Then you'll utterly fail to get Tom Lehrer + much else
Perhaps you don't grok (or agree with?) the difficulty of expressing extreme-loathing for a particular [idea, process, activity] when .. it's already in practice, usually undiscussed.. and acceptable to many - or is just Not Thought About much [?]
It's more difficult to parody the Absurd, when there are many people already doing that - a contributing reason why there is so little Good 'humour' to be seen in current Corp Meeja in the US, IMO. First, it's hard to conceive an effective lampoon, parody re what we are already inured to; second - the 100% ad-oriented don't-offend-Anyone filter of bizness-think:
Guarantees the broadcast of only the most innocuous pabulum and a near-0 chance of effectively excoriating the Unconscionable (it has become The Norm).
Fail Safe, Strangelove - in their time - portrayed Starkly: the febrile mindset behind MAD [STILL Our Operative Nuke-plan in '04] as no previous films had even dared attempt: The one via humour + the irreplaceable Peter Sellers; the Fonda one by perfectly logical prose and a realistic scenario as might have occurred Any Day, then. Both took more than creativity - took Guts.
No academic treatise assessing nuke risks to all the planet could have held a candle to the effectiveness of this pair of films, in portraying "The Reality". (Not that it changed anything in the group-think that creates such suicidal weapons = STILL)
Today -- it is only less-likely that ICBMs will fly - it is Equally Possible, such as we Are and Remain: ostriches ever seeking new sand to hide head in, from unpleasant nutzo stuff we allow to persist.
These two films Deserve 'this much ink' IMhO. Especially! given - the obv intention of This Admin to mix-in the new nukes on order as -merely- 'Conventional Munitions\ufffd' for our next scheduled series --> small Warz-for-Democracy cha cha cha
What could be more contemporaneous than: these two films?
Ashton
