The sociopolitical context that the film focuses
Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove
Kubrick’s film Dr. Strangelove is one of the most influential movies not just because of the theme that its addresses but also due to the artistic spices that the film directors have used to attract the viewers. One of the most salient literary elements that come out is satire. Lindley explains that this involves using words that poke fun while at the same have interesting meanings. This is evident in different scenes within the mentioned film (98).
First, it is necessary to mention that this is a black film that focuses on nuclear weapons. Kubrick’s 1964 film tries to explore military persons’ lives and how they interact with their weapons in warzones. One can easily say that the whole film is satire. It addresses a critical issue in the most satirical manner one can think of. The plot is that an American general facing serious mental issues orders an uncle bomb attack om the Soviet Union. However, the victims try to fights in the best way possible to survive.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb by Stanley Kubrick’s focuses on comedy and how best it can attract the audience. As noted by Lindley, the film begins with a tale that tries to narrate some truth which the audience can relate to but bends slightly (88). This is one of the best ways film directors and other artists who use the art of satire apply. It also tries to portray what is likely to happen when generals have their fingers on the trigger and the damage a single decision can cause. Dr. Strangelove tries to build a moment from the first scenes as it tries to create satirically-appealing situations. The humour that the film director uses verges from absurd situations. Kubrick’s film depicts war and the related devastating impacts of it in a hilarious fashion. This makes the scenarios created from the start to end a work of pure satire.
The sociopolitical context that the film focuses on further brings out satire in the best way possible. The early years of the Cold War were increased tension, especially between Russia and the United States. The imagery and storytelling used in this film have tried to help reveal how the sociopolitical situation of the 1960s and how the two nations interacted with each other and the impact this had on interactional relations. The Cold War story is bout out in the best way possible.
The definition of the Cold War is presented in the most satirical manner one can think. The film director tries to move away from the conventional or scholarly description to a rather definition that is hilarious and very painful. Lindley explains that the Cold War’s clear definition is that it was a period where there is no active military engagement (109).
. It’s more likely that a critic of any given political regime will have luck presenting his views under the guise of a comedy than as a blatant rejection of the ruling powers that be. In this lesson, we will consider how the film reflects its sociopolitical context, and how the imagery and storytelling in the film reap the benefits of the genre of satire. Sociopolitical Context Tensions were high in the early years of the Cold War. Following World War II and coming to an end after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, the Cold War refers to a period of conflict in which there was no active military engagements and no outright fighting. Nobody knew if or when war might break out. The Americans and the Russians both had their fingers on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic button that, at any moment, could blast either country into oblivion. The threat of nuclear war was imminent. The Cuban Missile Crisis exemplifies this tension. Cuba sided with Communist Russia, so it made for a particularly tricky situation when Americans found out they were stockpiling weapons off Florida’s coast. For thirteen nervous days, it seemed like we were going to destroy each other. It was the closest we came to all-out war during the entire length of the Cold War. Imagining that one’s life was being threatened every day with the possibility of nuclear annihilation. In the 1960s, there was a real possibility that a powerful enemy would attack with the force of a thousand nuclear bombs.
In situations like this, it becomes hard to gain clarity and perspective. Range of missiles, if launched from Cuba Cuba map Dr. Strangelove critiques mutually assured destruction, a military strategy that posits that the use of nuclear weapons can only lead to the annihilation of both sides in a conflict. The Cuban Missile Crisis lingered in recent memory in 1964, when Dr. Strangelove opened in theatres across the country. Kubrick utilizes satire in the film to critique the political climate of the early Cold War. The threat of nuclear war was imminent. The Cuban Missile Crisis exemplifies this tension. Cuba sided with Communist Russia, so it made for a particularly tricky situation when Americans found out they were stockpiling weapons off Florida’s coast.
The humor that the film director uses verge from absurd situations. Kubrick’s film depicts war and the related devastating impacts of it in a hilarious fashion. This makes the scenarios created from the start to the end, a work of pure satire.
Satires provide the kind of critical distance that comes with exaggerating a situation enough to be able to step back from yourself and have a laugh at the absurdity of it all. Dr. Strangelove presents a biting indictment of the military. The imagery and storytelling used in this film have tried to help reveal how the sociopolitical situation of the 1960s and how the two nations interacted with each other and the impact this had on interactional relations. The Cold War story is bout out in the best way possible. For instance, the opening credits show airplanes refuelling in flight. Do you see how such a visual composition, as depicted in the picture below, could be interpreted as a sexual position? The film’s opening sequence plays on these visual similarities. The phallic imagery connects to implicit themes of masculine pride within the military—side view of an aircraft refuelling in-flight aircraft. There is no doubt that satire has been used well in this film from the first scene to the last.
Works Cited
Lindley, Dan. “What I Learned Since I Stopped Worrying and Studied the Movie: A Teaching Guide to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.” PS: Political Science & Politics 34.3 (2001): 663-667.