All is fair in strange love and war?

During the movie Dr. Strangelove, there were a few things that I found particularly interesting.  One of which was the names of the characters, particularly General Jack Ripper.  This is a name of interest to me because it bears a striking resemblance to notorious mass murderer known as Jack the Ripper.  Jack the Ripper is known for killing a plethora of prostitutes in England and mangling their bodies thus earning him the nickname “The Ripper”.  This is a very poetic choice of names in that General Ripper in the movie has essentially ordered the killing of countless lives in Russia and consequently the whole world.  Mass murderer Jack The Ripper is known for being mentally unstable and having a precise way of dealing with things.  To put it short, he was mentally insane, but in no way was he stupid.  General Ripper is depicted in the same way in the film.  It is clear that General Ripper has lost his mind and has become more than paranoid with the idea of Russian sabotage from inside the base.  However, we can tell that he is not stupid because he does a very effective job of sealing the base from the “intruders”. 

There is one scene in particular in the film that shows perfectly both how General Jack Ripper is not stupid, and his mental insanity all at the same time.  That scene is where General Ripper kills himself to protect the transmission codes for the bombers.  General Ripper is the only person that knows the codes that can stop the strike on Russia, and we have already seen the great lengths that he would go to in order to keep them safe including firing on any and all figures that come within 200 yards.  It is at this point in the film where it has become apparent that General Ripper’s defenses will not hold up and what he does next is a stroke of brilliance and insanity all at the same time.  He puts a towel around his neck and shoots himself.  How is this a brilliant act? Well, it not only keeps the codes safe indefinitely, but it also appears that he was shot while shaving.  This is important, as it would cause anyone walking in to the room at that moment think that Captain Mandrake was the one that shot General Ripper, or at least put some form of that idea into their mind. The brilliance of this move goes even further as anyone entering would then not immediately trust anything that Captain Mandrake had to say until they gathered all or more of the facts.  With is in mind, General Rippers feels that this distrust would be able to buy his bombers enough time to strike their targets.  Though insane, it cannot be said of General Ripper that he is stupid.

One of the most telling scenes in the film is the final where instead of finding ways to survive, they are more preoccupied with finding ways to keep the Russians from taking over after the imminent nuclear holocaust. Also, at the same time this is happening, the Russian ambassador is taking pictures of the United States war room.  It is amazing how even in the face of death that neither side can come to work together even for the sake of survival.