Dr. Strangelove: Bombs are for the Boys!

Powerful. Violent. Dominate. Explosive. These are adjectives that describe society’s normative idea of ‘masculine.’ Or are they precisely chronicling a bomb? It seems that men and bombs are interchangeable when accounting their characteristics. Masculine traits can be perfectly defined by the violent tendencies of a bomb. In the film To Be or Not to Be (1942), a hilarious WWII satire, they use this subtle metaphor to their advantage. In an attempt to impress famous actress Maria Tura, bomber pilot Lt. Sobinski tells her “I can drop three tons of dynamite in two minutes.” You know what's even better than “three tons of dynamite?” Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove, one ups Sobinski’s military prowess with “1400 megatons” of bomb. Director and writer, Stanley Kubrick creates his own satire 22 years post To Be or Not to Be with Dr. Strangelove, a nightmarish comedic masterpiece. With the help of his creative team, Kubrick uses the atomic bomb to satirize the absurdity of male masculinity. Important male characters are divided into two categories: hyper masculine and emasculated. Kubrick is able to depict their traits using visuals, symbols, and allusions. The film engages the social issue of emasculated men struggling to operate with the hyper masculine majority using satire.

 This social issue is of very delicate territory as it pertains to men who are the ‘dominant’ gender. Jackson Katz clearly explains the phenomenon of men’s masculine ingraining being invisible to the reasoning for violence, in his documentary Tough Guise. Although close to 100% of mass shootings are committed by men, reporters go out of their way to keep the issue gender neutral, Katz calls it “a systematic failure to focus on men as men.” When girls fight it is of concern, when boys fight it is brushed off as “boys being boys.” If the world's demise came in the form of nuclear destruction like in Dr. Strangelove, men would be to blame. As the creators and operators of the biggest and deadliest weapon in existence. Would the colonies surviving hundreds of miles beneath the Earth's surface write off the history of the catastrophe as “boys being boys?”

The cycle of boys adopting society’s normative masculine traits they see in their elders is an endless epidemic. A social issue that is ignored in mainstream media, mostly because it pertains to those who operate and own media who are mostly male. When someone commits mass murder like Jack D. Ripper in the film, news outlets like to scapegoat mental illness as the reasoning. President Muffley follows suit when calls up the Russian President Kissoff to inform him of Ripper’s actions, he explains it as “well he went a little funny in the head” (41 min). When Kubrick and writing partner James B. Harris tried to develop the book Red Alert into a screenplay they discovered it just didn't work as a drama/suspense film. When dealing with men's obsession with violence under the means of nuclear gamesmanship, Kubrick decided comedy would better reach viewers. Greek philosopher, Horace, put it best “joking often cuts through great obstacles better and more forcefully than being serious would.” Kubrick understood that molding together a satirical piece of farce that examines the vices of masculinity (and the end of the world) would increase the mental flexibility of viewers.

Mental flexibility allows for the viewers of the film to pick up on the allusions that Kubrick cleverly uses to establish satire. Kubrick uses the names of characters (who all hold military affiliation) that allude to masculine status. Influences derive partially from the U.S. military and their use of alluding names in order to promote masculinity as superior. Any signs of emasculated nature was inferior. In 1944 the U.S. army released Pvt. Droop Has Missed the War, the pamphlet depicted Pvt. Droop as lacking masculinity an epitome of what recruits should not be. It is clear that his name “Droop” is an allusion to “lacking virility and physical presence” (Locke, pg. 86). The themes of masculinity and repressed sexuality in Pvt. Droop and Dr. Strangelove mirror each other. The film is layered with sexual framework due to the decision to bring in Terry Southern, a veteran of satire known for his outlook on sexuality particularly in his novel Candy.

With Southern apart of the writing team they begin to construct characters who represents various volumes of masculinity strewed with sexual tones. Kubrick's includes all the masculine military personnel in the War room smoking cigars, a phallic symbol that exercises them exerting their sexual aptitude. Although when Kubrick chooses to use a low angle close up of Ripper smoking a large cigar it sends a different message, one of suggestive homosexual nature (23 min). Ripper compensates for emasculate homosexual insecurity with violence, one of the defining traits of hyper masculinity. Ripper gives the order to infringe Russia with the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal, we then begin to follow the likes of Major Kong as he makes it his personal mission to drop that bomb.

The name Kong is an allusion to King Kong, contriving him to be primitive in sexual nature. Major Kong is established as an oversexualized character, he is intrigued by a playboy magazine and comments “a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff” when going through a military issued survival guide. King kong is also known for his obsessive love for Ann Darrow, that parallels Major Kong's obsession to destroy his target despite all drawbacks. The target being Lupita, a place created by satire maestro Jonathan Swift , meaning ‘the whore’ in Spanish. Major Kong flies down on the nuclear warhead himself, Kubrick shoots Kong falling farther away from frame with the massive bomb at his groin (127 min.). Kong implodes Lupita with his giant phallic warhead (blatant sexual reference) and then all of mankind is destroyed. Hypermasculine characters like Ripper and Kong use violence as a release to their suppressed sexual obsessions, of course destroying all of mankind is an exaggeration for exerting violence but this is the work of satire.

