Satire and Black Humor in Dr. Strangelove

1256 Words3 Pages

Even though Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb screened in the midst of the sobering Cold War, critics were keen on praising the film for its mastery of humor applied to such a sensitive matter. The film is exceedingly loaded with metaphors, innuendos, and allusions that nothing can be left undissected or taken for face value; the resulting effect is understood to be part of Kubrick’s multifarious theme. Kubrick has stated that what began as a “the basis for a serious film about accidental war ” eventually birthed an absurd and farcical classic comedy. The director fuses together irony, satire, and black humor to create a waggish piece but most of all the situation of the times and its gravity is the essence of what the audience finds so hilarious . Using caricatures rather than characters, exaggerated script, and sexual undertones, Kubrick manifests to the audience their own predicament and just how ridiculous it is to even consider brinksmanship as a means to preserve the American lifestyle.

The whole premise of the film is based on insubordination committed by General Jack D. Ripper. Named after the infamous serial killer of prostitutes, General Ripper claims his “loss of essence” is because of the Communist’s use of water fluoridation, a completely off-base theory by the general to explain his impotency , and uses his military status to start a cataclysmic nuclear war with Russia. This in itself is comical because that inane and inherent need to dominate and prove both physical and sexual prowess seems to exist solely in males and in Kubrick’s eyes serves as an origin for this unwarranted war between two overly capable countries. The cigar, machinegun, and pistol that Ge...

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....filmsite.org/drst.html>.

Kagan, Norman. The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. Print.

Lindley, Dan. "Lindley: Study Guide to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove." University of Notre Dame. 8 Sept. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .

Macklin, Tony. "Sex and Dr. Strangelove : Film Review : By Tony Macklin at Tonymacklin.net." Tony Macklin - Film, Fiction, and More. Film Comment, 1 June 1965. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .

Nelson, Thomas Allen. Kubrick, inside a Film Artist's Maze. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2000. Print.

"Satire at Its Funniest - Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Epinions.com." Reviews from Epinions. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .

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