Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove: A Textual and Contextual Analysis
Dr. Strangelove: Or how I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. – A textual and contextual analysis
In 1964 with the Cold War at its peak, the Vietnam War about to get underway and the Cuban Missile Crisis still prominent in the minds of its audience ‘Dr. Strangelove: Or how I Learned to Stop worrying and Love the bomb’, was exposed to the world during perhaps, one of the most fragile and tense political climates of all time. Kubrick’s utterly ironic black comedy that plays on the possibility of nuclear obliteration was based loosely on the celebrated 1958 novel, ‘Red Alert’ by Peter George but differed in the fact that the film was highly satirical. That Kubrick even so boldly dared to make a film that openly mocked the situation between the Soviets and the United States seems absurd. However, Dr. Strangelove is fundamentally an anti war film that plays on the ridiculousness of a nuclear threat by presenting scornful depictions of sexuality and gender principles as well as poking fun at the political hierarchy and the communication between the two sides.
In this essay I hope to undergo a thorough textual and contextual examination of Dr. Strangelove, with specific focus on gender and sexual representation within the inner (within the film text) and outer (cultural, social factors etc.) viewpoints. As the issues addressed in Dr. Strangelove are somewhat less timely in today’s world, I felt that it was necessary to include a synopsis of the film from which a scene can be set.
Estranged General, Jack D Ripper, commander of the Burpelson air force base becomes increasingly paranoid (towards the point of insanity) that the Soviets have contaminated the US water supply infecting the “precious bodily fluids” of the American people. Ripper manages to bypass normal authentication, launching a globally threatening nuclear attack on the Soviet Union behind the backs of his superiors that include General Buck Turgidson and President Merkin Muffley. General Ripper
In 1964 with the Cold War at its peak, the Vietnam War about to get underway and the Cuban Missile Crisis still prominent in the minds of its audience ‘Dr. Strangelove: Or how I Learned to Stop worrying and Love the bomb’, was exposed to the world during perhaps, one of the most fragile and tense political climates of all time. Kubrick’s utterly ironic black comedy that plays on the possibility of nuclear obliteration was based loosely on the celebrated 1958 novel, ‘Red Alert’ by Peter George but differed in the fact that the film was highly satirical. That Kubrick even so boldly dared to make a film that openly mocked the situation between the Soviets and the United States seems absurd. However, Dr. Strangelove is fundamentally an anti war film that plays on the ridiculousness of a nuclear threat by presenting scornful depictions of sexuality and gender principles as well as poking fun at the political hierarchy and the communication between the two sides.
In this essay I hope to undergo a thorough textual and contextual examination of Dr. Strangelove, with specific focus on gender and sexual representation within the inner (within the film text) and outer (cultural, social factors etc.) viewpoints. As the issues addressed in Dr. Strangelove are somewhat less timely in today’s world, I felt that it was necessary to include a synopsis of the film from which a scene can be set.
Estranged General, Jack D Ripper, commander of the Burpelson air force base becomes increasingly paranoid (towards the point of insanity) that the Soviets have contaminated the US water supply infecting the “precious bodily fluids” of the American people. Ripper manages to bypass normal authentication, launching a globally threatening nuclear attack on the Soviet Union behind the backs of his superiors that include General Buck Turgidson and President Merkin Muffley. General Ripper
Bibliography: Green, Carol. Linden-Ward, Blanche. American women in the 1960s: Changing the future. (Twayne Pub, 1993) Falsetto, Mario Image. JPEG file. Still from film. ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’. 1964. Image. JPEG file. Still from film. ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’. 1964. Image. JPEG file. Still from film. ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’. 1964. Image. JPEG file. Still from film. ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’. 1964. Image. JPEG file. Still from film. ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’. 1964. [ 1 ]. Stanley Kubrick, in The Guardian, British Newspaper, June 5, 1963 [ 2 ]