'Oppenheimer' Sex Scene Decried As "Attack On Hinduism"

TV & Film

Jul 26

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has been released, and already, it has garnered some controversy, though not in the way that you would expect. Oppenheimer is based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, who oversaw the Manhattan Project and helped develop the Atomic Bomb. The controversy revolves around a sex scene between Oppenheimer and his lover Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh. During a pause, Tatlock asks Oppenheimer to read the Bhagavad Gita, which leads to a line heavily associated with J. Robert Oppenheimer and his creation of the atomic bomb: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Uday Mahurkar, India’s Information Commissioner and founder of the Save Culture Save India Foundation criticized this scene, calling it “scathing attack on Hinduism” on social media this previous saturday. He also said, “The Bhagwad Geeta is one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism. (...) We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene on life of a scientist,” (sic) encouraging Nolan to have the scene removed. Murphy is on record saying that he read the Bhagavad Gita, and believed that the scripture provided Oppenheimer “consolation”. It is unknown if this will affect any version of the film.

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