In the early seventies and into the early eighties there was a storied and sometimes highly controversial television series called “M.A.S.H” which stood for “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital”. The series was a follow on to the wildly successful movie by the same name. In both cases the story revolved around a group of Doctors and Nurses and supporting cast who operated a forward field hospital in Korea during the Korean War, the 4077 MASH. The characters were lovable, laughable, affable and endearing to viewers. However, the show was not without its recurring controversy. Everything from Anti-War sentiment to adultery to alcoholism were broached during its run on national television. One controversial issue that surrounded the show on a recurring basis was that of comedy in a surgical unit where blood, guts and pain were the order of the day, and in an environment where many thought that attitudes and demeanor should have been more serious. Specifically regarding the relationships between men and women, (Doctors and Nurses) and superiors and subordinates. The one-liners, the sexual innuendo, the practical jokes and surgical suite humor were all part of the allure of the series. In any case, whichever side of the controversy you found yourself on, “MASH” was tremendously successful and maintained a huge following.
While some characters were just blatantly Anti-War, some were Pro Army and attempted to maintain a degree of military bearing and discipline in a world of chaos. The other side just rolled with the situation and accepted the day to day existence in whatever capacity they had to in order to get through it.
At the center of most controversial subjects was Alan Alda who was Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon from a little town...
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...ees and literally debilitate a person if they are not equipped to handle it accordingly and maintain an ability to put it into perspective. The humor that prevailed in the Operating Room (O.R.) in “M.A.S.H.” is no different than that which occurs in dozens of civilian emergency rooms worldwide during critical times. It is the human way of coping and is intended in no way to be disrespectful to victims or subjects of violence and further it is not a reflection of the understanding of the gravity of the situation either. Rather, it is a true human response to tragedy which enables us to function. It is the means of distancing one’s self from the situation in order to accomplish your mission or task and provide lifesaving measures without allowing your mind to be overwhelmed by the horror. Laugh long, laugh hard and laugh often, it truly is the very best medicine.
As the story continues and McMurphy’s influence over the patients strengthens, the reader sees other occasions where the laughter is healing. With McMurphy’s big, boisterous laugh dominating the ward, the patients begin to laugh themselves. Their laughs sound awkward at first- forced, simulated- but nevertheless they are laughing and whether the patients, or Bromden realize it, this phony laugh does begin to heal them.
Simply existing in a happy-go-lucky setting, their dreams of wartime glory are hovering over the horizon, but the reality of the war they are about to fight in has not yet appeared.
“Morreall argues that, if we want to answer these questions, we shouldn’t focus on whether the joke happens to trade on a stereotype. Instead, he takes the primary problem with some humor to be that it involves disengaging from things with which we ought to be engaged.” (Morreall, 529)
war, Ab Snopse was considered a mercenary for serving both sides of the way. “
The whole war was a product of choice and chance. I don’t believe that people had a say in what happened to them, despite their choices. I believe that Elie felt the same way, specifically towards the end of the novel. He had to become a completely different person just to survive, for physical and mental reasons. There was a lot of chaos.
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Throughout human history, war has stood as a universal reaction to various conflicts between diverse peoples. War can embed itself into a culture over generations of fighting. So much so that there exists cultures that base themselves around the idea of war, creating hostile and bellicose peoples. At times, war may not even have grounds, but the aggressive nature of the people often cause it to proceed without justification. In A Separate Peace, wars such as these are seen between the characters and within the characters of Gene and Phineas. These wars can be thought of as figments of imagination, founded on irrational assumptions, fears of the unknown, and nonexistent threats. Regardless of their origin, the enemy is always daunting. John Knowles’ A Separate Peace reveals Gene’s perceived war with Phineas and Phineas’ internal conflict with World War II to be intertwined with each other through Gene’s misunderstanding of Phineas and Phineas’ dependency on Gene to escape the realization of war itself.
What point of view does each character show in regards to their attitude to the war?
