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  • Essay / An Analysis of a Political Satire: Dr. Strangelove

    Stanley Kubrick's sexual parody, Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, depicts an unfathomable nuclear catastrophe. Released in the midst of the Cold War, this 1964 film satirizes the heightened tensions between America and Russia. Numerous sexual innuendos are used to ridicule the serious issue of a global nuclear holocaust, in an attempt to thwart the terror that was rampant in America at the time. Organizing principles, such as Kubrick's brutal political attitudes on the absurdity of war and the satirical genre, are echoed in the cinematic style of his anti-war black comedy, Dr. Strangelove. The dark comedy follows the story of a paranoid US Air Force commander. , General Ripper, who irrationally orders a patrol group of B-52 bombers to attack their targets in Russia. This character's full name, Jack D. Ripper, is a parody of the famous prostitute murderer, Jack The Ripper. The length of the narrative involves the frantic efforts of the president and military personnel to abort the attack. In conclusion, a single bomber continues the attack, triggering the detonation of Russia's secret "doomsday device" and ending civilization. Kubrick's mocking attitudes toward war and the military influence the style of Dr. Strangelove. The filming locations contribute to Kubrick's sexual allegory. The predominantly male B-52 bomber represents a phallic symbol eager to accomplish its mission and empty its precious cargo. The circular “War Room” is illuminated by low-key lighting, with a bright focal point besieged by darkness. This represents a dark, enclosed, cave-like environment where men make their major, independent decisions. In General Ripper's Office, ...... middle of paper ...... the black comedy, Dr. Strangelove, incorporates Kubrick's political beliefs through the film's distinctive style, use of motifs and suggested affiliations between war and sex. . Stanley Kubrick emotionally distances the viewer from this terrifying question by illustrating the absurdity of war. By implicating sexual frustration and repression as a reason for war tension, Kubrick comically presents the worst-case scenario of the Cold War. Dr. Strangelove is an anti-war satire that implicitly conveys the importance of sexual expression while humorously depicting the futility of war and violence that ravaged the mental health of the American public in the 1960s. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Columbia Pictures, 1964. Fail Safe. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Photos of Colombia, 1964.