Of all the films present in Stanley Kubrick’s vast cinematic reservoir, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is perhaps the masterpiece of satiric cinematic technique, and is demonstrative of Kubrick’s chameleon-like directorial abilities. The film satirizes with charm and grace, granting laughs and chuckles even to a young audience watching it 50 years after its creation. However, its masterful satiric ability is how its laughs are simultaneously terrifying in nature. In the scene where Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) desperately attempts to phone the President of the United States from a phone booth, we laugh as he is being stalled by being short a few coins. Yet, at the same time, we are haunted by the idea that the very system we abide by is halting the savior of humanity, for a mere 20 cents. This adds to the terrifying idea that the current political system of the world is so dangerously unbalanced that not only is the destruction of the world due to one man’s choice, but that its savior is a relatively random person begging for change at a phone booth. It gives a sense of powerlessness through this demonstration, as the top political and military officials of the world essentially helplessly watch and pray that a miracle allows them to stop world destruction. To add to this frustration for the audience, neither country with nuclear weapons even wants this to happen. In other words, even if the countries of the world somehow navigate a path to peace, there is still a chance that it could all blow up for essentially no reason.

More than anything else, this contrast between the comedic and the horrific demonstrates Kubrick’s comedic mastery. No joke in the film is baseless humor designed to get a quick laugh before going back to the action of saving the world. Each comedic sketch, even if seemingly unrelated, delves deep into the problems associated with human psychology, patriarchal power (both social and political), mob mentality, and how it all puts the safety of the world in danger. Even the comedic one-liner that ends the phone booth scene demonstrates this. As Capt. Lionel Mandrake demands Col. ‘Bat’ Guano (Keenan Wynn) to shoot the lock of a Coca-Cola machine to get spare change for his phone call, Guano says, “But if you don’t get the President of the United States on that phone, you know what’s going to happen to you? You’re gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.” Its comedy arises from the expectation of some physical threat being realized as a simple statement of fact. Yet, it is still unnerving, as the quote demonstrates the resistance to breaking the machine because it is private property, even though the world may be destroyed without doing so. It suddenly is more important to follow the law when it comes to a soda machine than saving the world from nuclear destruction.

The film for this reason has as much impact today as it did back when it was released, specifically because our society is still dealing with these same problems. Just as Kubrick seemed to demonstrate in his film, it seems humanity, and specifically men in power, haven’t changed much at all since the dawn of civilization.