What can we learn from a country’s choice of when — or whether — to screen World War II drama "Oppenheimer"?
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic was released in the U.S. just after the anniversary of the Trinity test, the culmination of the Manhattan Project on July 16, 1945, that paved the way for the postwar Pax Americana. In South Korea, it will hit screens on National Liberation Day, which marks Tokyo’s Aug. 15 surrender in World War II — something the bomb is credited with. And in Japan itself, which next month will see 78 years since Little Boy and Fat Boy were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, the movie isn’t scheduled for release at all yet.
That might reflect the country’s complicated views on the war. In the U.S., the movie has reopened the debate on the bomb and whether it was a war crime. These revisionist discussions, which are based on what we know now, aren’t especially helpful. Contrary to some reports, "Oppenheimer" has absolutely not been banned in Japan — unlike some of its Asian neighbors, the country rarely takes such steps, even for politically insensitive content. But the movie’s distributor has yet to schedule a release date; assuming one comes at all, it will be some time after the Aug. 6 and 9 memorials.