The 2023 summer blockbuster titled Oppenheimer focuses on the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who became known as the “father of the atomic bomb.”
The film, which is based on the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, shines a light on Oppenheimer’s career and critical involvement in the Manhattan Project, as well as his conflicts in contributing to the advancement of a weapon of mass destruction.
Please watch a trailer of the film:
The story of Robert Oppenheimer
Prometheus stole fire from God (Zeus) and gave it to man, for which mortals celebrated him. However, for this act, he angered the God of all Gods and was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.
Similarly, this is how the life of Robert Oppenheimer unfolds as he plays a part in the creation of the atomic bomb, essentially handing humanity the power to destroy themselves and figuratively opening Pandora’s box of catastrophe. With the power of destruction in their hands, he is plagued with conflicting feelings of guilt, ambition, and the ethical implications of scientific advancement.
The biopic, directed by the famous and talented Christopher Nolan, is an impactful drama and thriller relaying an essential piece of history for all to see. Instead of seeing Oppenheimer, portrayed by Cillian Murphy, as an evil genius behind creating a weapon to cause the death of many thousands, we see him as the brilliant physicist that he is, motivated by his intellectual curiosity, who at the same time was tortured by the weight of his work and moral decisions.
What topics do we see in the biopic?
America’s goal was to beat Germany, which was months ahead in technology in the creation of a bomb.
In December 1938, nuclear fission was discovered, which Oppenheimer and fellow physicist Albert Einstein realized could be weaponized. In 1942, during World War II, U.S. Army General Leslie Groves, portrayed by Matt Damon, recruits Oppenheimer to lead the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, to develop an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer, who is Jewish, is mainly driven by the Nazis’ potentially completing their nuclear weapons program.
As the story progresses, we see that despite Oppenheimer’s intellectual contribution to the birth of the bomb, what was mainly at play was the need for nuclear power and political power, which hold close correlation to each other. The United States dropped bombs that killed hundreds of thousands in Japan. Meanwhile, Russian spies stole the research in the Manhattan Project to further their nuclear arsenal.
However, despite being glad to be working with some of the greatest minds of his generation, Oppenheimer was equally troubled with the moral dilemmas of building a nuclear weapon, especially after the events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He advocated the peaceful use of atomic energy and pushed for nuclear arms control. He also opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, which is more powerful and thus more deadly than the atomic bomb.
However, with power and the weight of accomplishments at play, Oppenheimer soon faced his downfall. The Commissioner for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Lewis Strauss, portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., supported the proliferation of nuclear weaponry, including the hydrogen bomb. He and Oppenheimer didn’t see eye to eye as to where the future use of atomic power was headed.
Strauss portrayed Oppenheimer less as a hero than a security threat, causing people to question Oppenheimer’s loyalty as Strauss pushed the communist and society agent narrative. Oppenheimer loses his security clearance, and his reputation is in the mud.
Was Oppenheimer a communist?
Oppenheimer never directly divulged if he was a communist; however, people close to him were closely affiliated with the Communist Party of America. Frank (his brother) and Jean Tatlock (his girlfriend) were members, while Katherine Puening (his wife) was a former member.
Tatlock was his introduction to the left-wing system and associated with influential individuals of the Communist Party. While it was never really divulged if he was a communist or not, it is safe to say he was interested and knowledgeable, thanks to the people around him, and had sympathies with communism.
To follow his scientific pursuits, he eventually began distancing himself from communism. However, it was his close communist connections that were used against him in the end as he tried to warn of the dangers of the science of creating nuclear weapons.
