Dr. Strangelove - Amanda Palazzo
I find it difficult to imagine that “Dr. Strangelove,� as it is written, could have worked as a serious drama. The source material for this film, the novel “Red Alert� by Peter George, is a “thriller,� and therefore written in a serious tone. Obviously since the basis of “Dr. Strangelove� is that of a serious drama, the film could have taken on that tone and have probably been successful; in all likelihood, however, it would not be considered one of the greatest films ever made. The satire and black comedy is what made this film great and without it, it is just another war film.
Black comedy and satire has the effect of professing to approve the very things one wishes to attack. Kubrick does an excellent job of employing this technique to illustrate his discontent with the Cold War and the threat of nuclear warfare. Kubrick, using the example of the “doomsday machine,� shows the absurdity of the real-life theory, “mutual assured destruction,� in which “each side is supposed to be deterred by the fact that a nuclear war would be a cataclysmic disaster for both sides, regardless of who ‘won.’�
He uses characters like Turgidson, who are eager to initiate nuclear war with the Soviet Union, to parody members of the government and military. In one scene, Turgidson states, “Now I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed, but I am saying no more that 10 to 20 million killed. Tops!� This is a direct reference to Herman Kahn, a military strategist and architect of the “mutual assured destruction� theory, who in his works, “estimated how many human lives the United States could lose and still rebuild economically.� Kubrick, by employing black comedy and satire in “Dr. Strangelove,� is able to show the illogicality, irrationality, and ludicrousness behind the methods that drives the members of the government and military in “fighting� the Cold War.
In some cases, as in “Dr. Strangelove,� the satire is able to say directly, what would normally be said indirectly; there is no political spin employed to filter out what might incite fear or panic. The statements are made with a smile and a laugh, but nonetheless, are said full out. One is able to grasp the seriousness because of the directness of the material being disseminated, but because of the tone, that of humor, it has the effect of deadening the fear.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove_or:_How_I_Learned_to_Stop_Worrying_and_Love_the_Bomb