I saw both films, and really appreciate your deep analysis of each. Fascinating! Your argument for Barbie made me look at that movie with new eyes - it was hard for me to get past the explosion of pink and the sense that it was not worth two hours of my time. I saw Oppenheimer, as well, and just love your juxtaposition of the two films. The New Yorker cover says it all, doesn’t it?
Yep, the New Yorker’s Slappenheimer cover was the inspiration for this post. At first, it struck me as funny, but the more I looked at it the more I saw in it. From the ongoing resonance of The Slap to all the other differences between the films’ odd juxtaposition.
Thanks for hanging in there with this post and taking a moment to share your reaction. I really appreciate it!
I loved this piece on so many levels.I thought I was the only person on the planet who did not see the brilliance of Nolan's film Oppenheimer. Last summer I watched a documentary called (I think) Trinity on a website called the Criterion Channel that made it's site free for the month of August so viewers could watch Trinity in advance of the release of the Nolan film.
Trinity was a very detailed film about the making of the bomb and after I watched it I didn't feel I needed to see Oppenheimer. Now that I've seen both--Oppenheimer became available to me on someone's Peacock channel-I believe the documentary is a better film for the reasons you so eloquently state in your piece.
Trinity doesn't contain the tense courtroom-like drama of Roger Robb grilling Oppenheimer to strip him of his security clearance, but it does show many of the scientists who worked on the project suffering life-long guilt for their part when they realized they had no idea what they were doing after the films and numbers of the dead and suffering were released.
That is what shocked me the most about Trinity. The scientists had the means to destroy civilizations but basically didn't know what they were doing. They had closed their eyes to the hell they would cause. Sure, their guilt and sorrow is moving but what good does it do all those afflicted in Los Alamos and Japan who were victims of the bomb?
And as we know now, Edward Teller got his way. The effects of the atom bomb are laughable compared with the destruction available today at the push of a button, or a bad decision as evidenced in Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
So thank you again Andrew for doing what even an Oscar winner couldn't, showing what greatness means, and it's not a little gold statue.
Right. It’s not a little gold statue by any means. Thanks for the reminder about Trinity on the Criterion Channel. I watched part of it but didn’t finish while it was free.
However, I did watch Doctor Atomic via Met Opera online, and it goes into much more detail about the conflict among the Los Alamos scientists based on recently declassified documents.
Like I said, it’s easier to criticize than to actually produce a major creative work. So hats off to Christopher Nolan for what he did accomplish. But there’s so much hype around the Oscars, I wanted to register my thoughts and feelings about those two films.
It’s good to know I’m not entirely alone in my convictions. Thanks so much for reading and sharing your views. Much appreciated!
Lucid piece that is quite germane to the ongoing discussions surrounding both films. My mother for one will not watch Barbie with me. She says, “Why would [I] want to look at a movie about a stupid doll?”
Both of my parents quit watching Oppenheimer about 35 minutes into the film. Neither was captivated or impressed by its worthy aspects. Even the brilliant performances didn’t save it for them.
Thanks for reading and weighing in, Fabian. Your parents sound like my mom. I really thought she’d appreciate The Help a few years ago, but she refused to see it because that history made her sad. When I finally convinced her to see it all the way true, she hated it anyway.
Sounds like you appreciate both films though. Glad to hear it!
I saw both films, and really appreciate your deep analysis of each. Fascinating! Your argument for Barbie made me look at that movie with new eyes - it was hard for me to get past the explosion of pink and the sense that it was not worth two hours of my time. I saw Oppenheimer, as well, and just love your juxtaposition of the two films. The New Yorker cover says it all, doesn’t it?
Yep, the New Yorker’s Slappenheimer cover was the inspiration for this post. At first, it struck me as funny, but the more I looked at it the more I saw in it. From the ongoing resonance of The Slap to all the other differences between the films’ odd juxtaposition.
Thanks for hanging in there with this post and taking a moment to share your reaction. I really appreciate it!
I loved this piece on so many levels.I thought I was the only person on the planet who did not see the brilliance of Nolan's film Oppenheimer. Last summer I watched a documentary called (I think) Trinity on a website called the Criterion Channel that made it's site free for the month of August so viewers could watch Trinity in advance of the release of the Nolan film.
Trinity was a very detailed film about the making of the bomb and after I watched it I didn't feel I needed to see Oppenheimer. Now that I've seen both--Oppenheimer became available to me on someone's Peacock channel-I believe the documentary is a better film for the reasons you so eloquently state in your piece.
Trinity doesn't contain the tense courtroom-like drama of Roger Robb grilling Oppenheimer to strip him of his security clearance, but it does show many of the scientists who worked on the project suffering life-long guilt for their part when they realized they had no idea what they were doing after the films and numbers of the dead and suffering were released.
That is what shocked me the most about Trinity. The scientists had the means to destroy civilizations but basically didn't know what they were doing. They had closed their eyes to the hell they would cause. Sure, their guilt and sorrow is moving but what good does it do all those afflicted in Los Alamos and Japan who were victims of the bomb?
And as we know now, Edward Teller got his way. The effects of the atom bomb are laughable compared with the destruction available today at the push of a button, or a bad decision as evidenced in Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
So thank you again Andrew for doing what even an Oscar winner couldn't, showing what greatness means, and it's not a little gold statue.
Right. It’s not a little gold statue by any means. Thanks for the reminder about Trinity on the Criterion Channel. I watched part of it but didn’t finish while it was free.
However, I did watch Doctor Atomic via Met Opera online, and it goes into much more detail about the conflict among the Los Alamos scientists based on recently declassified documents.
Like I said, it’s easier to criticize than to actually produce a major creative work. So hats off to Christopher Nolan for what he did accomplish. But there’s so much hype around the Oscars, I wanted to register my thoughts and feelings about those two films.
It’s good to know I’m not entirely alone in my convictions. Thanks so much for reading and sharing your views. Much appreciated!
Lucid piece that is quite germane to the ongoing discussions surrounding both films. My mother for one will not watch Barbie with me. She says, “Why would [I] want to look at a movie about a stupid doll?”
Both of my parents quit watching Oppenheimer about 35 minutes into the film. Neither was captivated or impressed by its worthy aspects. Even the brilliant performances didn’t save it for them.
Thanks for reading and weighing in, Fabian. Your parents sound like my mom. I really thought she’d appreciate The Help a few years ago, but she refused to see it because that history made her sad. When I finally convinced her to see it all the way true, she hated it anyway.
Sounds like you appreciate both films though. Glad to hear it!