Dr. Strangelove - Chimezie Ononenyi
Dr. Strangelove is undoubtedly a movie that depicts the phobia that people had over the cold war. It was a time during which technology in the military was booming. It seemed as though there was a competition amongst different countries to own the biggest and the most damaging explosives. Even though such technology advancements was still at its birth, Americans were highly horrified by the thought of it being used by the communists. Politicians helped to fuel this anxiety, which then modified a concrete purpose to become less hesitant to applying a nuclear attack if there was a slight need for it.
Reliance over the use of technology has definitely made it possible to advance on many aspects on the way of living. However depending on technology especially when there has not been a safe certainty of its use presents major consequences. Even though technology was there to represent the development and aspiring new ways of warfare, the movie showed the up and downside of its reliance. Phone lines worked all the time, but it did not work when it came down to the fact that aborting the General Ripper’s attack codes relied on a simple phone notification. To make matters even worse, there was not other alternative to reaching the bombers; thereby depicting that technology can in-fact harm the ones that rely on its use. Aside from a simple phone glitch, every other technology seemed to be perfectly reliable.
Some may say that the military was improperly characterized while some may disagree. I think the movie used a good illustration of the military in getting the message across. It was a time that nuclear weapon was new and as in other aspects, people usually get excited about new things. General Ripper, knowing that he needed an authorization from the president to send the “Code R�, his obsession of the nuclear weapon idea made him ignore the needed authorization. Upon acknowledging the message, Major Kong became very eager to accomplish the mission after a little doubt that the ‘go’ code was actually real. He was so excited that he left the plane with the bomb in other to ensure that it went through. I think that he military in this movie represented the minds of American popular belief. People may say that such method used to portray the military was unfair, but there was not a better way to depict a national obsession for cold war especially when the top political heads were not hesitant to strike with a nuclear weapon.
I think that Kubrick made a good decision to use black comedy in getting the message across because knowing that the time the movie was made, the idea nuclear weapon and its possible usage anywhere would do nothing but fuel the already existing cold war anxiety. The comedy strategy also worked because it makes the film more acceptable to public. Majority of people that see movies only go for the fun of it. They do not sit and analyze the movie or think in depth about why certain actions were depicted because that is when it starts to go down the sensitive part.
Like any other great movie, it took some time to understand more in-depth how much Dr. Strangelove tells about the American obsession over the cold war. Kubrick made the right move in choosing to use a black aspect, and the movie overall tells a tale of the consequences of total reliance on technology especially when there isn’t any second or even third back-up plan in the event it fails its purpose.