Comical and juvenile General Buck Turgidson is also categorized for being hyper masculine, he demonstrates infatuation for sex and war. His name alludes to his extreme oversexualized nature, considering ‘turgid’ to be defined as swollen. In light of not taking care of his sexual ‘turgid’ state with his mistress secretary, Buck displays aggressively zealous antics matching those of a testosterone crazed adolescent. In the film he pouts when scorned and holds defusing situations with his mistress secretary over the threat of nuclear annihilation in his priorities. His character is also constantly chewing gum with a ravenous fixation. Similar to the phallic symbols mentioned earlier, the gum is another blatant sexual reference. Both the phallic and oral symbols in the film pay homage to Sigmund Freud's theories of  Pyschosexual stages. Oral is the first stage of psychosexual development, occurring in infants below the age of one. Turgidson’s oral overindulgence depicted by him chewing one piece of Juicyfruit after another alludes to his his lack in maturity. Buck finds delight in Dr. Strangelove’s proposition of Nazi eugenics that would include a ratio of “ten females to each male” (130 min.). He attempts to plant a spy camera on the Russian embassador and continues to try and physically overpower him in schoolyard fashion. He acts like a childish brute who stands in the opposition of emasculated characters like President Muffley who act on behalf of logic and not their ‘turgid’ affairs.

Peter Sellers displays his outstanding acting range in his performance as President Muffley, as well as Lionel Mandrake and Dr. Strangelove all of whom possess emasculated traits. Dr. Strangelove is the most interesting example of walking the line of  masculine and emasculated. He is physically incompetent from the waist down and subdues to a wheelchair. When are first introduced to him he appears weak, as a tiny limp cigarette hangs from his mouth in a room full of cigar smokers. The cigarette is another clear phallic symbol although this time it alludes to him being sexually impotent. Although in the end of the film we see Strangelove fully erect standing up, he yells in elation “My Fuhrer, I can walk!” (132 min.). It is his strange perverted love for nuclear annihilation combined with the prospect of having ten women at his disposal through Nazi agenda that gives him such sexaul arousal. Our hyper masculine characters in the film like Turgidson and Ripper are not different from the perverted Dr. Strangelove. They all shared a fetished craze for sexual and violent stimulation.

The only characters who deviate from this perversion are Mandrake and Muffley. Mandrake appears to be asexual in the film, while President Muffley is alluded to having feminine traits that emasculates his stature. “Muff” is slang that refers to the female genitalia. Muffley is established as feminized, separating him from the mass of military men who only think with their phallic parts. Throughout the film characters like President Muffley and Mandrake are bullied, pressured, and suffocated by the overpowering hyper masculine military presence in the film.  Muffley has to succumb to the mercy of the military, as he say to Turgidson “far beyond the point I imagined possible” (26 min) when addressing Ripper “exceeding his authority”. The larger military personnel like Turgidson and Ripper do not respect the provisions of the emasculated characters because they do not follow the military code of masculine aptitude.  

Mandrake, another character who is not controlled by sexaul desire, is disrespected and overpowered by the force of military masculinity around him. Scenes where Mandrake and General Ripper share screen time Kubrick frames Ripper dominating Mandrake in physical size as he appears submissive. When Kubrick used shot reverse shot between the pair, Ripper is shot at a slight low angle making him appear even more powerful. Mandrake is also disrespected by Col. Bat Guano who is blinded by his ego to see Mandrake’s overriding authority and comments on his uniform by sayin “What kinda suit you call that fella?”. When Mandrake clearly explains his rank and position as Group Captain and second in command, Guano decides to resort to the threat of violence as he continues to point his rifle at Mandrake.

Characters like Mandrake and Muffley are not apart of the boys club that boast an unhealthy desire for violence and sex. Jackson Katz explains the complex of trying to keep boys apart of this club by using insults like “wuss and sissy” or in the case of Dr. Strangelove “muff”, for those who don't fit the criteria. Because of this lack of respect, Jackson Katz states that for boys there’s “a lot of pressure to conform, to put up the act, to be just one of the guys.” This pressure is evidently the same in character’s like Mandrake and Muffley who are both constantly tempted to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Bomb. The bomb is a metaphorical representation of the military ideal of being masculine. As President Muffley is being persuaded to send more bombs into Russia by General Turgidson, General Ripper is simultaneously trying to persuade Mandrake in seeing the justification of his plan “R” order. The military creates erratic hypermasculine servants who are blinded by ego, sex, and violence to make a rational decision. The U.S. military also see “Droops” as the biggest threat to their association. It is the “Droops” of Dr. Strangelove and only the “droops” who see starting nuclear war as an issue. The masculine ideal is toxic and needs to be terminated although the powerful influences like the military keep it prevalent today.

Even more powerful than the military is the media who keep normative and viceful traits of masculinity alive. Popular blog Barstool Sports has an entire column of articles dedicated to the title “And the Pussification of America Continues.” They coin the term “pussification” to anything that threatens their code of masculinity that values polygamy sexual dominance and vacuous violence. They have made the phrase “Saturdays are for the boys” go viral nation wide, in attempts to promote masculine prowess. I’m sure if Barstool affiliates had made it into the War Room they would have been shouting “Bombs are for the boys!” Stanley Kubrick recognizes and deconstructs the social issue “for the boys” in Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb through satire. He creates characters that articulate different masculine definitions as well as their vices by his clever use of visuals, symbols, and allusions. Kubrick understood that as serious and frightening as men overdosed in testosterone ending the world may be, comedy was the only suitable median. Comedic master and French playwright Moliere once said “As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men.”

References

Dir. Jackson Katz. N.p., n.d. Web.

Locke, Jackson. "Introduction to the Military Masculinity Complex." The Military Masculinity Complex. University of Nebraska, n.d. Web. Oct. 2016.

2008, Saul McLeod Published. "Psychosexual Stages." Simply Psychology. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. Oct. 2016.

To Be or Not to Be. 1942. Ernst Lubitsch.

Horace. "Horace's Lyric Poetry the Force of Humour." Horace's Lyric Poetry : The Force of Humour (Book, 1987) [WorldCat.org]. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. Oct. 2016.