when Johnny comes marching home will never be the same

Rating: Null/10 (23 March 2004)

Dr.Strangelove is a dark comedy that has a very specific message. This message is one that is completely against what was done in the cold war and the paranoia that in consumed the minds of those who have to make word altering decisions. The most obvious of these paranoia's was present in the character Jack D. Ripper who was afraid of fluoridation which was a fear during the cold war the U.S.S.R was planning to sabotage all of the U.S drinking water. To the viewer who knows what fluoridation is this seems to be the reason why he is so obsessed with his `precious bodily fluids'
In this movie names were given with much thought though some of them may not be obvious. The obvious ones include Jack D. Ripper, `King' Kong, and `Bat' Guano. Some of the not so obvious may be Turgidson (turgid meaning swollen or highly embellished which suits the character perfectly) and Mandrake (mandrake being a European plant with narcotic properties and is also said to resemble a human this description may or may not be a reason the name was chosen).
Music for this movie was chosen to show how idiotic it all was but also the song `Johnny comes marching home' was chosen and played every time the focus was on `King' Kong's plane. Anyone who has heard the original song called `Johnny I hardly knew ya' knows this may have been chosen to show the evils of such events and to those that do not know the lyric of `Johnny I hardly knew ya' it continues past when Johnny comes marching home again hurrah to say with drums and guns and guns and drums Harrah with drums and guns and guns and drums the enemy nearly slue your darling john its been so long Johnny I hardly knew ya.where are eyes that were so mild why did you run from me and the child.where are your legs that used to run when first you went to carry a gun.you haven't an arm and you haven't a leg. If the viewers knows this version of the song it means something completely different when they play it for the men in the planes going to their almost certain death.
Dr.Strangelove sends a very direct massage when he is in the war room and is calling the president `Mein Fuhrer' and also when he stands up out of his wheel chair and says `Mein Fuhrer I can walk' he is sending the image of savoir and also murder to the minds of those watching.