My knowledge is too shallow, my life is too short, and Kubrick's films are too deep and too long. So just talk about a small prop "Green Arrow Chewing Gum" that appeared in the film, as a peek at a leopard, for peace of mind.
Before talking about movies, let's talk about chewing gum.
During World War II, chewing gum, like canned food and beef jerky, was used as an important military material to be rationed to the army. It has the wonderful effects of preventing drowsiness, relieving stress, cleaning teeth, filling fuel tanks, and maintaining concentration. It is widely used by snipers and the air force. Soldiers welcome.
And one of them has to be mentioned is Wrigley chewing gum. At that time, Wrigley manufacturers supplied almost all of their production capacity to the military and was also brought to the European and American markets by American soldiers. This laid the foundation for the prosperity of Wrigley chewing gum after the war.
It is such an item that is inextricably linked to World War II in Kubrick's "Doctor Strange Love", which has been widely used. As a wonderful embellishment of iconic objects of World War II, let's take a look at a few examples:
1. The diehard fan of Green Arrow Gum-General Turgidson
The first trace of green arrow gum in the film appeared at 25 minutes and 58 seconds. General Todson (Buck) removed the first piece of gum from the candy paper (the left side of the "War Alert Action Book" in the lower left corner is a piece of candy paper. , And there are already three or four lumps of chewing gum on the table), and then slowly folded it in half, and then swallowed it with his mouth stretched out. Afterwards, he ate chewing gum in this way. Recognizable from the packaging he put on the table, this is not much different from the Green Arrow chewing gum that I ate when I was a kid. It is worth mentioning that once Buck swallowed the chewing gum, his pronunciation became particularly flexible and expressive, more like Nazi himself, and became even more awkward above the frivolous care of human life.
What’s interesting is that when the picture turns to the president and then focuses on Buck, the chewing gum packaging on the table is only icing. The speed at which he eats chewing gum is really amazing. This may be to pave the character’s inner tension and confusion. After all, this is A taste closely related to war. In fact, if readers can think of the feeling of chewing gum twisting in the mouth, it is not difficult to understand the suggestive effect of this prop on the tension.
On the other hand, since eating Green Arrow chewing gum, Buck’s facial features move freely under the rhythm of chewing, whether he speaks or not, which strengthens his magical expressive power, and also brings full frivolousness and frivolity. Disdainful, chewing gum seems to have become Buck's other tongue, as clever as the other tongue in his mouth, flexible and flexible, but irresponsible, even annihilating humanity.
At 28 minutes and 11 seconds, he swallowed a second piece of gum in front of the camera, in a very calm and eloquent politician's posture, which shows its full hypocrisy.
At 30 minutes and 29 seconds, Buck vented his unhappiness by swallowing the third root after being weakly accused by the president.
When his sexy female secretary called, we could clearly see the candy paper spilling on the table. He ate really fast.
Buck's actor Scott's facial features are inherently more magical, coupled with the blessing of chewing gum, making his facial features (who want to swallow or not, want to chew) often becomes a beautiful scenery in the film.
2. Pilot's standing goods-Survival kit contents check
In the process of counting airplane first aid kits, in addition to nylon stockings, lipstick, Russian bible, and hundred yuan rubles, there is also essential green arrow gum. In fact, Kubrick should be a pure spoof here. He is definitely deliberate. Yes, the chewing gum on the plane at that time was not actually a green arrow, but an officially modified caffeine gum. A large amount of caffeine was added to it to refresh yourself. You can only chew three or four pieces a day at most. In order to prevent soldiers from overdose, they even The bitter medicinal flavor is added to it, and the temperature on the plane is very high, these chewing gums are easy to melt, so they are often stored in iron boxes.
The chewing gum used by Kubrick here is to eliminate practical functions, but is only the most contrasting atmosphere of war, reminiscent of the embellishment of World War II, so he used the well-known and popular Green Arrow chewing gum at that time as a kind of war postcard How to use it.
3. A life-saving straw held tightly in hand-the gum memory of executive Mandrake
When Mandrake and his boss Ripper were in the same room, they clearly distinguished themselves from holding a pipe. They held the green arrow gum in his hand, showing weak and helpless restraint and struggle. The green arrow gum here is also a reminder of the memory of World War II. The embellishment, it is like a baton for souls, turning the office into a battlefield.
From the following narrative, we learn about Mandrake's memories of World War II. He was caught by the Japanese by the railway line and Ling was tortured inhumanly.
They didn't even want him to talk, they just abused him madly and made fun of him by insulting him, which also explained his sissy temperament to a certain extent. Therefore, at 45 minutes and 48 seconds, facing the green arrow gum in his hand, he probably lived through the terrible scenes of being caught and abused by the Japanese during World War II over and over again, so the fear and struggle hidden in his face disappeared. It's hard to explain. What's even more is that he was threatened and imprisoned by his boss during the Cold War. This kind of repetition is undoubtedly a torture of torture, and that green arrow gum is really cruel.
4. No, this is your green arrow-Buck handed the green arrow to the officials next to him and was rejected
Of course, at the end, we must not forget the sacrifices Coca-Cola made in the film. Its function is similar to that of Green Arrow gum, but it is not as good as Green Arrow in terms of expressive function and tension, so it is only in the film. Appeared once, as a vivid stroke from the main line.
View more about Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb reviews
