Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying about Iraq

"Simple to understand... credible and convincing" -- Picture courtesy of Sony Pictures

by blogSpotter
Every once in a while, a movie comes along which is a cultural touchstone -- discussed in literary salons, maybe even required in a college syllabus. 1964's black comedy, Dr. Strangelove, is such a movie. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, the movie serves as an indictment against knee-jerk, war-mongering anti-Communists in positions of military authority. I watched the movie this weekend (via Apple TV), and I must say the humor and content is relevant some 44 years later.

The movie is so realistic in its technical depictions of B-52 bombers and our Air Force command, that a disclaimer was required at the beginning of the movie stating, "This is fiction. The US government has safeguards to prevent this from happening". Cinematically, Peter Sellers did triple duty portraying the US President, British General Mandrake and the mad ex-Nazi weapons expert Dr. Strangelove. He excelled in all roles most hilariously as Strangelove; Mandrake is probably closest to Sellers' actual personality.

In the movie, a demented Air Force officer declares war on the Soviet Union, dispatching 34 nuclear armed B-52s to bomb Russia. He does this using "Plan R" (for emergency retaliatory action) not requiring presidential approval. The planes can only be summoned back with a secret 3-letter code which the mad general (General Jack Ripper) makes difficult to obtain by committing suicide in the bathroom. Ripper is a rabid anticommunist who believes communist-inspired fluoridated water has caused his impotence. George C. Scott plays General Buck Turgidson whose macho bravado is nearly as over-the-top as Jack Ripper. He informs the war cabinet that we could "take out the Ruskies" and keep deaths at 10 million if we just proceed and get first strike. Rounding out the crazies is Slim Pickens' B-52 pilot Major "King" Kong. He's eager to go "nuclear toe-to-toe" with the reds. The wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove is a war room weapons expert who actually only has two small appearances in the film. He worships technology and still has an obvious passion for Hitler.

This movie could easily be about Iraq. Our Middle East crisis doesn't involve a "Doomsday Machine" or mutually assured destruction (yet), but the differences end there. Strangelove was made in England, and I must say Americans do not come out looking good. Americans are shown as macho, shoot-from-the-lip, foam-at-mouth reactionaries with completely self-centered agendas. Remind you of anyone? One other difference between Strangelove and Iraq is that the movie had two reasonable voices -- American President Muffley and British General Mandrake. Alas, in reality we are unmoored and lost at sea -- no real voices of reason. I can't think of anyone in governmental authority right now with a realistic view of Iraq or the Middle East. If I were to remake this movie in 2008, I would use Bush and his favorite advisors -- they wouldn't even have to act, just be themselves:

Dr. Strangelove will be portrayed by Paul Wolfowitz.
General Turgidson -- George W. Bush
General Jack D. Ripper -- Dick Cheney
Major "King" Kong -- A younger John McCain

Is this movie fair in its assessment of things? In fact it is dead accurate, so accurate that the American Film Institute has ranked it in the 100 best comedies of all time. The movie is a reference point for just the type of messes we've encountered with Viet Nam and Iraq. Strangelove came out in 1964, and was probably instrumental in changing attitudes about Viet Nam, the Cold War and war in general. It's too bad the movie didn't inform us 40 years later about "preventive wars" in the Middle East.

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