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Korean War in Film and Television

Another way in which memory and perception of the Korean War in this time period was shaped was through film and television. The most iconic media for Americans on the Korean War in this period was certainly the television show M*A*S*H, which was a spinoff of a popular 1970 film of the same name. The show portrayed a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War. Although M*A*S*H was nominally set in Korea, it premiered in 1972 during the Vietnam War and it was plainly an allegory of that war. Despite its comedic nature, the show also placed heavy focus on the human impact that war has on both the soldiers involved in it and the civilians caught up in its wake. The Korean War was also portrayed in the 1982 Korean-American film Inchon!, which depicted the events of the Korean War from the North Korean invasion to the decisive United Nations victory at Inchon, South Korea. Although the film ran up large production costs and featured famous actor Laurence Olivier as Gen. MacArthur, its impact on public perception of the war was limited due to the film’s poor box office performance.

1964-1990
Korean War in Film and Television