Was It All For Ego? | Oppenheimer Review 

I think Nolan's whole deal with this movie is that these powerful men leaving their ego unchecked and instead forming narratives around the events of their lives after-the-fact, and mistaking it for true self-knowledge, leads them to do terrible things and in Oppenheimer's case, only realise too little too late what the consequences are. I think Nolan (and Murphy, through his performance) does a good job of showing that although he was a brilliant mind, Oppenheimer had a pretty nasty egotistical streak and that he's a protagonist in this film but not necessarily a hero - the way he treats women, the way he butters himself up to Groves, the way he insults Strauss over his lack of formal university education within minutes of meeting the dude... Strauss, and the board at the security clearance hearing, and Benny Safdie's character Teller when he says "Do you actually believe in anything? Do you even know?", just because they're also unpleasant people themselves doesn't mean the words coming out of their mouths about Oppenheimer are necessarily incorrect, just that from Oppenheimer's POV they're antagonists to him. Teller's observation about Oppenheimer's lack of conviction is borne out in the way he treats women. He only ever hallucinates American citizens getting their faces peeled off, I don't think he gives a sh*t about the Japanese civilians the bomb was dropped on & Strauss is absolutely right about him "never apologising for Hiroshima and Nagasaki" & playing the martyr to try and get around facing the blame in history. He really did do the things the board accuses him of, however insincere and authoritarian their intentions. Nolan gives Oppenheimer the real-life figure a stroke and a slap in this film- he shows that the board hearing against him was kangaroo court McCarthyist powermongering bullsh*t, but he also holds Oppenheimer and his willfully blind pursuit of innovation out of personal hubris 100% responsible for putting humanity, and our world, on the brink of nuclear extinction one computer glitch or one madman tyrant away from the most terrible and absolute hellfire, for the rest of all time. He denies the narcissist his martyrdom whilst also depicting his failures as universally human ones, it's a really nuanced and unexpectedly explicit approach from Nolan and prolly in my top 3 films of his to date.

Watched this at least 3 times, easily my favorite Nolan and one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while

He dealt with the morality early on…the scene where he’s at the chalkboard & someone calls it a bomb and he corrects the to call it a “gadget”…he’s trying to compartmentalize & ignore his feelings that started to creep through

There rrally is no excuse for the bombs. I cant imagine if other countries would have done that to civilians here.

lmao Rod doesn’t understand the meaning of ego, there is positive ego and negative, such as positive and negative stress. It’s a very simple concept.

You know what, I'll say it, I think having the topics that go on in the podcast in the description spoils it a little. Because it's written out very opinionated ("We discuss how the film's length can be an issue for a casual audience" - man, there's already a take), so I've already braced myself for the conversation

I know someday Na will like something

Nolan Scorsese Tarintino Jordan Poole

Boom

I personally think this might go down as one of the best movies of all time.

Uncreative people love to criticize people who accomplish things

Oppenheimer: a story of how the US used a fcuk boy nerd to bore you for 3 hours (and to win the war). I cared about Oppenheimer for the 1st hour. I stopped caring more and more after each hour. Why should I be entertained by Oppy's life story? Office politics? This goofy guy pulled broads? That this genius got played by the powers that be? There are better movies about the same problems that aint 3 hours

What an awful movie