I know, okay? Anything by Stanley Kubrick is such a cliche to have as your favourite film if you're a student, or is that just at my university?, but I want you to read the reason why before you think I'm just on the bandwagon twiddling my brain cells.
During the Cold War, people were terrified of the idea that the only real nuclear deterrent, that of Mutually Assured Destruction, was going to fail. What's the logical thing to do? Make a film about it.
The absurdity of the film was brilliant, because it made sure that the public saw that the idea was outrageous. Unless the ruler of a country with massive nuclear power was completely certifiable, and wanted nothing more than to cause the end of the world rather than your run of the mill despotic man with a hint of Napolian syndrome (they always seem to be short!), it wasn't about to happen. Even better, it gave people a way to actually talk about the nuclear threat.
Yes, there are some funny points where we get to poke fun at some really silly things that people might have actually said at one time or another, like "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here; this is the war room." and of course the typical American portrayal of the overly polite Brit, but seriously, it means that we can talk about the nuclear threat, even now, without feeling like we have to do so in hushed tones.
This became even more clear to me a couple of days ago, when a friend complained about being shown a documentary on 9/11 in a lecture. All possible problems with that aside, it sparked a conversation, and it gave us the chance to talk about it. A conversation about 9/11 or the Cold War is something we would normally avoid, but for about ten minutes we talked about it and what we thought about the television documentaries and films which have been made after it, and that's important.
These things are just too big for a person to cope with, so we need something to start the conversation. You don't know how much a person was affected by these things until you do.
This became even more clear to me a couple of days ago, when a friend complained about being shown a documentary on 9/11 in a lecture. All possible problems with that aside, it sparked a conversation, and it gave us the chance to talk about it. A conversation about 9/11 or the Cold War is something we would normally avoid, but for about ten minutes we talked about it and what we thought about the television documentaries and films which have been made after it, and that's important.
These things are just too big for a person to cope with, so we need something to start the conversation. You don't know how much a person was affected by these things until you do.
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