Oppenheimer: The movie

I watched the movie Oppenheimer at the Regal Theater on Saipan this week. The movie is a beautiful visual experience that movie buffs will appreciate. It is a biography of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, probably based on the excellent book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, 2006, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

The movie is not about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two historic events are only mentioned in passing after the excellent coverage of the Trinity Test, July 16, 1945, the dramatic explosion of the first plutonium-based, implosion-type bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Tinian Island is never mentioned. After the Trinity Test, Gen. Leslie Groves, commander, Manhattan Project, no longer needed Oppenheimer. All decisions about the use of the bomb were made by President Truman, and Secretary of War Stimson. Those who have read Tinian and The Bomb will know that many decisions were made on Tinian during the combat use of the bombs.

The movie does mention the atomic bombings several times, but only in relation to the investigation of Oppenheimer’s communist leanings after Sen. Joseph McCarthy began his hunt for “commie spies” in America. McCarthy, R-Wisconsin served in the U.S. Congress from 1947 until his death in 1957, during which time Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion in America and McCarthy played upon those fears to gain notoriety.

I know from personal experience how strong American feelings were on the subject, and the people’s fear of McCarthyism, even years afterwards. In my junior year of high school in Salt Lake City (1964), I wrote an essay entitled “Argu,” about the cornucopia of people who comprise the American public and how some were working to stop all the senseless arguing over political issues and learn how to get along. I left it on the kitchen counter and Dad found it. When I got home, he scolded me soundly, telling me that this kind of writing could be used against me by the McCarthyites, just as they had tortured Oppenheimer and so many other creative Americans.

Bottom line is, the movie Oppenheimer is well worth watching, as it amply depicts what McCarthyism did to an American hero, as well as its great videography. The movie well-depicts how Oppenheimer struggled with the results of his work: As soon as he realized that a bomb could be created, he was overcome with the thought of killing thousands of people in one blast, yet he drove forward with the project to its successful conclusion.

Those who want to get the most out of the move would do well to order a copy of American Prometheus online and read it before watching the movie. Reading Tinian and The Bomb would also be helpful.

Don A. Farrell

Marpo Heights, Tinian

Nuclear Explosion Mushroom Cloud Retro Poster