Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 black comedy satire film about nuclear war between the USSR and the USA. It has received many awards including #26 on the American Film Institute’s top 100 movies list and a 99% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film begins with General Jack D. Ripper putting his base on high alert and ordering his bomber wing to preemptively drop nuclear bombs onto the Soviet Union. His second in command, Mandrake, tries to stop him after finding out the Pentagon ordered nothing and finds out that Ripper is insane in thinking the Soviets are trying to poison the American water supply. The Pentagon finds out and tries to stop it but they could not find the three digit code in time to stop the planes. General Turgidson recommends …show more content…
Americans during the 60s lived in constant fear of nuclear war, especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film shows how easy it is for one person to destroy the world in a nuclear firestorm if governments are not careful enough. Ripper’s argument about fluoridated water also reflects the belief of some Americans that fluorine was actually a Cold War weapon by the Soviets to turn American communist. General Jack D. Ripper himself also served to present an American stereotype along with General Turgidson. They both seeked to destroy the Soviet Union without any care to logic or human life. Turgidson, in particular, reminds me of Patton, who wanted to invade the Soviet Union after WWII, and MacArthur, who wanted to invade China during the Korean War. Both of these generals epitomize how people thought of Americans as zealously anti communist and violently stupid. Additionally, Dr. Strangelove and his proposal for fallout shelters show how much the Cold War interfered with Americans’ lives with the constant duck and cover drills and shelters for nuclear war. Finally, the captain of the B-52, King Kong, also represents American stereotypes with his southern accent and his patriotic final act of sitting on top of the bomb while it is falling down towards the Soviet Union. When he found out about the orders, he did not question them and went down fighting. Many people regarded Americans as gun toting southerners who were just as patriotic as they were trigger
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Show MoreThe early 1950s was a time of tension and uncertainty in the world. The Cold War replaced ‘hot’ war. Humankind had gone from the terror of actual war to the terror of the potential of nuclear war. The situation was aggravated by the ongoing conflict in Korea which pitted the forces of the ‘Free World’ against the specter of international Communism. Anticommunist hysteria gripped the US political scene, mirroring many of the excesses of the Stalinist enemy that it was in struggle with in the international arena.
...re were so many people killed and mutated from the blast and the radioactive chemicals. As a country we (the United States) say that nuclear weapons should not be used, yet we are the only country to have ever used nuclear warfare. Think if the United States was the country hit instead of Japan. Everything would be different and the United States would not be the country it is today. Frank shows the scenario of the U.S getting hit in the Cold War. Frank also shows the struggle that would ensue to survive and rebuild from what is left.
The whistle of dropping atomic bombs, the flash of nuclear explosion, the nightmare of Red boots marching across American soil. These are the horrors that Cold War American propaganda planted in the minds of the public. Through the use of posters, films, pamphlets, and a variety of other mediums, the U.S. government has always had an interest in the adherence of the general populace to perceived American values. This is most important during times of stress for the nation, such as war or international tension. Or as put by Professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins, Paul Linebarger, “Propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of public of mass-produced communication designed
As these ongoing fears were going on during Dick’s time, he was able to predict a nuclear bomb would be dropped and would destroy most of the Earth. When the first atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, everyone was excited as this meant the end of WWII and to the end of all wars. In 1949, the Cold War began between two ideological sides – the United States of America (USA) which led capitalism and the Soviets leading communism. Most of society predicted a turn of events causing ongoing fear of another nuclear bomb to be dropped by either the Americans or the Russians. Those fears grew more when Cuba decided to join the soviets in 1964 which allowed the Russians to set up nuclear rockets and fire to different cities in the USA. This ongoing fear during the Cold War is related back to World War Terminus as Dick presents the effects that would take place if another nuclear bomb would drop. During Dick’s time in the 1960s, he wanted to predict what if another nuclear bomb was dropped during the Cold War and what would have been the consequence of this to happen and he does so in his novel, saying this nuclear bomb will destroy most of our
So what was going on leading up to John F. Kennedy’s famous speech? After war world II and when America used nukes, everyone in the world was trying to gain nuclear capabilities so they could become a world power. So with everyone having nukes, there was a giant fear that “Dooms Day” was coming and the Earth would be destroyed. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man made satellite. This scarred Americans to death because they had no idea what they were dealing with. Is this satellite spying on them 24/7 or was it preparing to launch missiles at the USA? The fact of not knowing is what scarred the citizens of the United States. So with the 1960 election coming around and communism seeming to be getting stronger every day, America needed a strong leader.
