"Dr. Stangelove" as Social Commentary

The film opens on a wide shot from an aircraft looking out across the clouds. Then immediately we see the commingling of two planes. One with its penis like projectile being inserted into the cavity of a lower flying aircraft as they fly together connected. The credits appear and the gentle, soothing music sets a romantic mood. In the special features of the DVD, a member of the film crew commented that as Americans, everything we create references sex in some way. There has always been a correlation between the penis and gun, and in this film the metaphor is reiterated. The opening sequence of the plane refueling is Kubrick's most blatant visual representation. However, from this point his use of sexual references becomes slightly less pronounced.

The first character we meet is Miss Scott (played by Tracy Reed, Director Carol Reed's step-daughter) as she is lying in bed under a sun lamp in a bikini and high heels. Each of the main characters’ names has a hidden sexual meaning, however Miss Scott does not. As General Buck Turgidson’s secretary and girlfriend, Miss Scott is the only female role in the film and represents the adolescent male fantasy to Buckie’s juvenile demeanor. Looking up components of his name at Dictionary.com, “buck” refers to a “male animal” and “turgid” means, “swollen; distended; inflated” therefore one must concluded that the name Buck Turgidson is referring to a sexually erect male animal. Now, Buck has to leave Miss Scott unexpectedly at three o’clock in the morning to report to the war room. During a large meeting with the President of the United States, he takes a phone call from Miss Scott that mimics a typical adolescent conversation in dialog and body language. Buck hunches over covering the mouthpiece of the phone to conceal his voice to the members of the meeting and desperately tells Miss Scott “of course I respect you!” and “I know how it is, baby. Tell you what you do: you just start your countdown, and old Bucky'll be back here before you can say ‘Blast off!’” Throughout the film Turgidson displays a kind of boyish delight at the expertise of United States Air Force pilots at the helm of a B-52 bomber and suspicion towards the Russian Ambassador in a manner better suited to a playground. At one point, walking backwards he falls and without missing a beat springs to his feet continuing his lines without falter. In another instant he begins to pout after being scolded by the President. He represents the boyish American obsessed with playing war games in his back yard that has yet to develop the maturity and understanding of what a real war actually entails. For him it’s all just a game.

George C. Scott’s over the top portrayal of the character stands in direct contrast to Sterling Hayden’s portrayal of General Jack D. Ripper. Supposedly both of these generals are two sides of General Curtis LeMay who headed up the Strategic Air Command during the cold war and later became the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He had a reputation for wanting to drop bombs at any given opportunity. Therefore, General Jack D. Ripper takes the more serious, sinister side to Turgidson's boyish delight.

Jack the Ripper was a psychopathic serial killer in the Whitechapel area of London during the late 1800s. In Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick plays on the name with a character, obsessed with the communist infiltration of fluoridation and our “bodily fluids.” He repeatedly mentions “purity of essence” during his mad ramblings to a British exchange officer. Unlike Turgidson who represents the sexually erect male, Ripper views sex as a weakness. He “denies women his essence” referring to his bodily fluids and as a result of this restraint he becomes a sadistic warmonger bent on destroying the communists before they destroy us. Armed with a very large and phallic gun, he begins to shoot through the windows of his office at an unseen enemy. As he is unable to perform the sexual act, instead he chooses to wield a large gun.

Ripper depicts the stereotypical military official, bent on the mass destruction of the enemy at all costs. The cigar, the manner of his speech and the over inflated sense of self importance reflects the perception of the American military man as seen through the eyes of the rest of the world. However, he also embodies the fear of what one man can commit given the opportunity. The government assures Americans that the arms race will keep us safe yet we are bombarded by threats of a nuclear attack. Despite the diplomatic efforts of our leaders, the film reveals the possibility that one of our own over zealous “protectors” could cause the world's destruction and be able to do it so easily.

Ripper's only interaction lies with a British exchange officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake. Mandrake, a medicinal plant root believed to aid in fertility, comes to Ripper to persuade him to recall the planes. At this time Mandrake fully realizes the madness of General Jack D. Ripper, “…today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.” As a viewer you hear these lines and in the beginning as a red-blooded American you'd probably agree that we cannot allow Communist indoctrination or subversion, but once he reaches to the “precious bodily fluids,” he's lost us. You suddenly realize the vastness of his madness. The aphrodisiac of the mandrake cannot break the sexual tension of the psychopathic killer.

To contrast these characters, we have President Merkin Muffley. The levelheaded President with a name that references female genitalia is depicted as a testosterone deprived individual. Balding, short and meek, he mirrors that of Turgidson, yet he is the only character that fully understands the magnitude of the catastrophic mass murder that is about to take place. Despite the sexual tensions expressed through Turgidson and Ripper, Muffley essentially is their stronger, smarter, female counterpart. As the men are loosing their minds or behaving like adolescents, Muffley maintains a level head and makes every attempt to rectify the situation as a protective mother would. Muffley explains the situation to the Russian Premiere as if to explain a boyish squabble in the school yard, “Well now, what happened is one of our base commanders, he had a sort of, well, he went a little funny in the head, you know, just a little...funny. And, he went and did a silly thing.” Muffley understands the seriousness at hand, yet must resort to simplistic explanations to the Russian Premiere, insinuating that the man is of significant deprivation of intellect to the Russian's American counterpart. Muffley scolds Turgidson and Ambassador Desadeski when he proclaims, “you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.” Both Turgidson and Desadeski immediately blame the other for the squabble, as boys would do when caught by someone in authority.

