Summary
- Oppenheimer delves into the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of the Atomic Bomb, and raises bleak questions about nuclear proliferation and its influence on the world today.
- The movie is scarily kind of relevant as it explores the threat of nuclear weapons in a world of geopolitical tension, referencing recent events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing nuclear sabre rattling.
- Despite efforts for nuclear disarmament, the threat of nuclear terror still remains, and Oppenheimer’s fears about the potential devastation caused by his innovation are tragically relevant in today’s world.
According to actor Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer remains eerily relevant to the political struggles of the modern world. Christopher Nolan’s latest epic, Oppenheimer, is a biopic that delves deep into the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy), the Father of the Atomic Bomb. Oppenheimer helped to develop the Manhattan Project, which produced the twin nuclear bombs that ushered in the nuclear age and ended World War II. With current geopolitical tension at an ever-rising high, the ending of Oppenheimer asks countless bleak questions about nuclear proliferation and the influence that it has had on the entire world.
In an interview with Deadline, which took place prior to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Murphy explained that he believes Oppenheimer is especially relevant today. Check out his quote below:
“I’m always very careful about giving messages with work because I don’t think that’s the job of the movie – the job of the movie is to ask the question not to give the answers. I think it’s clear for anyone who’s interested in geopolitics, what’s happening in the world today – the movie is scarily kind of relevant and just as we began shooting, Russia invaded Ukraine and there was all this nuclear sabre rattling which is still continuing. But, yeah, I think it should provoke. I think it’s a very provocative film. What happened in ’45 changed history, changed the world. We’re all living in a nuclear age now. Whether you decide to think about it or not, it’s there and I think this film is very entertaining and very stimulating, but it should exercise people if they so wish to go out and read about it and to educate themselves and to actually know about that, the threat that we live under continuously.”
How Oppenheimer Remains Relevant Today, Explained
At least 100,000 people died in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings due to Oppenheimer’s work calculating the framework for the atomic bomb. Only a few years later, the Soviet Union successfully tested its nuclear bomb in 1949, bringing in a new age of paranoia – an event also acknowledged in the movie’s second act. At any moment, tension between the United States and the Soviet Union could escalate into a worldwide cataclysm as the Cold War began. The Soviet Union and the United States were not the only nations with nuclear weapons, however. China, North Korea, Germany, France, and others developed their arsenals.
While diplomats have worked to encourage nuclear disarmament, it has not led to a complete elimination of the atomic bomb and other nuclear weapons. Recent years have also seen increased tensions in geopolitics. Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and North Korea’s concern with the West produced numerous threats that have ballooned apprehensions. Oppenheimer‘s relevancy today is largely due to the physicist’s exact fears that his innovation would produce generations of nuclear terror.
The greatest threat in Oppenheimer has, mercifully, never been realized. While there have been many nuclear tests since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the weapon has never been used offensively, but the threat remains ever-present. Despite years of working to encourage nonproliferation, Oppenheimer was correct to assume that his name would forever be tied to the potential for world devastation. Now, the dangers of nuclear war may just be burning as fiercely as they did in the Cold War, and it’s why Murphy is right to say that Oppenheimer remains tragically relevant today.
Source: Deadline
