny 
chasing nurses and getting swacked on that home brew they made. Klinger 
cracked me up. And some of the other characters - Col. Potter and Radar - 
were 
appealing (I worked in the ship's office of a destroyer with a guy just like 
Radar 
- except I don't think he had a Teddy bear). And Hot Lips, well (well, 
indeed), she was evidence that Frank had at least one oar in the water.
   Cordially,
-- Larry