Outrage at “Oppenheimer” among Hindus – at least among their conservative representatives. Uday Mahurkar (60) from the Indian Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata, for example, wrote an open letter to director Christopher Nolan (52). In the letter, which he also shared on Twitter, he complains that a scene “represents a disturbing attack on Hinduism”.
The bone of contention is a sex scene between J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, 57) and his partner Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, 27). Tatlock takes a book written in the ancient Indian language Sanskrit from the shelf. She sits on Oppenheimer and, having sex, gets him to read from the book. He reads the verses “Now I have become Death, the destroyer of the worlds”. This quote takes on a deeper meaning later, after the detonation of the first atomic bomb. J. Robert Oppenheimer spoke the phrase in a 1965 documentary.
The name of the book is not mentioned in the film, but the quote makes it clear that it is the Bhagavad Gita. The spiritual poem is one of the most sacred texts in Hinduism. To quote this book during intercourse is an unforgivable act of sacrilege for Uday Mahurkar.
“This is a direct attack on the religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus,” the politician wrote. While insulting Islam is always strictly avoided, this does not seem to apply to Hinduism, Mahurkar said.
He calls on Christopher Nolan to delete the scene in question. On social media, many people fell into the same vein. The scene is said to be “disrespectful and racist”. The hash tag
Meanwhile, American viewers are outraged by another scene in “Oppenheimer.” This is where Christopher Nolan and his team made an embarrassing mistake. In a scene celebrating J. Robert Oppenheimer for using the atomic bomb in 1945, the crowd waves US flags with 50 stars.
But this flag has only been in use since July 4, 1960. In 1945, only 48 stars adorned the flag. Alaska and Hawaii only became states number 49 and 50 in 1959.
