I enjoyed the movie. But it is structured oddly, with various plotlines and timelines interwoven so it can be difficult to remember things like “when did these guys first meet?” because the answer can be “very early”(in the film) and also “very late” (in the real world). Lots of personalities to keep track of. I plan to see it again, because there was a lot to take in (and I’m pretty familiar with the topic).
It should be noted that the communist sympathies are never portrayed as a bad thing, spies are talked about but actual spies are downplayed, and the general tone is that moral people are Leftists and Leftists are moral people.
But, at the same time, the vile nature of government bureaucrats, the in-fighting, and vindictiveness of people in power is made clear. Government is not your friend. I think it is an unintended message, but if you read between the lines (so to speak) you can see the early stirring of the Deep State.
I haven’t seen the movie, and I know this woke crap for Academy Awards qualification doesn’t kick in until 2024, but I’d be curious to know how a movie like “Openhemimer” qualifies in terms of the Academy’s moronic ‘diversity and inclusion’ standards.
Years ago I saw a University production of “In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer..” and it was a very powerful play.. His life was certainly almost as complex as “The Bomb..”
I don’t know Jean Tatlock’s story. Steyn writes that she died by suicide, under suspicious circumstances, in 1944. Details, anyone? And what was suspicious about the circumstances? How long did her affair with Oppenheimer last? Did it predate the Manhattan Project? Had Oppenheimer broken it off before her suicide? She was a card carrying communist, Oppenheimer was an unrepentant fellow traveler who lied about his communist connections to the FBI, and the Manhattan Project was target #1 for Soviet intelligence. Suspicious circumstances might mean almost anything.
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I have read enough about Oppenheimer to neither respect nor like what he was (he was a leftie). I spent some time in the mid 1970’s studying details of WWII and the Manhattan Project. That was after the Freedom of Information act made it legal to write about.
Years ago I had a discussion of his famous phrase from the from The Bhagavad Gita (in Sanskrit), “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
In that conversation with a Hindi speaking Indian told me that Oppenheimer totally misinterpreted the passage.
Here is a recent article saying that.
Oppenheimer Features Verse From The Bhagavad Gita; Here’s What It Means (Jul 24, 2023)
Op Ed by Barton Bernstein, a Professor of History at Stanford
Opinion: Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ marred by 5 historical inaccuracies