Holy Doomsday Device Batman!!!

            Not another black and white movie!  When I saw the cover of this movie and that it was black and white, I really wasn’t looking forward to watching it.  I found this film funny in very few instances.  There were instances that I could tell were meant to be funny, however, they just simply did not trigger my funny bone.  Things such as the phones having all been shot and not working or the other attempts at slapstick that simply did not seem to work for me. 

            However, I did notice many things that I believe could be seen as humors such as the “mineshaft gap” and other satirical shots at certain cold war attitudes.  The mineshaft gap referencing the missile-gap always debated and worried about during the Cold War.  The film also poked fun at many issues such as nuclear policy and authority in command for the safety of Americans. 

            I wasn’t exactly sure what the whole deal with the actual character Dr. Strangelove was.  I understand he used to be a German authority or brilliant mind that was also crazy however, his whole involvement in the film hardly added to the film itself.    One attempt at satire was the explaining of the doomsday device and explaining that the idea of imposing one as a safeguard is almost as obscured as having to use it in the long run.  The movie explained how ridiculous the idea is because it would only cause the demise of everyone and in the end, what the hell is the point.  This was also explained as dumb when surrounded by secrecy and how that would become a problem in cases such as the Cold War in which everything was so secretive.  Another character development I found un-needed however, quite interesting was the woman secretary.  She was of course the only female in the entire film and was only in one scene.  I found it rather amusing that it was a similar role as the secretaries in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter.  The secretary is simply a squeeze on the side.  Used for her sexual appeal. By opening the scene with her in underwear under a rudimentary tanning light while General Buck is in the bathroom, and then coming out and discussing staying up together the relationship being more than just work is confirmed.  Other than that, women are only in the film in conversation, for instance the end of the film when the generals were talking about having to go to the mineshafts for 100 years and needing a 10 to 1 ration of women to men.  The men of course are all infatuated with the idea of having 10 women all of which were then determined to all need to possess certain physical traits to be sufficiently “stimulating”. 

            The one part I found even slightly amusing was the mention of having to answer to the Coca-Cola Company for shooting the lock when compared to having to answer to the president.  The threat of the president is portrayed as insignificant when compared to Coca-Cola.  For some reason this actually made me smirk, probably because I found it humorous that at the time the film was made, the feeling that the government wasn’t always doing the brightest investment for the country and could seem insignificant where as the influence of big companies could seem superimposed on the nation a true authority

            Overall there were many attempts as satirizing the Cold War, but it simply was not one I found to have done an effective job at doing so.