Name: ______

Dr. Strangelove (How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)

Brilliantly written, acted, and directed, Stanley Kubrick’s 1963 black comedy Dr. Strangelove has rightfully earned its place as a cinematic classic. It is #26 on the American Film Institutes list of the 100 best films of all time and has a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Description: It's the early 1960s. Jack Ripper, an insane U.S. Air Force general obsessed with fears of "the Communist conspiracy," orders the B-52s under his command to launch a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. Only General Ripper has the code to recall the bombers. Once the planes are on their way he seals off his base and refuses all communication; telephone calls from the Air Force and from the President go unanswered, while the planes move closer to Russian cities. The President and his advisors gather in the "War Room" and try to figure out how to stop them. The movie is a black comedy that satirizes (pokes fun) at the threat of nuclear war and the Cold War itself.

A. Pre-viewing Task A: Match the vocabulary terms below with their definitions.

____ deterrence / a. an art form in which real situations are exaggerated in order to make a point.
____ preemptive/
first strike / b. stopping someone from doing something by making him believe you can and will create consequences for him that he finds unacceptable. (e.g. M.A.D.)
____ black comedy / c. when an artist uses humor to explore a subject that is otherwise too taboo (can’t talk about it), serious, or morbid (having to do with death) to talk about. (Things are so bad you just have to laugh!)
____ satire / d. the military action by which a country attempts to win a war by striking its enemy first in order to prevent or minimize an expected attack.

B. Pre-viewing Task B: Answer questions in complete sentences in the spaces provided.

  1. What do you think is meant by the term M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)?

2. Besides building a lot of nuclear weapons, what else did the U.S. and the Soviet Union have to do to make sure deterrence (i.e. M.A.D.) would keep the two Cold War superpowers from attacking each other during the Cold War?

C. Viewing Task.

One of the reasons Dr. Strangelove is such a great movie is that it alternates (goes back and forth) between realism (showing the real world as it is) and satire (exaggerating the real world to make a point in a humorous way). While watching the movie, write at least three realistic depictions of the Cold War (could be technology, military, politics, other) in the left hand column and at least three aspects of the Cold War which Kubrick satirized (exaggerated) to make a point.

Realism in Dr. Strangelove / Satire in Dr. Strangelove

D. Post Viewing Task: Answer in complete sentences on a separate piece of paper. Be sure to be complete and reflective in your responses.

1. In Dr. Strangelove, a rogue air force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the permission of the president. Why would the U.S. or Soviet Union give generals the ability to launch a nuclear attack without the permission of the president? Likewise, why in this film do you suppose the Soviet Union created a “Doomsday Device” which put the decision to retaliate (strike back) against the U.S. in the event of a nuclear war in the hands of a computer?

2. Why might all of the following actions (all of which have actually been taken) have made the chance of nuclear war more likely: a) building bomb shelters for all your citizens to protect them in case of a nuclear attack b) building a bunker in which your leaders and their offspring could ride out a “nuclear winter” for a 100 years or so until its safe to come out again, c) creating a missile defense system to shoot down incoming nuclear missiles and d) putting nuclear weapons on submarines that can sit very close to your enemies coastline?

3. Before Dr. Strangelove appeared in theaters, the public was told by the two superpowers deterrence (the knowledge by both sides that a nuclear attack would result in their own destruction) would prevent a nuclear war and keep them safe. What does the director and writer of this film Stanley Kubrick seem to be saying about using the MAD strategy indefinitely to keep the peace?

4. Has MAD worked so far? (We’re still here, aren’t we?) On a scale of one to ten, how confident are you that MAD will prevent a nuclear attack during your lifetime (1=we’re safe 10=we’re doomed)? In your opinion what country or group or region of the world is most likely to be the cause of a future nuclear attack?