The much-hyped Hollywood blockbuster film, “Oppenheimer,” a biographical drama about the “father” of the atomic bomb, directed by Christopher Nolan, opened July 21. The film focuses on the story of Oppenheimer’s leadership of the team that developed and tested the world’s first atomic bomb, code-named “Trinity.” A number of anti-nuclear groups saw the release as an opportunity to educate the public about current nuclear dangers and the ongoing health impacts of uranium mining and nuclear testing, especially for Indigenous people. While the film is visually stunning, neither of these issues is covered, and though there were a few references to the fact that Japan was already defeated, the (untrue) claim that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary to end World War II and save American lives got a lot of play. Reviews (by activists) have been mixed. Will the film advance the cause of nuclear disarmament and environmental justice?
Appeals for compensation by downwinders whose family members fell ill or died as a result of exposure to radioactive fallout from the July 16, 1945, Trinity test overseen by Oppenheimer, have fallen on deaf ears for decades. However, on the same day “Oppenheimer” was released, the New York Times reported on a new study from researchers at Princeton, showing that the cloud and its fallout went farther than anyone in the Manhattan Project had imagined in 1945. Using state-of-the-art modeling software and recently uncovered historical weather data, the study’s authors say that radioactive fallout from the Trinity test reached 46 states, Canada, and Mexico within 10 days of detonation. This should help with a current campaign in Congress to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Strengthening RECA by including comprehensive health care benefits and extending support to affected communities that are currently excluded is the least the government could do for people living with the legacy of U.S. nuclear tests and uranium mining.
Not able to see “Oppenheimer” before it was released, arms control and disarmament groups and Indigenous peoples’ organizations, prepared educational, advocacy and background materials you can use. Here are some of them.
Oppenheimer: what you need to know before watching and Oppenheimer: Campaigners’ Action Kit (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons)
Oppenheimer Advocacy Resources (Back From the Brink Campaign)
The Abolitionist Viewing Guide for Oppenheimer (New York Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons)
Oppenheimer — And the Other Side of the Story (Tewa Women United)
Architect of Annihilation: Oppenheimer’s Deadly Legacy of Nuclear Terror (Indigenous Action Media)
Background
The Real History Behind Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ (Smithsonian magazine)
Oppenheimer. The Man. The Movie. The Legacy (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