The spectrum of therapeutic techniques available within the health care continuum is very complex and varied. From traditional medicine, to holistic remedies, and anything in between, nurses have a rather large arsenal at their disposal when it comes to treating the patients that are under their care. Humor as an alternative therapy has long been understood as a proven means to aid in the recovery process. “With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health” (Smith & Segal, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to discuss situations in which humor would be a viable alternative therapy
Laughter also proves a vital role in helping the patients deal with their problems. Not only does it help them deal with problems but it also gave them the push toward progress on getting out of the institution.
Imagine being a first year medical surgeon just out of the highest-ranking university in the nation. You are placed in the ER, in the Methodist Hospital building, as your days are spent saving people from the cruel realities that they are forced to live among. Day after day, you see handfuls of people coming in with a variety of gunshot, knife, and domestic violence wounds. Your troubles are easily compensated, however, by receiving over $200,000 a year, a brand new Mercedes, and a house upon the palisade shores. Suppose for a moment that one evening while you are on duty, an ambulance radios in and informs the hospital staff that they are bringing in a multiple gunshot wound victim and to prepare the ER for an immediate operation. You begin to order people around and dictate what needs to be prepared before the ambulance arrives. Finally the victim is present, only to show that he is not the average gangster or policeman, instead it is the near lifeless body of your own son. Your blood freezes; your brain shuts down, as you see every precious second slip away through the lifeless gaze of your child's eyes.
Humor can come in many different forms. Many people are aware of the blatant humor of slapstick, but it takes a keener mind to notice the subtle detail in sarcasm or satire. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift was able to create a piece of literature addressing the faults of the Irish culture while embedding in a humorous essay. Swift’s satire allows for the gravity of the Irish standings to be exploited under the disguise of a proposal for economic benefit.
War is Peace. In the fabricated society, war creates a peaceful environment through patriotism; where the citizens of Oceania devote themselves to their country over anything they do. Where does that seem familiar? Here, right at home. When we look back in history and even look around today, the pride of fighting overseas and protecting the country exist in minds of many young men and women; not to mention the supportive families and friends who proudly stay at home to
The film Wit is an emotional story about a woman’s struggle with terminal ovarian cancer. The film focuses on the treatment she receives in the hospital not only from the chemotherapy but the inhumane treatment from the staff especially the physicians. This was an eye opening experience to see the patient’s side to hospitalization and how important it is to see the patient as a human and not an object that lacks feelings and emotions (Bosanquet & Nichols, 2001). The greatest ethical dilemma posed in the film was aggressively treating the ovarian cancer with the full dose radiation and have the patient suffer the unpleasant severe side effects, or allow the cancer to grow and metastasize. In this film, the nurse tries to convince
65). There are three main concepts in the story of Teah’s experience. The first of these three concepts is coping. Teah mentioned that she attempted to work harder to both deal with and forget her experience, which in the end did not work because it contributed to her extreme fatigue. Moreover, she utilized humour as a coping mechanism which had a positive result for her. Teah spoke about her use of humour as a communication method through her experience with cancer, as many cancer patients do. Beach and Prickett (2016) discuss how individuals utilize humour and laughter to communicate and achieve reassurance through awkward, uncomfortable, or stressful situations and moreover, to articulate challenging ideas and feelings into words (p. 792). Additionally, Beach and Prickett (2016) conclude that laughter and humour can be utilized to lessen the fears individuals have and be a way for doctors to recognize and speak to the concerns of the individual that have been communicated through laughter and humour (pp. 799-800). Rose, Spencer, and Rausch (2013) found that humour is a mechanism where patients are able to comprehend their situation, while veering away from the denial, the anxiety, and the psychological distress that stem from external and internal stressors (p. 4). Teah used humour to cope with having cancer through making jokes and laughing, but also through dressing up in silly costumes every now and then. She utilized her costumes not only as a distraction from the stressful situation she was in, but because it was also very fun for her to dress