Whenever I think of a documentary, I think of voice-overs and interviews. Today's film incorporates none of those things. Instead, we have a series of clips and cartoons made up entirely of the Cold War, particularly where the atom bomb is concerned.
One similarity I noticed to Dr. Strangelove is how lightly the politicians take the matter. They treat it like it's a game and are barely aware of what happens when they release their contraptions. One segment shows that an atom bomb could literally wipe a man off the face of the Earth; only a chalk outline of his shadow remains. Even if he does survive, his existence is a miserable one. Eventually, he dies of irradiation poisoning or his skin melts away and turns him into one of the living dead. I can never imagine why anyone could possibly use the bomb again after an incident like that, but they do, and they hold it over our heads like it's a threat.
Of course, one can't talk about the bomb without bringing in the United States' conflict with the Union of Soviet-Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R). The moment the governments clash for power post-World War II, reason no longer exists. They never got into an actual war with each other, but there have been plenty of close shaves.
What I find ironic is that although the United States always lauds the Constitution and "the American Way", the American Way doesn't exist. In McCarthy's time, if one didn't agree with the U.S. government, he was a Commie. This was the same in the 1930's and 1940's before he ever took power; Charlie Chaplin was booted out of the country all because he condemned Hitler in his satirical masterpiece The Dictator. Even without the Red Scare, one is always told to "move to another country" if he or she doesn't agree with the way things are run here. Also, the U.S. only gets involved in worldwide conflicts when it's personally affected and has little to lose. For the government, it's mostly about money, and from the way things are going, it will always be that way. Also, the country has always been mostly paranoid, looking for scapegoats wherever possible. Luckily, not all people are like that, but many are. So when one says the Red Scare was like the Salem Witch trials, he's dead-on. It may sound like I'm ranting, but that's just my perspective.
On another note, the little boy in the suit represents the craziness of the nation and how we had nothing to worry about. Oddly enough, he does everything his father tells him to do and goes off to ride his bicycle. Perhaps we may see him again at a later time. Poor boy must've looked back on the entire situation and wondered why he went along with it in the first place.
What was supposed to be a movie analysis has turned into a political rant, and I am sorry for that. It will not happen again, but this is my perspective, especially since I've been feeling disillusioned about the state of things lately. Let's hope nothing like the Red Scare ever happens again.
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