Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb

I must confess that after so many years, Dr. Strangelove still remains a timeless classic and personal favorite of my collection. I suppose one of the things that strikes me most about this movie is the (cruel yet perhaps humurously accurate) portrayal of the American military, as seen by the predominate American officers of the movie, General Jack Ripper(left) and the eternally memorable 'Buck' Turgidson.



As author Jack Richardson accurately points out, Ripper "embodies a Birch-like attitude towards war"(pg. 251). The character demonstrates this by launching an entire wing of bomber planes at Russia, knowing that if he gives the order, this will leave Washington with no other choice than to commit their total armed forces to a full-scale nuclear attack on Russia, or risk nuclear annihilation through Russian retaliation. Now, while it's true that Kubrick also depicts Ripper as being completely insane (the man concieves of this plan after believing that the Russians are directly responsible for his failing sexual prowess), this image is reinforced by General 'Buck' Turgidson, who upon realizing Ripper's plan, does in fact support the idea of commiting American forces to a surprise attack on Russia, just as Ripper wanted all along. We see here that both of the prominent American generals featured in the movie are highly paranoid and eager to satisfy their paranoia by launching a surprise attack on Soviet Russia.


In fact, this paranoia manifests itself in many ways throughout the movie. As Stillman notes in his own essay, "Turigdson is portrayed as paranoid over the threat of Soviet spying by diplomats with hidden cameras." (pg. 491).