Tension And Paranoia In Dr. Strangelove

“Dr. Strangelove” is satirical movie about the Cold War. It displays the fear of a nuclear holocaust between the US and the USSR. I have chosen cultural criticism for this movie. Cultural criticism “focuses on the elements of culture and how they affect one's perceptions and understanding of texts” (Springboard). In Dr. Strangelove, the cold war culture is represented by the display of tension, paranoia, and the fear of mutual destruction. Because "Dr. Strangelove" features tension, paranoia, and the fear of mutual destruction, it is vital that the viewer has an understanding of Cold War culture. Tension is a key point in this movie. It has been described as “the same tension that gripped the nation during the days of the Cuban Missile
Crisis” (Boxen). Therefore, it is crucial that the viewer has prior knowledge of “tense” military-type situations to comprehend this film’s examples. The concept of tension between peace and death isn’t exclusive to this film or the Cold War culture because “America was hardly the first society to be threatened with total annihilation” (Cox). However, its proportions are. I mentally picture the tension in this movie as a 10 million man tug of war match. Peace has to win 24/7, while the other side has to win only once to destroy the world. This concept was used to increase military funding by SAC Commander Thomas Power. He stated that “as long as our very existence is threatened by an untrustworthy, unpredictable and unreasonable power” (Boxen). – They had to increase nuclear spending to strengthen the peaceful side, the USA. This would increase the metaphorical tension, making it harder for any side to launch misses because the risk of annihilation would increase. To comprehend the amount of tensile force placed on that metaphorical rope, one must comprehend the “tense” situations of the Cold War -- hence the need for the viewer to grip the concept of cultural criticism. In addition to tension, paranoia is also prevalent in this cultural time period. This is referenced by the movie in many ways. By presenting mentally scarred characters, the movie conveys that “paranoia often appeared…in this psychologically damaged America” (Cox), thus reinforcing that the viewer must understand the cold war culture – to ensure the comprehension of why these “crazy” characters are in the movie. Next, the General that ordered the B-52 bombers to strike Russia was described as an “obsessively paranoid, crazed, right-wing commander” (Dirks). This established that the disease of paranoia made it up the chain of command. Once again, someone not aware of the cultural criticism wouldn’t have caught on to this. They viewer would just assume this movie was an obscene comedy… and would overlook that this was how people behaved because of the influential cold war culture. And finally, the Paranoia in this film is so great that “Mad General Ripper launches his nuclear strike because he is convinced of a communist plot” (Boxen). Not only has it been established that the paranoia is real and present in everyone during the cold war, but it also sparks the destruction of the human race (only in the film, of course). The cultural criticism of the cold war is essential to the comprehension of this movie, and general theme. The final principle of the cold war culture in this film is the fear of mutual destruction.
This is different compared to tension, or paranoia. Tension is the balance between war and peace. Paranoia is an extreme feeling of fear caused by the true and untrue information that one takes in. The fear of mutual destruction was very much present during the cold war. This fear was at its peak during the 60s. At the time the “destructive power possessed by the U. S. simply beggars imagination” (Boxen). To be fair, one could only assume the same for Russia. Grasping the destructive power of nuclear weapons was a difficult task, even in the 60s. Today, it is even harder – we simply did not grow up with it. Having prior education on the cold war culture is once again, essential to the comprehension of the concept of nuclear weapons. Another example of why there was such a big fear of mutual destruction was that “the U. S. arsenal estimated that there were 33, 000 warheads on hand for launching” (Boxen.) According to the movie, If the Russians detected even one launch (even an accidental one), the chance of retaliatory fire was near 100% (thanks to the automated launch computer). People today cannot relate to that feeling. This is where cultural criticism comes in – again. Knowing this information, the general public was scared out of their minds. The people of the 60s had to deal with the United States and its 33,000 missiles, the crazy Russians, and the fear of some lunatic hitting the launch button. The result was death for everyone. The fear of mutual destruction was a result of the nuclear bomb being used to end WW2. It had progressed to the point where the U.S. had a “large force of B-52 bombers airborne 24 hours a day” (Boxen). At the time, the only way to feel safe was to add more weapons to the national collection, this really just made things
worse. The cold war culture was riddled with craziness. It was composed of the fear of the outbreak of war, people turning into mentally damaged psychopaths filled with fear, and the threat of human extinction. If you ever build a time machine, I advise skipping that era. What I discovered was that some people were intrigued by this era, and enjoyed living in its hell. They saw it as a form of natural selection. Why not live in a remote area safe from the crazy people of planet earth? Surely a select few would survive total annihilation, right? My conclusion is that some people always find an upside to a downhill battle.