'Oppenheimer Defended The Use of the Bomb Against Japan': Journo On Nolan's Film

Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus Oppenheimer has created a frenzy at the global box office. The Cillian Murphy starrer film is also being touted as the ‘greatest anti-nuclear film’ ever made. Amidst these observations, Greg Mitchell, author of The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood — and America — Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, highlighted a more critical perspective on facts that were brushed over about the Trinity Project, it’s ill-impact, how the official narrative around the the bombing is skewed and more. 

Greg opened up about the misleading narrative around the titular character, J Robert Oppenheimer’s vague confusion about the dropping of the bombs. He said: “One of the most important things is, certainly, it does not challenge in any way the Hiroshima narrative or official narrative, as I call it, that has held sway since 1945 about the decision to use the bomb — you know, we can talk about that more; it’s very important — and the legacy for today. Instead, I think when people say it’s an anti-nuclear film, you know, there is the message of dangers for today and control of the weapons and so forth, but it does not challenge the use of the bomb in 1945.”

He continued to add, “I think you’re supposed to take away from the haunted visage of Oppenheimer and the great actor Cillian Murphy, his sort-of vague, conflicted, confusing regrets that he seemed to issue during the movie and during his life, but, in fact, as I’ve shown at my blog and in my books, Oppenheimer, in fact, defended the use of the bomb against Japan 'til the end of his life, right up to 1965 as 1966. So the film is a little misleading in that. But, in fact, it's true and it’s quite accurate that Oppenheimer really did not reject it, and the film certainly does not challenge the decision to use the bomb. It’s more moving forward from 1945.”

He concluded by talking about the Trinity test and the adverse effects it had on the immediate environment in Los Alamos, “You’ve already mentioned one, which is really the lack — almost the total lack of any mentions or exploration of the radiation, revolutionary new radiation effects of this weapon, both in the Trinity test, which is one of the main focuses of the film, showing the Trinity test — it does not show the radioactive cloud that drifted away and the fallout that affected people, and then, of course, as you mentioned, the decades of nuclear tests, exposure to soldiers and workers and so forth. So, that’s one thing.”

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy in the titular role. The film also features Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr and Florence Pugh among others.

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