Examples Of Masculinity In Dr Strangelove

DR. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a film that mocks the cold war and the race that there was between the United States and the USSR when it came to the creation and the possession of Nuclear weapons. The film starts with a U.S general giving directions to the air force to attack the USSR with nuclear bombs. The film also portrays the relationship between war and masculinity in two ways. The relationship between the war and masculinity in the film is portrayed in two very important ways. The film introduces hyper masculine characters such as General Jack D. Riper and General Buck Turgidson whom at times are portrayed as irrational and want nothing but to go to war defeat the communists. Then they have male

Strangelove is a film about war that has only one female character (Miss. Scott) that is a general’s mistress. In a movie about war that lacks female characters and the portrayal of women is that they are sexual object it is clear that the point that is being made is that war is a man’s job. The men in this movie are portrayed as making important decisions at this time of conflict where as the woman is shown tanning. I feel that this image portrays feminine behavior as siting around waiting for others to make decisions when it comes to war where as masculine behaviors are see as those who are deeply involved in the war. The words masculinity and war by themselves have different meanings but they share similar characteristics. “For instance, qualities such as aggression, rationality, or physical courage are identified both as an essential component of war and also of masculinity at a given place or time” (Hutchings 389). What are described as traditional masculine behavior are considered to be important when it comes to

The president of the U.S doesn’t even have control over his military because he is not men enough to be taken serious on the matters of war. One general went behind his back and started a nuclear attack on a foreign country, and his other general constantly undermines his decision. In the war room the president seems as if he is the least powerful person there. The president is displayed as a man who doesn’t want to attack, a man who will let the enemy in his war room just to stop fighting and in the film his behavior is portrayed as week. When he makes the phone call to the president of the USSR instead of it being a serious and powerful conversation about war and strategies it comes out to be a conversation that ends up being why don’t you call me to say hello. Which can be perceived to be a feminine trait. The depiction that the president cant solve such problems because he is to soft and not made for war makes the point that the only type of person that is needed for war is aggressive and