LEWIS STRAUSS: more to the villain than Oppenheimer’s (2023) screentime
Lewis Strauss was once a lowly salesman.
The theatrics of 21st July, 2023 was a well schemed, well achieved success that amassed a glorifying $180 million for Christopher Nolan’s dark biopic-drama on its first weekend. While dearly celebrated by most sci-fi fanning audience of Nolan’s work, like myself, it is difficult to not mention the long haul it has with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, $300M at the global box office in the same breath.
Something that intensely peaked my interest was a sequence of black and white screen-switching to a richly coloured cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema, which, if his former work with Nolan are any indication of, is the art of story-telling of itself. Nolan quotes “color sequences, they’re in Oppenheimer’s head, they’re seeing what he just saw. Whereas the black & white sequences are “more in Louis Strauss’ point of view, we’re looking at Oppenheimer from across the room.”
The unraveling of act III is a whistle past the graveyard in a combative heated verbose of Lewis Strauss motives and animosity towards Oppenheimer that is poised with Academy coveting performance from the veteran actor Robert Downey Jr. Unfortunately, inspired by the American Prometheus, a movie based on the triumphs and lows of the Father of Atomic bomb, had only so much screentime to narrate on the life and undoings of Lewis Strauss, a lowly show salesman.
Pre-Strauss
David Eli Lilienthal, the inaugural chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), embodied the principles of the New Deal and firmly advocated for civilian oversight of atomic energy for constructive ends. His vision centered on averting a nuclear arms race, championing democracy and scientific advancement, and harnessing technological innovations for a more equitable and improved world. While not a prodigious genius, Lilienthal demonstrated pragmatic organizational skills, coupled with a profound sense of purpose and humility. As he embarked on his journey leading the AEC, he faced a mix of hope and uncertainty, confronted by moral dilemmas stemming from the creation of the atomic bomb.
On the other hand, Lewis Strauss, upon entering the AEC, possessed a background entirely distinct from Lilienthal's. He began his career as a shoe salesman, delving into the realms of diplomacy and European intrigue, before eventually becoming a financier overseeing significant industrial projects. Unlike Lilienthal's idealistic perspective, Strauss brought a different approach to the AEC.
Try as he might, Lilienthal faced constant restrictions. The post-war transition into the Cold War presented formidable hurdles in his quest to steer clear of militarism and secrecy. Despite his resolute efforts against powerful adversaries, he found himself entangled in the web of secrecy and a prevailing militaristic mindset. Regardless of his moral compass, the allure of power had the potential to undermine him, leaving him feeling disillusioned and disheartened. During his time in office, Lilienthal grappled with political vulnerability and endured harassment from his congressional foes. In an effort to shield the AEC from potential blame for Manhattan Project misconduct, he reluctantly embraced secrecy. Eventually, following his defeat in the H-bomb debate, Lilienthal made the difficult decision to step down from his position in 1950.
Post Strauss:
What made Lewis Strauss important to the Manhattan Project? In order to dissect the motives that led Strauss, the then chairman of the AEC at the pinnacle of his service to the US poltics, to deny Oppenheimer security clearance during personnel screening, it is worth mentioning that Oppenheimer wasnt the first rival overshadowed in the dirty abuse of Strauss’ dance with positions of authority.
Strauss, the only Republican representative in the Lilienthal AEC, swiftly became known for his staunch conservative stance. He actively advocated for any anti-Lilienthal position and was a relentless political fighter, as depicted in the Nolan film. His personality was a complete contrast to Lilienthal's, displaying a sharp and uncompromising nature. But to understand the complex nature of Strauss' summit of power and delve into the deep waters of his personality, it would be undermining to not mention that the man condemned to play the villain in Oppenheimer’s becoming, proved to be very much the mettle of The Father of Atomic Bomb.
Born to Jewish emigrants parents from Germany, Strauss suffered an eye injury which would later prove to his disadvantage in his endeavours towards joining the military. However it did provoke his passion towards the intellects of physics, making him entitled to a scholarship from University of Virginia. Owing to typhoid fever, Strauss was prevented from taking his senior year examinations, curtailing him by another year at the university which was not cover by the scholarship. Strauss strived as a travelling shoe salesman under his father’s company to clear his education debt.
This man of meager beginnings earned his seat at the table with influential figures of World War II and he certainly used it to his vantage out of self-inflated sense of importance.
Though arguably Strauss’s mistrust in Oppenheimer was warranted by Oppenheimer’s rumoured tryst with communism, Cillian Murphy ( Oppenheimer ) does nothing to disabuse him out of the humiliation. A vital impression of Strauss’ humiliation was in Oppenheimer’s complacency veiled under wisecracks at his testimony as chairman of AEC’s General Advisory Committee. Murphy delivers
No one can force me to say that you cannot use these isotopes for atomic energy. You can use a shovel for atomic energy, in fact you do. You can use a bottle of beer for atomic energy, in fact you do. But to get some perspective, the fact is that during the war and after the war, these materials played no significant part, and in my knowledge, no part at all ... My own rating of the importance of isotopes in this broad sense is that they are far less important than electronic devices but far more important than, let us say, vitamins, somewhere in between.
Strauss was vindictive and an opportunist, we know this. Amateurs chase the sun and get burned. Power stays in the shadows, I think it was sick of Nolan’s screenwriting to conveniently attest to the flawed character he was.
