I mean, certain things had to remain the same. She had to remain one of the antagonists because that was the structure of the show. In the second season, we saw for the first time that she was unhappy with Frank and wanted more from her life. Then around the third or fourth year, in an episode called "The Nurses" (1976), Hot Lips gave the nurses a speech telling them how lonely she was because she was in charge and that's the way it was, so she couldn't really have any friends. Her marriage and her divorce changed her. Her affair with Hawkeye in "Comrades in Arms: Part 1" (1977) changed both characters, so that they were never really rivals again.
--Loretta Swit, Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on MASH
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| 1937-2025 |
I always admired her for how she transformed that character.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was a natural transformation that didn't seem forced, Mitchell (though giving the Korean War an extra eight years helped some.)
DeleteMASH was not my kind of tv show but it was so popular here, however one absorbed a little by osmosis. I had the impression that Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan was somewhat promiscuous, yet I don't remember any criticism about her promiscuous character in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, in a case of misguided loyalty to the U.S. military, Houlihan slept with any officer her rank or higher. Once she realized these officers were taking advantage of her patriotism and sense of duty, she stopped being promiscuous. In fact, the longer MASH was on the air, the less she was referred to as "Hot Lips" and more by her real name, Margaret.
DeleteCertainly in her portrayal of Hot Lips Hoolihan she was one of a kind. May her memory be a blessing.
ReplyDeleteA blessing in reruns, David.
DeleteShe gave a complex portrayal of a character originally designed to be one dimensional. RIP
ReplyDeleteIt was acting chops that allowed her to do that, Debra.
DeleteI saw she had passed away. MASH was a bit before my time, but I do know it!
ReplyDeleteI thought you would, Ananka.
DeleteI don't know if they could come up with a show like that for any other war. RIP Margaret.
ReplyDeleteThe show had a timelessness about it, Mike. Watching it, I had to be reminded that it was about a particular war, and not war in general.
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