So I am going to see Oppenheimer this week.
By myself.
Why? Because my wife and kids get tired of me making comments in nuclear-related movies about how some technical issue is wrong, or how there is a flaw in the story line. My favorite is when the ICBM in Mission Impossible just sort of tumbles into the sea with almost no impact at all. Don’t even get me started on Ant-Man. Or True Lies. Or Austin Powers. That kind of thing.
But I am pretty excited for this movie, for a host of reasons.
1) I loved the book. Marty Sherwin (may his memory be a blessing) and Kai Bird produced a work of true historical importance. They used the story of Oppenheimer, a patriot who loved his country passionately to lay out the tragedy of how America went crazy and devoured one of its most important heroes in the name of militarization and anti-communist/anti-Semetic fervor.
2) I have worked on nuclear weapons my entire adult life. The only two things I have loved longer are my family, the Yankees and Start Trek. Seeing the issue of the Manhattan Project and its manager through different eyes is compelling. Few things are more important in my life, and arguably in everyone’s lives.
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