"Dr. Strangelove"

Research Paper # 93615

Film > Analysis, Criticism, Etc.
Film > History of
History > U.S. Baby Boom Years 1945-1965

"Dr. Strangelove"

An analysis of the historical background of Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb."

2,552 words () | 2 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Stanley Kubrick's film "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb." The paper sets up the historical background of the period the movie is based upon and then goes on to analyze the movie through this historical lens. The paper describes Kubrick's film as not only resonating with comedic value, but also with a sardonic and terrifying view which examines the political and ethical debates of the atomic age.

From the Paper:

"The Cold War developed after the end of World War II and represents one of the more tense times in American history. This time period ranging technically from 1946 to 1991 was marked by suspicion, distrust, paranoia, and most importantly misunderstanding between the two major superpowers, the US and the USSR. In Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," shots are taken at point blank range against these attitudes toward the evil communist Russkies. Kubrick's view of this period in American history is portrayed through his film as one of cartoon-like political leaders acting out testosterone induced paranoid madness thereby ending the world via nuclear holocaust. Kubrick's film not only resonates with comedic value but also with a sardonic and terrifying view which examines the political and ethical debates of the atomic age along with the fears that allowed the continuation of the Cold War in a time where MAD (mutually assured destruction) was still on the policy books of both superpowers."

Sample of Sources Used:

Paul Lashmar,"Dr. Strangelove's Secrets," Independent, September 8, 1998, 8.
Wolfgang Munchau,"Russia holds Strangelove Key to Global Obliteration," Times (London), October 9, 1993.