In By the Bomb’s Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age, Paul Boyer argues that in the first few years after American use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki “the fundamental perceptions which continue to influence our response to the nuclear menace were first articulated, discussed, and absorbed into the living tissue of the culture” (pg. 367). Boyer uses novels, radio broadcasts, popular music, popular periodicals, and polling data in his examination, juxtaposing them against government policy documents to demonstrate the conflict between mass culture and military culture. He writes, “Another surprise as I narrowed my focus to 1945-1950 was the realization of how quickly contemporary observers understood
Comedy and Satire are two very common, yet different genres used in literature. Comedy is most commonly used to be humorous and amusing, whereas, satire is usually defined as a piece of work intended to criticize serious topics or problems going on in the real world. Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest very specifically chose to incorporate these two genres to push his own beliefs. In the 1950’s, younger generations of America’s population began to question conformity and the ethics of institutions like the one Kesey wrote about in Cuckoo’s Nest. Like many others in this younger generation, Kesey was considered a hippie and part of many counter-culture groups going against the government. Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over
With the onset of the Cold War, a growing Red Scare would cripple American society – effectively plunging the nation into mass hysteria and unrest over the fallacious threat of communist infiltration. This reaction was precipitated by Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy, in his speech, “Enemies from Within”, delivered in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 9 February 1950. McCarthy paints communists in a particularly harsh light to generate anti-Soviet sentiment within the American public. He uses juxtaposition to engender both indignation and fear in the audience to achieve this effect.
“How to poison the earth” by Linnea Saukko can be seen in two different aspects. The first one would be by looking at it in a literal way, in which it will make it a very harsh, inhumane and cold text. On the other hand, it could be seen as a satire, sarcastic and ironic text in which Saukko expects to catch the reader’s attention. Saukko exaggerates the sarcasm, and satire in her writing in order to make the readers realize and understand the main purpose of her essay, which is to warn readers about threats to the future of our planet.
In the beginning of the movie it shows the fallout of the economic crisis in the European Union and a more controlled Russia. The increased deployment of U.S. troops leaves the America’s land unprotected. The morning after a mysterious power outage, swarms of invading North Korean paratroopers and transport aircraft attack the city. Jed intends to fight and the others agree to join him, calling themselves the Wolverines after their school mascot. The North Koreans retaliate by bombarding the surrounding woods to destroy the Wolverines' base. The Soviet Union gave the producers an obvious target for movies like “Red Dawn.” The enemy was clearly defined.
What does this nation’s people remember most about the Cold War? Is it the fear, terror, and the absolute uncertainty of not knowing if tomorrow you might not wake up or worse, wake up to all out nuclear hell? “The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to make me tremble”-Joseph Rotblat. During those October days of 1962, John F. Kennedy and the United States braced for a nuclear attack that nobody was sure was coming. On the other side Nikita Khrushchev was hungry for power after being dominated by the U.S. for years during the long years of the Cold War. Khrushchev wanted to have the nuclear upper hand in the western hemisphere. With the help of Fidel Castro, Khrushchev could put nuclear weapons in Cuba.
Satire is an effective way to offer social criticism and influence people-- it uses techniques such as irony, parody, sarcasm, and exaggeration to allow readers to look at serious issues from a comedic view. In “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift responds to the growing famine in Ireland and overpopulation issues of the eighteenth century by proposing that Ireland can solve the economic crisis by eating babies and selling children. Rather than writing an angry article about how the British exploit poor, defenseless Irishmen, Jonathan Swift took on a different approach and wrote a satire. His goal wasn’t merely to ridicule and express his dissatisfaction with how the Irish was handling the social and political problems, but also to open
It was the 1960’s in America, a time of social consciousness, fear, war, distrust in government, and rebellion. It was a time in which bomb shelter ads on TV were common place. It was a time of tension and fears for communism creping though our neighborhoods and infiltrating American ideals. We were at war with a nation. After World War 2, there were two dominant nations, the United States and the Soviet Union. Political ideals and control over Germany would separate the allies into bitter rivals and enemies. The fear of the Soviet’s use of nuclear weapons was constantly in the backs of our minds. It was a global ...
Considered to be one of America's imaginative, original, and talented contemporary writers, Kurt Vonnegut has treated readers to such wonderful works of literature as Slaughterhouse-five and Breakfast of Champions. Most of his many novels, short stories, and plays criticize various wrongs of society. Vonnegut's work is often humorous and light-hearted, mixing settings of fantasy with everyday situations of life. Deeper themes concerning the welfare of society are clearly evident in his satire. Throughout this long career Vonnegut has used his unique style to effectively portray his outlook of the world.