Oppenheimer - - finally. 2/11/24 Thanks to Colbert's deep interview with Chris Nolan, main dude with the new film, https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/kg_Vuvum1XJu_8AhBxVbhQaqHsZ_1l05/. Love me some Colbert.
Methinks my deep desire to approach it with eyes wide open was right, the film is HARD to watch, we know how it ends. Trinity was only the teaser. BOOOOOOOOM. Twice. We did it, we dropped an atomic bomb on a large city, twice. Firestorming Tokyo wasn't enough, let's do something much more spectacular.
Watching Los Alamos come to being, whew. I spent some time there once, whew. Then Trinity, at White Sands, which is about 4-6 hr. drive from Los Alamos, right? Did that get covered in Nolan's film? I kept thinking about all the resources needed, labor, bet many were illegals, who built Los Alamos during - - yes, during - - WWII. Many many many millions of $$$$, and don't forget, wonder what the salary pay total was for all those top scientists? And we were also fighting in Europe, Asia?
I decided to watch the film in the afternoon, didn't want it on my brain or in my heart late at night, so afternoon, and all one sitting, I didn't pause it, stop it, just watched for hours. I did very much appreciate the show of what the commie haters were doing to Oppenheimer. We start to let that part of American history recede, but don't - - that McCarthy Commie fear that rocked USA all through the mid 1940's (really, earlier, too) to mid 1950's, that sick shit was well portrayed in Nolan's film.
What the film omits is what that blast did to the millions of people it didn't burn instantly. All the surrounding land, farms, people, plants, that were long-term seriously health compromised, let alone the millions of Japanese who lived and had miserable slow deaths from close exposure to our bombs. That.
What Nolan's film does go deep on is what happened to Oppenheimer after WWII. Oh. The Commie thing was a thing. Especially the Commie haters. They were a BIG thing.
Mewonders: could our chess guy, Bobby Fischer, could his mom be a part of some leftist Jewish zionist thing that we get glimpses of in Nolan's film? FYI, Bobby and his mom weren't on the same page, too bad we don't know more about that. I heard a short clip from that last Fischer doc, created by one of his former assistant/helper/friends, we hear Bobby, as an older guy, start to say something about the way Palestinians are being treated by Israel, he sound disgusted, then no more. Curious.
More curious is the great argument that by USA having THE Bomb, it would lead directly to world peace. WTF? Wish I could laugh at that. Nuclear power, nuclear energy, easy solution you say? Waaaaaaaaaaay too expensive, mesez.
The film goes into detail of the meetings held to discredit Oppenheimer, almost looks like the film wants to do the same thing. The nude stuff? Remind me to not sit in those chairs...
Now we look at world peace through 21st century lenses, and it's ugly. Leaders have a new toy, anyone remember that Reagan dropped little hints about dropping the bomb? I gag when I hear GOP types claiming high ground with their Reagan bro thing.
