VIRTUAL JOVANOVIC: A MAD view of the world

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Question: What could be madder than the MAD doctrine?

Answer: Stanley Kubrick's satirical film "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and love the bomb."

Assignment: Watch the classic 1960's movie "Dr. Strangelove." As you watch, notice how the director uses black humour and satire to underscore the insanity of MAD doctrine. Over the break, complete ONE of the assignments listed below, and hand your work in the first day back to school.

Choose one of the following:

Create a visual representation of Kubrick’s message, outlining the absurdity of MAD. Use any medium you wish - collage, cartoon, paint, pastel, etc. Write a 150 word summary (word processed & double spaced) explaining what aspects of the movie you emphasize in the visual.
Find a famous piece of protest art from the 1960’s that you think is interesting. Make a poster comparing and contrasting the message of the art with the message of Dr. Strangelove. Include visual elements. What is similar? What is different? In 150-200 words (word processed & double spaced) write about which piece you find more powerful, and why?
If Stanley Kubrick made a movie today using black humour to criticize an present day issue, what would the movie be about? Write a 250 word movie pitch (include names of the main characters, and a plot outline) or create a mind map that visually explores your idea.

Before you start, here are a couple of definitions that can help you:

black humour:

...black humourexpresses the "absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world." (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001)

...black humor has been described as being "pitched at the breaking point where moral anguish explodes into a mixture of comedy and terror, where things are so bad you might as well laugh." [Morris Dickstein, Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties (New York, Basic Books, 1977) 92- 127]

...the novels of such writers as Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth also contain elements of black humor. Remember, "A nuclear war can ruin your whole day."

satire:

...a device used to expose the weaknesses of human nature and society. It uses irony and humour to ridicule an idea, person or thing.

Evaluation:

	Creativity and connection to movie	Execution
Wow!	Great, original approach; thoughtful and engaging. Each part of the piece makes sense, and adds to your message.	Your work appears carefully and thoughtfully executed.
Good work	Your approach is interesting; your ideas make sense and are clear.	Your work is neat and easy to look at.
Barely acceptable	Your work shows minimum insight and thoughtfulness, and little to no original thinking.	Work has the appearance of being scrambled together at the last minute.
Incomplete	Not enough work done to earn a pass.	Not enough care shown to earn a pass.

Background:

The Americans and the Soviets were in an arms race during the Cold War. By the 1960s, each country could seriously harm the other with nuclear weapons.

The U.S. armed forces developed a military theory of "deterrence" called "Mutual Assured Destruction" (MAD).

MAD was supposed to assure a "tense but stable global peace." Take a look at the 'logic' of the doctrine. It followed this line of thinking:

that each side had enough nuclear weaponry to destroy the other side
that either side, if attacked for any reason by the other, would retaliate without fail with equal or greater force
that the expected result of an attack would be an immediate, irreversible escalation of hostilities resulting in both combatants' mutual, total and assured destruction
that neither side would dare to launch a first strike because the other side would launch on warning (also called fail deadly) or with secondary forces (a second strike), resulting in unacceptable losses for both parties.

Result: MAD was responsible for the arms race, as both nations struggled to keep nuclear parity, or at least retain second-strike capacity.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction)

Enter stage left: Movie director Stanley Kubrick (shown below)

Feeling that nuclear war would more likely be triggered by accident than by political design, Kubrick used a satiric approach and black humour to deliver his message in a "nightmare comedy."

Kubrick "originally intended for the film to be serious and to follow the novel Red Alert by Peter George III. However, as he wrote the scenes, they all turned out to be black humor. He then switched the tenor of the film from drama to satire. It says something about the seriousness of the topic that it is so terrifying that it can only be dealt with by laughing at it and at ourselves."

Black humour - expresses the "absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world." (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001)

The novels of such writers as Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth also contain elements of black humor. Remember, "A nuclear war can ruin your whole day."