Corporal Klinger from M*A*S*H

2/10/2020

When I was a boy, there was a TV show called M*A*S*H.  It was a comedy about an army hospital set in the Korean war.  There was one character named Corporal Max Clinger (played by Jamie Farr).  He was this friendly, positive, energetic guy who wanted out of the Army.  If you are sane, then you want out of the war.  If you are insane, then you do not want out.  So, he decided to dress as a woman in order to convince them that he was crazy, and he acted like he was happy to be in the war.

Klinger was well cast.  They made the character a great, lovable person.  It worked.  He was always dressed far too well to be living in tents in the middle of a war zone.  He never acted feminine or flamboyant.  It worked very well.

I realized this week that I am Klinger.  I am a guy who wears dresses, etc., but I am still just a guy when I do it.  No make up.  No wig or bra.  I am just a dude in an unusual style for a dude, just like Klinger (though, he may have worn bras).

It is weird realizing this after so MANY years of it being there to be realized.

I told it to my wife.  She screwed up her face for a moment as though I was being ridiculous.  Then it came undone as she started nodding.

Yeah.  I’m Klinger…