Satirist With Astigmatism

Ridicule is a potent tool. During the war a song ridiculing Hitler helped laugh away any dignity he might have retained among the English-speaking Allies. “Ven der Fuehrer says vee iss de master race/den vee Heil! Heil! right in der Fuehrer’s face.” It was crude but effective.

Director Stanley Kubrick has produced a film whose basic ingredient is ridicule. It is called Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying, and Love the Bomb. The ridicule is refined, knowing and devastatingly effective. It is aimed at targets such as these: the U. S. Defense Department and its commanding officers; the idea of the nuclear bomb as deterrent; the imprecision during crises of the President of the United States; the military chain of command; phony morality; the John Birch Society; any shreds of nineteenth-century Genteel Tradition still hanging on.

WD

About the Author

W. H. von Dreele

Featured Tags

Ridicule is a potent tool. During the war a song ridiculing Hitler helped laugh away any dignity he might have retained among the English-speaking Allies. “Ven der Fuehrer says vee iss de master race/den vee Heil! Heil! right in der Fuehrer’s face.” It was crude but effective.

Director Stanley Kubrick has produced a film whose basic ingredient is ridicule. It is called Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying, and Love the Bomb. The ridicule is refined, knowing and devastatingly effective. It is aimed at targets such as these: the U. S. Defense Department and its commanding officers; the idea of the nuclear bomb as deterrent; the imprecision during crises of the President of the United States; the military chain of command; phony morality; the John Birch Society; any shreds of nineteenth-century Genteel Tradition still hanging on.