#whereas the opera though it is hella stylized due to genre | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gothic-chicanery · 5 months

Text

I just realized if I want to write about Oppenheimer for my final paper for my west class I probably have to rewatch it and it is So Damn Long. I’m also writing about it in comparison to a production I saw of Doctor atomic (the Oppenheimer opera (yes there’s an Oppenheimer opera)) but that will be a little bit easier bc I’m pretty sure no footage exists of that production so like at least I don’t have to rewatch that

#if curious the class is like. stories about the American west #and it’s fantastic.#one of the best I’ve ever taken #I was this close to writing about breaking bad for my final lowkey but I don’t have a Thesis #and I do have a Thesis here which is that Oppenheimer sucks #well. more. I want to look at how the movie Oppenheimer uses tropes of westerns #like. the single figure of an empty west reshaping the world #and the like the attraction of that as a story #and the thing is that it just like. is not fucking true #where they were resting wasn’t empty there were people within a couple of miles of where they tested #*testing #and they made a conscious decision to test anyway bc they decided that they couldn’t risk breaking secrecy #and that is NOT in the movie #and I think a lot of discourse I’ve seen about the movie about whether it glamourizes Oppenheimer or not #is kinda informed by that #bc my take on it is like I don’t think it’s depicting oppenheimer as a good person #but it is still depicting him as a story #like his guilt and experiences are very abstract and Greek tragedyesque promethean whatever whatever #it examines things in grand arcs and asks the question of to what degree he is complicit #but doesn’t show that conversation #doesn’t show anything beyond the very abstract #whereas the opera though it is hella stylized due to genre #when possible it draws from the historical record and uses the actual things people said #however it also recognizes that like there’s a lot that didn’t make it into the historical record and tries to fill those gaps #like. not perfect still and like while I think the opera did better there’s still much to be said for like. accessibility esp #anyway that’s the essay outline I was procrastinating it by posting but I think that’s basically the outline right there

1 note · View note