Oppenheimer Isn’t a Story About the Atomic Bomb — It’s About Ourselves
<p>Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated film, <em>Oppenheimer</em>, opened in theaters over the weekend. It beat expectations raking in a whopping <a href="https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/weekend-box-office-results-barbie-and-oppenheimer-post-historic-numbers/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">$80.5 million</a> in sales. Despite the ongoing labor strike in Hollywood, its release — alongside the Barbie movie — set records.</p>
<p>Running three hours, <em>Oppenheimer</em> tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who became the father of the atomic bomb. The film is as much a biopic of his life as it is a history lesson of the Manhattan Project, the secret government program that led to the invention of nuclear weapons during World War II.</p>
<p>But that’s not all it is. In retrospect, the film is neither about the atomic bomb nor J. Robert Oppenheimer. It’s a story about what came <em>after </em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Prometheus-Triumph-Tragedy-Oppenheimer/dp/0375726268" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">American Prometheus</a> gave man the power to destroy the world.</p>
<p><em>Oppenheimer </em>is a cautionary tale about technology and our role in the proliferation of it. Christopher Nolan didn’t create the movie just to break box office records. He did it to shed light on the ethical choices and unknowable consequences that emerge as a result of technological innovation.</p>
<p>This essay will dive into some important questions raised by the film. It will attempt to connect those questions to real events happening in our lives today. Just as J. Robert Oppenheimer ushered in a new world order with the weaponization of physics we’re on the precipice of doing the same thing with artificial intelligence.</p>
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