Speaking of the script, as I said in March, when I watched Strangelove with 'Group Capt. Mandrake', I said to him, "I don't know if this is the best script ever written, but it's right up there. This is incredible writing." Peter George, an ex-RAF officer had the original concept of a nuclear thriller. Kubrick had the key idea of turning it into an over-the-top Swiftian satire of the Cold War. And Terry Southern and Peter Sellers helped to gin up the humor. (Between the two of us, The Group Captain and I have every line in the film memorized. What the freaks who saw Rocky Horror over and over again did to it in the late 1970s, we can do Strangelove. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Then of course, all the phallic and psychosexual references in the film, beginning with the opening "erotic" airborne refueling of a B-52, with "Try a Little Tenderness" playing in the background, probably add to why guys love Strangelove and women are turned off by it. (Insert obvious Tim Allen "cars are just an extension of your penis" routine here)
And then there's the nuclear explosion as the ultimate orgasm reference. Of course, one reason why my wife doesn't like Strangelove, is that it reminds her of the ultimate fear of nuclear war hanging over our heads, and the bad old days of the Cold War: "duck and cover" drills, air raid shelters, civil defense nightmares, and of course, the destruction of the planet. From my point of view, this is the awesome power of Strangelove: it allows us to see those fears, confront them, laugh at them, and therefore ease them. But I think for many people (and I suspect a big chunk of women), those fears are impossible to overcome--or merely dredging them to the surface is so painful, it's not worth it. Better to keep them locked up in the subconscious than expose them to the light of day.
Article comments
1 - Anne
I do intend to see "Dr. Stangelove," since Kubrick's other films have impressed me, frustrated me, or otherwise left me thinking about them for a long time afterward. However, I must take issue with the idea that men have had to face more demons than women. However different those burdens may be, that doesn't mean women's are less stressful. That said, I mean no ill will--your article was the impetus for my plans to rent the film this weekend (though I don't think it'll much of a date movie).
2 - SKBubba
Hey, nice analysis of my #1 favorite movie of all time. Purity of Essence and Peace on Earth!
3 - Sarah
I dunno. I'm a woman in my early twenties, and I LOVE "Dr. Strangelove." And I know other women who like it, men who like it, and lots of women and men both who just don't get it.
To me, a kid who never experienced the terror of seemingly imminent nuclear war, it's just a really funny movie.