Drinking Age: 21 or 18

Dr. Strangelove: Strange It Is

Here Comes the Irony:

I first saw Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 hit Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb a couple years ago. It was not until I watched it again that I picked up on the satire and different themes. In the article “Strangelove and the Silence” by Jack Richardson he states “The film is a satire, a dark satire, and the degree to which such a style succeeds in becoming more than mere caterwauling is in direct proportion to the amount, quality, and freshness of wit in it” (p 3). I understand that the movie is a satire and was created to be humorous, but I did not find it very funny. I could not relate to any of the characters in the movie, nor the main problem; the bomb. The movie has several ironic points, the title itself is ironic; why would anyone love a bomb? Bombs are horrific devices that can potentially cause great harm; they are not an object of affection or something to love. They create chaos.

Cover of the film

However, I was surprised at the end of the movie when one of the bombs actually did go off. In class, we brought up the theme of it being inevitable. When bombs are brought into play, it is inevitable that something bad will happen. No one takes the subject of bombs lightly, and eventually something dreadful will occur. The music in the movie is also very ironic. Richardson also states “The opening sequence, in which two bombers copulate in mid-air by means of are fuelling tube while the song "Try a Little Tenderness" plays, is a brilliant, quick statement of the film's manner and intention” (p 3). Bombs are correlated with death not love, so the song explains the movie is supposed to be humorous and not taken seriously. There is also a joyful song being played at the end of the movie when the bomb went off. The joyful music seems to be making fun of the situation, as if to say “you messed with the bomb, now you face the consequences.”

Scene from Dr. Strangelove

Where are the Women?

The only woman in Dr. Strangelove is Ms. Scott, the secretary at the Pentagon. Back in the 1960s it was unheard of to have women be involved in war. War and places to discuss war (the Pentagon) were viewed as places men should be, not women. War was for men and women should not be around it. This explains the lack of women in the movie. Even though there is one woman, Ms. Scott, it seems to be a slap in the face when we see she is in the Playboy magazine. The article “Two of the MADdest scientists: where Strangelove Meets Dr. No; or, unexpected roots for Kubrick’s cold war classic” by Grant B. Stillman he states “Keen-eyed observers have already pointed out that Miss Scott (Tracy Reed), the well-spoken Pentagon secretary under the sunlamp displaying (for the time) ample navel, also pops up as the centerfold in the Playboy magazine being admired by Major Kong in the cockpit” (p 5).

Ms. Scott's Playboy photo

Stillman also goes on to say “James Naremore has noted that a strategically-opened copy of Foreign Affairs covers her buttocks in the bearskin rug pose” (p 5). Now why would a woman, who is not supposed to know about war and politics, have an issue of Foreign Affairs? Is it just another piece of irony that Kubrick wanted to throw into the film?

Richardson, Jack. "'Strangelove' and 'the Silence.'" The Hudson Review. 17.2 (1964): 250-255.

Web. 17 May. 2010.

Stillman, Grant. "Two of the MaDdest Scientists." Film History. 20 (2008): 487-500.

Web. 17 May. 2010.