Editing Dr. Strangelove (section)

== Themes ==

=== Satirizing the Cold War ===
''Dr. Strangelove'' ridicules nuclear war planning.<ref>Sean M. Maloney, ''Deconstructing Dr. Strangelove: The Secret History of Nuclear War Films'' (Potomac Books, 2020) pp 64–65.</ref> It mocks numerous contemporary Cold War attitudes such as the "missile gap" but it primarily directs its satire on the theory of [[mutually assured destruction]] (MAD), in which each side is supposed to be deterred from a nuclear war by the prospect of a universal cataclysm regardless of who "won".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The American cinema of excess: extremes of the national mind on film |last=King |first=Mike |year=2009 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3988-1 |page=46}}</ref> Military strategist and former physicist Herman Kahn, in the book ''[[On Thermonuclear War]]'' (1960), used the theoretical example of a "doomsday machine" to illustrate the limitations of MAD. 

The concept of such a machine is consistent with MAD doctrine when it is logically pursued to its conclusion. It thus worried Kahn that the military might like the idea of a doomsday machine and build one.<ref>''On Thermonuclear War'' pp. 144–155</ref> Kahn, a leading critic of MAD and the [[Eisenhower administration]]'s doctrine of [[massive retaliation]] upon the slightest provocation by the USSR, considered MAD to be foolish bravado, and urged the United States to instead plan for [[proportionality (law)|proportionality]], and thus even a limited nuclear war. With this reasoning, Kahn became one of the architects of the [[flexible response]] doctrine which, while superficially resembling MAD, allowed for the possibility of responding to a limited nuclear strike with a proportional, or calibrated, return of fire (see ''[[Conflict escalation]]'').

Kahn educated Kubrick on the concept of the semi-realistic "cobalt-thorium G" doomsday machine, and then Kubrick used the concept for the film. Kahn in his writings and talks would often come across as cold and calculating, for example, with his use of the term "megadeaths" and in his willingness to estimate how many human lives the United States could lose and still rebuild economically.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, Volume 1 |year=2001 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-80657-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam03deco/page/471 471] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam03deco/page/471 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Kahn's dispassionate attitude towards millions of deaths is reflected in Turgidson's remark to the president about the outcome of a preemptive nuclear war: "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops, uh, depending on the breaks." Turgidson has a binder that is labelled "World Targets in Megadeaths", a term coined in 1953 by Kahn and popularized in his 1960 book ''On Thermonuclear War''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The age of radiance : the epic rise and dramatic fall of the atomic era |last=Craig |first=Nelson |year=2014 |isbn=978-1451660432 |pages=290–291 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |oclc=852226548}}</ref>

The fallout-shelter-network proposal mentioned in the film, with its inherently high [[radiation protection]] characteristics, has similarities and contrasts to that of the real [[Military of Switzerland#Military and civil defence|Swiss civil defense]] network. Switzerland has an overcapacity of nuclear fallout shelters for the country's population size, and by law, new homes must still be built with a fallout shelter.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304231204576405700994655570 |work=The Wall Street Journal |last=Ball |first=Deborah |title=Swiss Renew Push for Bomb Shelters |date=June 25, 2011 |access-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825131951/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304231204576405700994655570 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6347519.stm |work=BBC News |last=Foulkes |first=Imogen |title=Swiss still braced for nuclear war |date=February 10, 2007 |access-date=November 23, 2011 |archive-date=February 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213071207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6347519.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> If the US did that, it would violate the spirit of MAD and, according to MAD adherents, allegedly destabilize the situation because the US could launch a [[Pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike]] and its population would largely survive a retaliatory second strike (see [[Mutual assured destruction#Theory|MAD § Theory]]).

To rebut early 1960s novels and Hollywood films like ''Fail-Safe'' and ''Dr. Strangelove'', which raised questions about US control over nuclear weapons, the Air Force produced a documentary film, ''SAC Command Post'', to demonstrate its responsiveness to presidential command and its tight control over nuclear weapons.<ref>''[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb304/film03.htm SAC Command Post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124084157/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb304/film03.htm |date=November 24, 2011 }}''</ref> However, later academic research into declassified documents showed that U.S. military commanders had been given presidentially authorized pre-delegation for the use of nuclear weapons during the early Cold War, showing that this aspect of the film's plot was plausible.<ref name=diplomat-20180105>{{cite magazine |url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/dr-strangelove-and-the-insane-reality-of-nuclear-command-and-control/ |title=Dr. Strangelove and the Insane Reality of Nuclear Command-and-Control |last=Gady |first=Franz-Stefan |magazine=The Diplomat |date=January 5, 2018 |access-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105112303/https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/dr-strangelove-and-the-insane-reality-of-nuclear-command-and-control/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The characters of Buck Turgidson and Jack D. Ripper both satirize the real-life Gen. [[Curtis LeMay]] of the Strategic Air Command.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www3.nd.edu/~dlindley/handouts/strangelovenotes.html |title=A Teaching Guide to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove |last=Lindley |first=Dan |date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=www3.nd.edu |access-date=December 2, 2018 |quote=Ripper: 'He said war was too important to be left to the Generals. When he said that, fifty years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought'. Air Force Lieutenant General David Burchinal (U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff LeMay's deputy for operations), speaks about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the value of strategic superiority: 'They did not understand what had been created and handed to them'. LeMay confirmed: 'That was the mood prevalent with the top civilian leadership, you are quite correct'. |archive-date=February 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221121139/https://www3.nd.edu/~dlindley/handouts/strangelovenotes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Sexual themes ===
In the months following the film's release, director Stanley Kubrick received a fan letter from Legrace G. Benson of the Department of History of Art at [[Cornell University]] interpreting the film as being sexually layered. The director wrote back to Benson and confirmed the interpretation, "Seriously, you are the first one who seems to have noticed the sexual framework from [[Sexual intercourse#Definitions|intromission]] (the planes going in) to the last spasm (Kong's ride down and detonation at target)."<ref>{{cite book |last=Castle |first=Alison |title=The Stanley Kubrick Archives |year=2008 |publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3836508889 |page=359}}</ref>