1. Dr. Strangelove
Supplementary Notes

2. Meanings of Characters’ Names
Jack D. Ripper = psychopath who killed prostitutes to “free” them
Kissoff = to start a disaster, or to abandon something as lost
Mandrake = plant for curing; also an aphrodisiac/fertility drug

3. King Kong = beast who died for what he loved
Strangelove = perverted love
Guano = bat excrement
Ambassador de Sadesky = Marquis de Sade, writer of sadistic pornography

4. Muffley = muff = pubic hair/pubic region
Merkin = British slang for female genitalia
Buck = male animal stud, oriented primarily for reproduction
Turgidson = turgid = swollen and erect

5. Connections Between War and Sex
Ripper’s gun and how he holds it
How Major Kong sits on the bomb
The plane’s two bombs look like testicles
In the opening scene, the one plane refueling the other looks like copulation (sex)