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Conspiracy Theory, page 1 by Jerry Cates Dr. Strangelove and Conspiricism It may seem odd to begin a discussion on conspiracy theory by briefly reviewing a comedic film made over 44 years ago. Please read on, however, as this review is germane, in all particulars, to the subject. Besides, it relates to one of the most conspiracy-ridden periods the world has ever witnessed. Dr. Strangelove, a 1964 comedy directed by Stanley Kubrick, is a dark satire on the Cold War and its trappings. In the film, a U.S. Air Force general (Jack D. Ripper, played by Sterling Hayden) conspires to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike on the USSR. He does so to thwart what he believes to be a Communist conspiracy to contaminate the bodily fluids of American citizens with fluoridated water. The unfolding plot of Dr. Strangelove exposes a string of additional conspiracies, including, as the most conspiratorial of all, the secret installation of a Doomsday Device by the Soviets in a remote, mountainous area. This device was conceived as the ultimate deterrent against nuclear attack, for it could not be deactivated without setting it off. However, because the U.S. had not been told of its existence, it failed as a deterrent. Instead, when threatened by a preemptive strike on the USSR, it guaranteed the nuclear annihilation of practically all life on planet earth... Conspiracy Theory in History Dr. Strangelove was a work of fiction based on Peter George's 1958 novel "Red Alert." Its central theme, however, followed a well-known conspiracy theory format. When George's novel went to press, the most serious conspiracy theory of the day had to do with the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The theory claimed that the intentions of the Japanese were known in advance by U.S. leaders. FDR and his closest associates obtained deciphered messages and other intelligence that made it clear an attack was imminent, but they withheld that intelligence from the military commanders at Pearl Harbor. This was done, the theory asserts, to keep U.S. military forces from interfering with Japan's raid; the more damage to American assets, and the more American lives lost, the better, because FDR wanted incensed Americans to rise up, in such righteous fury as to mute the powerful arguments of the pacifists. Later in this discussion we will examine the validity of this theory in some detail. In an almost unbelievable twist of irony, during the final editing of Dr. Strangelove an earth-shaking series of events began to unfold on the world stage. Those events culminated in one of modern history's greatest conspiracy theories of all: On November 2, 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam and close confidant of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated in Saigon. Twenty days later, on November 22nd, on the very day the first test screening of Dr. Strangelove was scheduled to take place, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, while riding with his wife and the governor of Texas in a motorcade that rolled through Dealy Plaza, past a grassy knoll on one side, and a multi-story schoolbook depository on the other. Dr. Strangelove's screening, needless to say, was postponed. In the interim, a section near the end of the film in which the U.S. President, played by Peter Sellers, is hit with a custard pie and knocked to the floor, was edited out. Remarks made in that sketch were thought too insensitive for a nation reeling from Kennedy's death. The film did not debut until January 1964, weeks after its original release date, to give the American audience time to recover. Having mentioned these salient points, we reluctantly leave Dr. Strangelove, at least temporarily. Let us proceed to a deeper discussion on conspiracy theory, its historical origins, its predisposition in the human psyche, and its prognosis as a harbinger of historical fallacy, unvarnished truth, or perhaps a mixture of both. Go to PAGE 2 -- Go to "Was 9/11 an Inside Job?" Questions: 512-331-1111 E-Mail: jcates@austin.rr.com Our Privacy Policy Bugsinthenews |
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