Just keep telling yourself it's only a movie

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2004)

Remember the trailers for some of those campy 1950s sci-fi flicks..."just keep telling yourself it's only a movie"...and "no one with heart problems should see this movie"? All the folks who are criticizing this film, and particularly those who use the film as a spring board to criticize America, get a grip! Every military person I've known has loved this movie. We know it's a spoof of us and of the dark days of the Cold War. We don't take it personally. In fact, we've all known people similar, if not exactly like, the characters in this film, which makes the movie all that more fun. It's JUST a movie!!!
Humor and satire are always best when based on some small truism. But I see nothing sick or mean spirited about Dr. Strangelove. For the information of the person who was disturbed by the image of MAJ Kong riding the A Bomb down to the target like it was a rodeo bull, relax, it was only a movie! Slim Pickens didn't die in the film and I'm sure James Earl Jones was not offended by any ethnic humor, especially when he cashed his paycheck. Or I could be wrong, in which case, the good citizens of Bear Creek are up in arms over MAJ Kong's comment about them being all hair-lipped. Find me one joke, one stand up comic, one internet repeated cartoon that doesn't base its humor on some human characteristic or frailty.
I don't expect everyone to like this film. As the man said, that's what makes horse racing. But I am surprised at the hostility among the people making comments to one another when discussing this film.
And one last thing, why are so many of you hostile to America? I suspect most of you are not from the USA. Americans are not the only people to steal land or kill others. Man has been killing his fellow man since the beginning of time. The Greeks, Romans, Visogoths, Huns, Anglo Saxons; you name them, races have been fighting and conquering long before the Americans did it. And by and large, the US does far more good in the world than it does bad. We bailed Europe out of two world wars and we still try to ease the suffering of millions. The guy who listed all the supposed NBC crimes we've committed since the dawn of the 20th Century has obviously got an ax to grind no matter what reality tells him. He probably hates The Christmas Story, Snow White and The Wizard of Oz.
Lighten up folks.