The most fun thing about MASH is that all of the things your MASH-watching mutuals say about it, that sound unhinged on the level of Supernatural posts, are actually objectively true about the show
Basically every episode is about how much the characters hate the army, and the ones that don’t are explicitly villainous. When people are like “Hawkeye is an androgynous bicon and anti-racist ally“ they sound like insane crazy people attempting to reclaim 1970s Gay Jokes through a progressive lens, but when you actually watch the show, whenever he makes a joke about making a pass at the male nurses too, the joke is always ALWAYS on the people who’d make a big deal out of that. There are several episodes that involve him going to incredible lengths to teach elaborate lessons to somebody who made a racist comment, sometimes intentionally getting them fired from the army for it. There’s an episode where Hawkeye and Trapper blackmail a homophobic character to stop him outing a gay guy
You see Klinger walking around in his dress and you’re like “oh great a Man In A Dress joke” but in the actual context of the show, the joke is very specifically about how his attempts to capitalize on the bigotry of his time and the military always fails because he’s found himself in a weird little enclave of flamboyant 1950s men who don’t understand why anybody could possibly object to a man wearing a dress, especially not when he wears it so well.
Again this all sounds like the most insane reaching you’ve ever heard. I sound like a 2017 Always Sunny blogger trying to pretend the show is all about growth. This description literally sounds like the “Kylo Ren is queer-coded” posts, I get that. But also all of this is like. Literally just the actual text of the series
Ok ok ok I’m getting emotional. Lemme be corny for a minute..they had an Indian spiderman. A whole superhero who is INDIAN. Not a sidekick. Not a tech guy. A hero. Who does hero things!!! And is unabashedly, whole heartedly desi. His world is desi without being tragedy porn. Like yes show us Bombay traffic! Show us ads for zomato!!! And aunty ke saath shaam ki chai! Show us people pilled on a scooter with no regard for safety!!! Pavitr Prabhakar is amazing and I love him with my entire little desi heart.
Ok I get where everyone is coming from when they see the design of Pavitr ‘Pav’ Prabhakar aka Indian SpiderMan as an expression of gender queerness, but let me be frank this is very typical Indian male costuming.
Even the toxic masculine patriarchal men have similar stylistic expressions or to be be more precise this is a traditional/historical/ye olde male aesthetic.
Having said that I love what design elements are being used here. So…
Let’s take it from the top.
The FACE MASK
The Three Colors surrounding the eyes are typical spider man colours but they are done to evoke the image the traditional makeup done for the ancient dance art Kathakali. In which the whole face is painted and bold lines are drawn to emphasise/exaggerate the eyes. These eye mask lines are usually thin - bold-thin.
Same with the white lines on the cheek bones which are indicative of tusks or pincers of demons or Animorphs in folklore/myths.
The white dot in the centre of the forehead is the most common Hindu motif, expressed in myriad of ways all over the country .
The ARM/LEG BANDS/CUFFS
The bicep cuff is a part of Indian historic armour - made of malleable metal, its bejewelled ornate counterparts were then worn in day to day life. Here in the north Royals still wear it during big ceremonies. These metal bands are generally worn by warriors.
bangles (metal circles worn at wrists) are an important male accessory and are more daily wear even in present modern times, some religions (Sikh,Jain etc.) require the males to always wear one at all times. The ones on the suit were more in the shape of wrist guards which again were an armour accessory. In Indian male clothing the cuffs are usually emphasised.
Due to traditional male footwear being sandals metal ankle cuffs were employed to guard the shins and were worn during wars while thinner bands - ornamental accessories - were worn in daily wear.
There are so many other things I want to elaborate on like: The PATTERNS/LOGO,The LEG GARMENT (??!)(what’s the collective term for clothes for legs?), The Cat’s Cradle swinging/body animation ; but my ADHD is already acting up so imma leave this here.
SIDE NOTE:
I love how the heel and toes are bare in this design. It makes sense from the spider powers perspective - no barrier in contact allows for better manoeuvring and jump control as is seen in gymnastics. But also because in Hindu culture important tasks including some traditional sports require the removal of footwear and getting feet dirty is not discouraged (of course with an adherence to washing of the feet multiple times in a day)
I also loved how incorporated his wrist guard is in his spider style using it as a toy and a tool. This aspect of making use of something in a completely different way was so desi ‘Jugaad’ I was stunned.
ALT