Then we have Dr. Strangelove himself. A minor character that holds the title of the film and a significant representation of the post World War II, cold war environment. He sits quietly, impotent in his wheelchair in the dimly lit background. Not until the end of the film, when total annihilation is unavoidable does he come forth to speak. A left over from the Nazi’s, Strangelove embodies the sinister Nazi German ideal of the mad scientist. His name clearly denotes strange-love which can be interpreted a number of way whether it be a pedophile or homosexual meaning. He contrasts Muffley’s mothering feminism, Ripper’s abstinence and Turgidson’s inability to climax represents a perverse or alternate sexual behavior that he is incapable of acting upon. His outbursts are reminiscent of a Turrets sufferer as he emits pro-Nazi outbursts and awkward bodily movements that resemble a deranged puppet. Strangelove suggests that a select group of men and women be placed underground to ensure the proliferation of the human race. However, traditional moral values will have to put aside for the good of mankind, specifically the monogamous relationship and the institute of marriage. Women will have to be selected based on a physical base whereas men will be selected on intellect. There will have to be one man to numerous women, an appealing thought to Turgidson and Ambassador Desadeski. Muffley exudes a blank expression while Turgidson and Desadeski offer an air of excitement and anticipation. Kubrick illustrates the breakdown of the traditional way of life as a welcome opportunity for the American male as opposed to being enraged as typical cold war films have depicted.

There are several minor characters in the film that support the overall negative depiction of both American and Russian stereotypes. Ambassador Desadeski’s name alone references the Marquis deSade, a sadist and sexual deviant from the eighteenth century. Kubrick chose actor, Peter Bull to play this part with his barrel chested, over weight physique, his thin pouting lips and protruding jowls emphasize the appearance of a primitive species of man. This coupled with his name amplifies the American perception of the Russian people as a godless, primitive race of barbarians. He sneaks photos of the war room with his make shift cameras and turns his nose up at the food choices on the buffet.

In addition to Desadeski, we have the Russian Premiere, Dmitri Kissof; a man whom we never see or hear yet is brought to life simply through Peter Sellers’ (playing President Muffley) improvisation of a few phone conversations. Kissoff is portrayed as a drunken adolescent buffoon through Muffley’s attempt to explain the situation, “Well listen, how do you think I feel about it? Can you imagine how I feel about it, Dmitri? Why do you think I'm calling you? Just to say hello? Of course I like to speak to you! Of course I like to say hello! Not now, but anytime, Dmitri. I'm just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened. It's a friendly call. Of course it's a friendly call, listen, if it wasn't friendly you probably wouldn't have even got it...” This conversation sounds very similar to the conversation Buck Turgidson had with Miss Scott early in the film. Kubrick toys with his name as well, Premiere Kissoff, which takes on a connotation of essentially, “kiss my ass.” This foreshadows the Russian doomsday devise that functions as a retaliatory measure if anyone ever strikes Russia with a nuclear weapon.

There are two other supporting actors in the film, Colonel Bat Guano and Major T.J. “King” Kong. Bat Guano, among gardeners, is among the best fertilizer you can buy and is just that, bat excrement. To have an American military soldier named this provides an unexpected comic relief with Keenen Wynn’s straight portrayal. The other characters named in the film are a subtle but Guano is a blatant statement by Kubrick. Guano argues with Mandrake who is desperate to save the world and holds him at gunpoint and then refuses to damage the Coca-Cola machine. He holds the gun low on his body, mimicking that of a large penis and after shooting the Coca-Cola machine it ejaculates on his face. In contrast, Slim Pickens plays Texan, Major T.J. “King: Kong. Pickens doesn’t have to “act” he merely plays himself, the simple minded Texas cowboy that just wants to go out and kick “Ruskie ass.” Wearing a cowboy hat as he moves into combat readiness, he too becomes a part of the American male stereotype. At the time of nuclear attack, he rides the phallic missile to its target like a raging bull.

Dr. Strangelove, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a metaphor for the political climate at the time the film was created in 1964. In the early 1960s, Russia attempted to take West Berlin. The threat of a nuclear attack was a reality and remained so for many years thereafter. Additionally, Kubrick pokes fun at both American and Russian male stereotypes. The various American male characters with their over inflated egos, need for war and sexual inadequacies are represented in the various military figures from Turgidson to Kong. The only female role is portrayed as an adolescent male interpretation in Miss Scott. Yet, it is President Muffley that represents the true American female character. Kubrick portrays men as bumbling idiots. How can these men be adequately protecting the American people, when the truth is, they are not. The safety measures that were put in place to protect us have failed miserably by one weak leak.

At one point in the film Turgidson suggests that, “Mr. President, we are rapidly approaching a moment of truth both for ourselves as human beings and for the life of our nation. Now, truth is not always a pleasant thing. But it is necessary now to make a choice, to choose between two admittedly regrettable, but nevertheless distinguishable, postwar environments: one where you got twenty million people killed, and the other where you got a hundred and fifty million people killed…Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.” Essentially he’s saying that if it’s going to happen, let’s jump in and go all out. It’s a rather sick logic but how do you fix an unfixable situation?

In the special features, journalist Bob Woodward points out that the film is a metaphor for an era we think is over, when reality it is not. Looking at our current government, Ripper eerily resembles George W. Bush. So the question arises, have we evolved? Unfortunately the answer is no. Kubrick raises serious concerns in a non threatening, comedic manor. With a moment of deeper investigation it becomes painfully clear that a simple series of failures could actually propel us into serious destruction. The American people allow unqualified men, inadequate in their abilities, to control the responsibility of millions of lives. Kubrick reveals the ease in which that responsibility can be marginalized. With Dr. Strangelove, he illustrates that the typical testosterone laden American male is incapable of handling the responsibility of power.

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. 4 Oct. 2008 <http://dictionary.reference.com/>.

Kubrick, Stanley, Robert McNamara and Bob Woodward. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition). 1964. DVD. Sony Pictures, 2001.