Sunday, January 23, 2011

Atomic Cafe

Atomic Cafe speaks about the nature of human beings, and how we can be a little crazy sometimes. Last generation's crazy Cold War views are splattered across the screen fit with appropriate music, displaying just how ridiculous things can be. It uses black humor to amplify its anti-Cold War/Nuclear message.
"Duck and Cover" has to be one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. I distinctly remember the narrator stating, "even a newspaper can hide you from a burn." Did people honestly believe that ten layers of thin paper would be their golden armor? Would a picnic blanket suddenly gain the power to reflect hazardous particles?
Humans are cast in a very bad light. Leaders are sending out soldiers to nuclear explosions, people unaffiliated with the war are forced away from their homes, and even the president is made to look bad. Is humanity truly like this? Can we be so stricken with paranoia that we succumb to sin?
Hopefully something like this will never happen again. Yet, we can never tell the future. Maybe someday a giant piece of alien technology lands on Earth and some jerk decides to make a weapon out of it.
All in all, Atomic Cafe was a great movie to end the class with.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Dr. Strangelove

I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into this, but was Dr. Strangelove supposed to be a Nazi? I remember several times throughout the film where he did the Nazi salute. Also, at the end, he stands up and says, "Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!" That's pretty much the most direct Nazi reference one can give, other than anti-Semetic shouting.
I'm not sure of the relevance of this, but I would guess that the Germans may be added on to the race for survival between America and Russia. It could also be another fear that Americans had during the Cold War. Maybe Germany would go and attack them again.
Also, why was Dr. Strangelove able to walk at the end? Is it just some kind of suprise? Did the actor just decide to do it for no reason? That part made no sense to me.