Greg Mitchell on “Oppenheimer“ & Why Hollywood Is Still Afraid of the Truth About the Atomic Bomb

The movie _Oppenheimer_ about the “father of the atomic bomb“ focuses on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s conflicted feelings about the weapons of mass destruction he helped unleash on the world, and how officials ignored those concerns after World War II as the Cold War started an arms race. Journalist Greg Mitchell says that while the film is well made and worth seeing, “the omissions are quite serious.“ He says there is little mention of the dangers of radiation and no focus on the impact of the bomb on its victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film also does not question the necessity of using the bomb in the first place, upholding the “official narrative … that has held sway since 1945,“ says Mitchell. Greg Mitchell is a documentary filmmaker and the author of numerous books, including _The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood—and America—Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb._ He was editor of _Nuclear Times_ magazine from 1982 to 1986 and has written about this new film for _Mother Jones,_ on his Substack, and in an opinion piece for the _Los Angeles Times_ headlined “’Oppenheimer’ is here. Is Hollywood still afraid of the truth about the atomic bomb?“ Transcript: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Support independent media: Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: