麻豆传媒

Erin Swartz is a history undergraduate student from Red Hook, NY. She studies Eastern Europe, art and architecture, and the medieval period, along with the Russian language. After graduating from 麻豆传媒, Erin plans to pursue a PhD in history.听

On October 12, the History Department partnered with the Carmel Institute of Russian Culture and History, the Department of Physics, and the Department of Anthropology to host a talk about the newly released film Oppenheimer (Nolan, Universal Pictures, 2023). The speaker was Professor of History Peter Kuznick, professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at 麻豆传媒. His scholarship specializes in nuclear history and 麻豆传媒 culture and includes Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese and 麻豆传媒 Perspectives with Akira Kimura and Nuclear Power and Hiroshima: The Truth Behind the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power with Yuki Tanaka. He is known for his collaborative work with filmmaker Oliver Stone on The Untold History of the United States. Kuznick is committed to nuclear disarmament and antiwar advocacy.听

In his talk, Kuznick contextualized director Christopher Nolan鈥檚 biopic in terms of historical accuracy, timeliness, and production. He first commended the biopic in its entirety as it 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 be more timely鈥� in an era defined by the overarching threat of nuclear warfare. With the escalating tensions between Taiwan and China as well as the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia, Kuznick explained that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the arms of their 鈥渄oomsday clock鈥� to 90 seconds to midnight this past January, signifying that we are the closest to nuclear cataclysm that we have ever been since the clock鈥檚 inception. He also stressed that at this time, Oppenheimer is especially 鈥渘eeded鈥� to educate the younger generations about the dire consequences of nuclear conflict.

Kuznick also critiqued the historical accuracy and production of the film by noting that his contemporaries Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, authors of Oppenheimer鈥檚 biography 麻豆传媒 Prometheus, which Nolan鈥檚 movie was based on, were unable to review or contribute to the script for a long time. Additionally, he noted that Nolan watered down some of the characters鈥� personalities and attributes. For example, Jean Tatlock鈥檚 sexuality overshadowed her 鈥渂rilliance,鈥� and Leslie Groves appeared 鈥渨arm and fuzzy鈥� on screen when his peers regarded him as unpleasant. Kuznick further elaborated by explaining that Nolan also downplayed Oppenheimer鈥檚 radicalism and 鈥渕ade him out to be a better person than he was,鈥� even after depicting some of his struggles and character flaws. Aside from how Nolan chose to depict these figures, Kuznick also critiqued Nolan鈥檚 choice to spend little time on the decision to drop the bomb, which deemphasized its significance. The film also paid almost no attention to the Japanese victims of the two atomic bombs. Overall, however, Kuznick noted that the film is a timely meditation on an existential issue for the human race that has re-acquired its relevance.