Headscratchers / John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme

• Since people cleverer than me seem to be better at picking up the subtleties of the ninth season: Why exactly does Newt not go to war? He mentions a misunderstanding with the medical examiner and says it's the same sort Gallie is having, she seems to think he's gay (rather than asexual) would that get you disbarred from service? Would they care about the sexuality of who they sent out to get shot?
  • Apparently it wouldn't have been specifically illegal when Newt was signing up, but it's certainly been illegal at other times in the 20th century (as far as I can tell the official ban in the British forces lasted from 1955-2000). It's possible the doctor was simply of a personal prejudice that gay men weren't fit for service and made up a reason to exempt him (like "flat feet"?)
  • My other issue - is how the heck did that come up if it was going to be such a problem?
    • How did what come up — being assessed for the Army? If it was World War I, then there was universal conscription; he wouldn't have had a choice in the matter.
      • Conscription wasn't introduced until 1916. The scene where Newt and Gallie discuss his not going to war is in 1915. So evidently he tried to volunteer, but was turned down due to the "misunderstanding". (Gallie does mention Basil being "called up", which normally means conscripted, but perhaps she meant his regiment (or battallion or whatever) had been ordered for deployment - Susannah and Gallie had established his fictional persona as a soldier long before the war.)
    • How did the subject of his sexuality come up, during a medical assessment for enlistment? If Newt wasn't trying to get out of enlistment, he wouldn't have brought it up and it's not the kind of question people just asked in the 1910s.
    • I mean, from the fact that Newt describes it as a "misunderstanding," it's clear that Newt himself didn't bring it up or answer any questions about it affirmatively; the implication seems to be that the examiner made assumptions based on how he perceived Newt and made his decision accordingly.
    • Yes, understood. I just can't think what he can have said to have accidently given that impression.
    • The doctor could have asked if Newt was married or engaged - or if he had any sexually transmitted disease, which is a reasonable question for an army medical. We know that Newt audibly squirms at the mention of personal and sexual matters, and the doctor could have easily misinterpreted that.
• Rather cruel to make the aphasic Jerry do a speech as well isn't it?
  • Make him? From every other time we see him, the real challenge is preventing Jerry speaking.
  • Both the scenes of aphasic Jerry depict a guy who's fully aware of and able to laugh at his condition & certainly won't be silenced by it, and the crowd's reaction feels more affectionate than mocking. (In very general terms, people with fluent aphasia tend not to be especially embarrassed by it (in stark contrast to painfully frustrating non-fluent aphasia), as what they're saying makes perfect sense to them and it's everyone else who has trouble understanding it.