The Hazardous History of Oppenheimer

Barbie and Oppenheimer catapulted box office sales in a cultural phenomenon referred to as “Barbenheimer,” with people heralding both movie’s tremendous success as the revival of cinema. As audiences slowly trickle out of the theaters and into their homes to watch movies from the comfort of their own living rooms and beds, Barbie and Oppenheimer have reminded us that well-made movies with important stories are all audiences truly want. Right?

But what about the stories that are not screened for millions of people to consume? Viewers find themselves so enraptured in what they are watching that they forget to consider what is deliberately not being shown.

While the biopic offers a look at the nuances behind the white man who invented the atomic bomb, no light is shed upon the actual trials and tribulations that took place in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Before The Manhattan Project staked its claim in New Mexico, Los Alamos had a Hispano population that had been inhabiting the land for hundreds of years prior. Up until Oppenheimer and his crew arrived.

Residents unaware of the atomic nature of the bomb went to ground zero for picnics and took back trininite, radioactive green glass. The U.S. Army gave 32 families 48 hours to leave their homes. The Army shot livestock, bulldozed homes, threatened people at gunpoint, as resident were left with nowhere else to go. Later on, Oppenheimer hired the same Hispano men he had displaced to work with beryllium. The key difference between the white men who worked there and the Hispano men was that the former received protective gear while working with the hazardous chemical and the Hispano men did not.

The impact of this generational trauma can be felt reverberating in the neighboring county, Rio Arriba, where many of these families were displaced, as the county now has one of the highest rates of drug overdoses in the country. Furthermore a legacy of cancer pervades the family trees of those who were exposed to the bomb testing.

Currently, one of the wealthiest and well-educated counties in the states is Los Alamos where the lab was built, meanwhile the bordering county of Rio Arriba, where 91% of its population are Hispanic and Native American, is among the poorest and has some of the lowest academic scores.

Ramifications from their forced displacement manifest themselves in their everyday lives, lives which were conveniently left out of the film devoted to exploring the struggle of the very man who destroyed them.

Not only has the movie intentionally left out the real history, it is not for a lack of trying from others. Several of the town’s locals made attempts to contact Nolan’s crew to ensure a reflection of the local impacts that The Manhattan Project had. They even mentioned how it would serve to strengthen the film’s exploration of Oppenheimer’s regret, with one local even expressing the wish that a mention could be placed in the credits after the movie.

But the stories about the people of Los Alamos, New Mexico should not have to be relegated to the end credits long after people have stopped paying attention. The United States has long failed to grapple with its history of displacement of indigenous people and people of color.

As audiences and critics continue to laud the accomplishments of Christopher Nolan, it might be time to re-examine what we herald as classic cinema and re-evaluate what stories we believe are essential to tell. 

It’s time to retire the plethora of stories we see focused around troubled white men who struggle to reconcile with accountability for their actions. At least, until the people who are impacted by those actions are acknowledged, represented, and are platformed. Because they deserve to receive the same attention, acclaim, and respect for their stories that they are routinely denied. If people are willing to offer Oppenheimer, a deceased man who destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, some humanity then we must offer the same to the people who are alive today still reeling from the repercussions of his actions.