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The lighter side of the Cold War

01.01.70

Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 release of “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” was more than the satirization of U.S. and U.S.S.R. relations during the Cold War; it was a driving force of social and political redefinition within American thought and cinema.

By its satirical depiction of governmental incompetence and dishonesty, the film encouraged public mockery of a subject that was previously considered too serious, or taboo, for such treatment. It also fueled American’s brewing criticism and disillusionment of the political establishment in the mid-1960s.

Although a new decade rolled around in 1960, Americans were still haunted by the previous one. While the 1950s had the lasting glory and patriotism from victory in WWII, Americans already had an impression of communism, which evolved into a Red Scare that consumed the nation. Within this was the notorious McCarthy era, which reeked fear through unjust interrogation and manipulation. Once McCarthy and the Scare were exposed as being a political ploy, damage had already been done. There emerged a serious polarization among American citizens regarding nuclear deterrence. The public had been disgruntled since the Waldorf Statement and the establishment of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947, which preceded McCarthy. “Dr. Strangelove” is a direct response to this.

Source: The Massachusetts Daily Collegian