This movie brought out a lot of different emotions for me. Not only did I think that the movie was funny and ironic, but it was also at times very disturbing. Same went for the article. One of the main things that stood out to me was how ridiculous most of this all sounded. A lot of the movie was dedicated to a variety of different ways that people could try to stay safe in the event of an actual nuclear attack. The "duck and cover" method is obviously the most ridiculous. If you are living within a ten mile radius -or more, ducking and covering is going to do nothing to help you. It also became almost popular and culturally accepted to build a bomb shelter in your backyard. Not only is this something that shouldn't be considered popular, but once again, depending on location it could be a lot of wasted money. Most of these ideas the government came up with as a way to calm the fears of the people so there was mass freaking out. It was stupid for most of these people to believe this also, but they needed someone/something to turn to. So what would you do? I would have probably done the same thing. (Maybe minus the duck and cover).
It also talked a lot in the article about the suberbs and how they came about. It's interesting to hear that they started because a city was a "target area" so they wanted to disperse the population. This isn't neccessarily a bad idea but again, depending on location its not going to matter where the people move to. They also mentioned building highways for people to be able to evacuate the area. I kept thinking though that if they are close enough that they need to evacuate (say if a bomb was actually set off) they probably shouldn't even bother because they have been exposed to the radiation and that's something that no amount of distance can take care of.
In the article and in the movie it talked not only about being able to survive in a fall out shelter but being able to live one. The thought of actually living in one is creepy enough but the image of a woman cleaning the place and adding some special touches is just disturbing (and kinda funny). I thought it was interesting how they mentioned also that its not only enough to be in the shelter but that you need protection from outside intruders also. They mentioned how people outside might try to force their way into a shelter for safety and the famiyl must be prepared. Even letting one person into the shelter will take up oxygen, space, food, etc. and how much is the faily willing to sacrifice to help others?
My very favorite part of the article though was a quote that read, "My mother tells me that my father's whole response to the Cuban Missle Crisis was to purchase a handgun." haha! What the hell is a gun going to help in a nuclear attack?? If anything the gun would provide a sense of safety but realistically not going to help with anything.
Theres much more I could mention about this movie like the different types of women and all the new words that came about which I find ironic (bombshell, bikini, etc.) and how they were (and still are) used in everyday life. I really liked this movie and found it very interesting!
I completely agree about the “duck and cover” method of handling the situation as being totally ridiculous, however, as I mentioned in my blog, people essentially would do whatever the higher authority told them. Americans love to feel a sense of security and if it’s under a desk, then so be it.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the idea of “modern suburbia” was quite interesting. It’s so crazy to think about how entire neighborhoods sprung out of the ground. The city planning’s ration to embark on a project was crazy too. Can you imagine being in a council room trying to figure out the best way to plan a town in which only some people get killed compared to everyone? … Not a job I would want to be involved in. It’s also interesting how people who had to remain in cities became classified, which of course led to race tension. It amazes me through both the text and movie, to see the foundation for things that continue to even effect out culture today. I agree with a lot of what you’re saying in evaluating both historical documents. Even the part about purchasing a handgun as a central means of defense was so ridiculous. I really cannot imagine living in a time era of such, and I am reluctant to say it, but ignorance.
Like you said that they started suburbs "because a city was a "target area" so they wanted to disperse the population. This isn't necessarily a bad idea but again, depending on location its not going to matter where the people move to." This is a great point witch i feel after thinking about it could be made into a compelling side topic on how the cold war ear created the modern day community and life style. The comment about how outsiders would react in a nuclear fallout if you had a shelter goes to show that maybe the government really had more of a clue how people might behave in desperate times. Then the question should be asked how much else did they know about?
ReplyDeleteI think the whole move to suburbia idea was pretty much in vain. The blast radius for these bombs is remarkably large, and that's just the area that is instantly obliterated. After that you have an even larger fallout and radiation zone that is capable of causing an untold amount of damage for generations. All of that being said, I don't think the mass migration out of cities was actually anything but a giant economy boost.
ReplyDeleteAll of the suggestions that were spread by the government and everybody else comes across as just stupid. I can not believe that these ideas were actually praised and taught to everyone as a means of actually saving your life. After the mass witnessed the devastation that the bomb had, I don't think anybody should have actually bought these dumb ideas.
It all definitely looks stupid to us now, but put yourself in the shoes of people who lived back then. What had they been through? What made them so afraid? What made them want to believe what the government was telling them? And why would the government tell them such things?
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you think we're really any different now, facing the anxieties that we do?
Like I said in my post, I think I would have had to believe everyone. It wasn't just a few people doing these "stupid" things, but literally family members, friends, neighbors, politicans etc. In order to get through the tough times there had to be someone who people could look up to. I think the government might have told people this stuff because if everyone just turned to massive panic, what would that solve? They had to try to keep the people as calm as possible. Also, I don't think it's much different now. We are constantly hearing how everything will be ok and like someone said in class, when we hit the year 2000 people went out and bought tons of water which seems pretty stupid even now.
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