Dr. Strangelove

Hannah Crouser     

Dr. Strangelove is a satirical comedy film about the Cold War, and the use of nuclear weapons. One major theme of the film was the idea of masculinity and femininity. Masculinity can be seen through the character of General Jack D. Ripper. The whole reason why the command to drop the nuclear weapons was sent out was because Ripper was having problems ejaculating, and was blaming it on the communists adding fluoride to the water. Ripper kept talking about how the communists and women were trying to take his “life essence”. This man caused the end of the world by not being able to accept that it was no one's fault, but his own for not being able to ejaculate. Men are told they are not masculine enough if they are anything less than this macho man. But when that idea is taken to the extreme you get people like Ripper who cause the end of the world over some fluoride in the water.

The idea of femininity through a male perspective is also portrayed through the characters of President Murkin Murffley and the Soviet Union’s Prime Minister Dmitry. The way these two characters interact is how most men perceive female conversations to be. Women are seen as being pushovers, and like they have no backbone. These two also are always concerned about the other's feelings, which is what women are stereotyped as always doing. Men constantly look down upon women, and yet when they act in the way that society tells them is the right one a nuclear war is started. In reality, femininity is so much more than caring about people's feelings, and masculinity is more than not showing emotion.