How did M*A*S*H use the Korean War to comment on the Vietnam War?

Directed by Robert Altman, the 1970 film MASH* was released at the height of the Vietnam War. Although the movie was set during the Korean War, it served as a transparent reflection on the more recent conflict.1

Altman used the film to challenge the complacency of audiences by juxtaposing bawdy slapstick humor with the shocking, visceral horrors of war. By portraying the lead surgeons, Hawkeye and Trapper John, as nonconformist antiheroes who refused to bow to military authority, the film resonated deeply with the American counterculture of the 1970s.1

This approach allowed the film to function as a critique of contemporary military involvement. By transposing the setting to an earlier war, Altman was able to examine the nature of conflict from a 1970s perspective, ensuring that an antiwar message remained clear to viewers who had grown increasingly ambivalent about the ongoing situation in Vietnam.23