The Funny Underbelly of a Nightmare

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2005)

If I had a pie chart representing my total nightmares throughout my life; the largest pieces would belong to those with zombies and those with a mushroom cloud of some sort. Now, I was not born in the heat of the Cold War nor did I really ever have that incredible fear of the Russians and nuclear bombs that I am sure that my parents did. However, the hydrogen bomb haunts me at twice a year.
After watching Strangelove, my nightmares become laughable, and more haunting. I am of the generation that was not directly touched by this film, but rather hears echoes of it through parodies, homages, and so forth. Though this film is lauded as a terrific black comedy (which it is), it is also a horror film and very serious with its treatment of the issue. In Strangelove, human beings have this ability to make everything vanish in moments. It is an ability that neither side wants to push itself into a position of having to do, yet things continue to escalate to a point where no one can make a mistake. Yet, if we as humans understand and know so well is that humans will continue to make mistakes. This is the stuff that fuels my nightmare.