Oppenheimer – an important film

2015 – an event commemorating Hiroshima. Denver, Colorado. It was organized by the Sisters of Loretto in Colorado. No group/organization has kept the flame of peace, of nuclear disarmament alive and well in Colorado as persistently as “the Sisters”

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The question of nuclear weapons needs a major debate within the United States

Brian Becker

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Oppenheimer: The Real Plan for U.S. Nuclear Domination, Then and Now

The movie “Oppenheimer” – a three hour epic about the development of the atomic bomb – is an important film which should prick the national conscience – mostly asleep – into an awareness of the danger of nuclear war. It is a long film, that moves quickly despite its length, from one scene to another, closely following the sordid history of the development of nuclear weapons. From what I know of the subject – and I have studied it in some depth – overall, the film is historically accurate (or accurate enough).

Some of us who lived through the nuclear threat that preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 – and with it – a certain reversal to the threat of nuclear war – have been nothing short of terrified by the absence of public discussion surrounding the drive to develop new nuclear weapons and a reigniting of the nuclear arms race. We are hoping that a film like Oppenheimer might reignite a national – nay – an international discussion on the growing danger of nuclear war and as a result mark the beginning of a new global peace movement to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth.

It is not my intention to review the film so much as to probe the consequences of the development of the first nuclear weapons, two of which were dropped on two Japanese cities – Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the first on August 6, 1945, the second on Nagasaki three days later. To that end, the following discussion between Brian Becker, prominent U.S. socialist and Greg Mello, co-founder  and executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group.

The discussion between Becker and Mello (see link above) runs a little less than an hour. It is well worth listening to.

PS. There are valid criticisms of the film appearing – how it is more about Oppenheimer than the development of nuclear weapons, that the consequences of the blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are hardly touched upon. These are valid critiques which should not be ignored. So, agreed, the film is “imperfect” in that sense. My hope is that still, the film will ignite a public debate on the current worldwide nuclear buildup and the increasing danger of a nuclear war. AND, if such a national, nay international, discussion  results, I believe the film will have social value.