This was an interesting experience. I thought the initial discussion before the movie was played was insightful, and enabled me to think more deeply about the movie while I was watching. The prior discussion focused on methods of destruction and compared some of the methods that previous leaders of the United States thought about and executed.
The movie is set in the time of the Cold War, and the USSR has created a “doomsday device” that could destroy the world upon detonation. This got me thinking about the size of the United States’ and Russia’s nuclear arsenals, which include thousands of nuclear weapons, which could easily destroy large portions of the Earth. The size of the stockpiles have been reduced dramatically since the Cold War ended, but do we really need the threat of nuclear weapons to protect ourselves?
When the doomsday device was detonated, Dr. Strangelove wants to put people underground in mine shafts in order to rebuild the population, in a ratio of females:males – 10:1. This is just one example of the satirical comedy employed during the movie in order to put a lighter spin on the events.
All in all, the movie prompted some insightful thinking.
I found your comment about the future of nuclear arsenals to be very interesting. The question often arises of whether or not it is possible the world will ever be able to live without nuclear weapons. The problem is how attractive the power of nuclear weaponry is to many countries that desire further influence on a global scale. For this reasoning, as well as the major powers of the world (in my opinion) being unable to ever trust each other enough to fully disarm, I don’t think the threat of nuclear weapons will go away any time soon.