# The biggest wimp in the movies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-wimp-in-the-movies/676775>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 19, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-wimp-in-the-movies/676775 "2013-12-19T23:51:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-wimp-in-the-movies/676775/61 "2013-12-27T02:43:23Z")

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> [@Bellhorn](#):
>
> Of course, thanks for the quick correction. And while I was primarily thinking of the scene you mentioned, Cort basically spent the rest of the movie doing what he was told, so that scene is one that remains.
> 
> I think the reason Burghoff’s Radar became a wimp in later seasons, was because of the switch from the distracted Colonel Blake to the dedicated Colonel Potter. Radar basically ran the unit under Blake, but was nothing but a gofer under Potter:
> 
> Col Potter:“Hey Radar, can you pick me up a Snickers Bar, but the Snickers without the peanuts, they get caught under my dentures.”
> 
> Cpl O’Reilly: “Yes sir, a Milky Way sir.”

Not exactly. I read that Burgoff, in an interview said that the taming of Radar’s character was his idea. He didn’t like the way Radar was portrayed, so sometime during the show, he asked if he could change Radar into a naive, innocent, Iowa farm boy.

So this was an intentional, and unfortunate, conscious choice by Burgoff. I personally never understood the logic, but at the time, M_A_S\*H was a very popular show and Radar was a very popular character. So he had some clout.

In the first season, Radar drinks alcohol and ships a jeep home in a box. Later seasons show a commitment to Grape Nehi and rabbits and other animals. It was a really odd shift in who Radar was, and changed his character into one that many people didn’t like. He was basically the dame from the movie and seasons 1 and 2, but somewhere along the line they really re-wrote the entire character.

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-wimp-in-the-movies/676775/62 "2013-12-27T04:49:11Z")

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Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood as Frodo.

Total pussy.

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**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-wimp-in-the-movies/676775/63 "2013-12-30T11:14:53Z")

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Louis in _Ghostbusters_ is admirably feeble.

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