The view from beyond and the view from between: Critiquing technology in Oppenheimer and Copenhagen

This article compares the representations of technology in the 2023 film Oppenheimer and the 1999 play Copenhagen – both of which deal with questions about nuclear technology and weaponry during the Second World War. Oppenheimer presents what I call a view from beyond. Tracing Oppenheimer’s work through his own eyes, this film depicts him as a dedicated scientist who comes to see the evils of nuclear weapons. This framing is enhanced by the contrast the film draws between Oppenheimer and Lewis Strauss – a government official the film depicts as pushing for the further development of nuclear technology and in opposition to Oppenheimer. Building this opposition and telling its story from Oppenheimer’s first-person perspective, Oppenheimer offers a singular vision that redeems Oppenheimer as a character even as it casts Strauss as a scapegoat for America’s use of nuclear weapons. In contrast, Copenhagen offers what I call a view from between. As it dramatizes a historic meeting between Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr and Bohr’s wife, Margrethe, the play allows each character their own unique vision and memory. Copenhagen narrates this story multiple times and from different perspectives, refusing a definitive story regarding what transpired. In telling the story as it does, Copenhagen problematizes and denaturalizes our relationships to nuclear technology in ways that are not possible with Oppenheimer ’s more singular perspective. I ultimately work to stress how a view from between can help create a more critical engagement with a variety of technologies.