Yeah, I think this may be one place for which I invoke “the death of the author.” 
Lingering Questions [Spoilers]
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i mean, chris himself has said thats the reason he doesnt like giving his own takes, but we know already so "with respect dr Oppenheimer, we`ll take it from here"physicshistoryguy wrote: ↑February 14th, 2024, 6:20 pmYeah, I think this may be one place for which I invoke “the death of the author.”
It's like Oppenheimer wanted to say to Einstein "You think I'm proud of my achievement? No, I'm tortured and you (Einstein) and your achievement are also responsible for the future doomsday, and you should suffer just like me". Oppenheimer was indeed an as*h*le, just a few minutes after he said "lowly shoe salesman" to Strauss 
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Very interesting dissections, I personally take the ending as is. But I do think it's worth noting that all of the colour stuff isn't just from Robert's POV, but from his memories. So the exact reality of what's happening could be coloured by his emotions and any reality at all is very much questionable. I noticed that in the Black and White POV, after having that super earth shattering vision of the future, Robert turns to Strauss and engages him in his conversation perfectly fine with no stuttering or pauses. I wonder if he even had those visions at the time, or if he was just inserting how he felt into his own memory.
If I were to combine this two disperate interpretations together, I like to think that Robert told Einstein this as a way to make him feel sympathy and as a way to spur him as part of his anti-arms race angle. He might not have felt his own despondant "I destroyed the world" guilt for real until much later after his clearance was revoked.
Basically, he could have been exaggerated intially, only to put his confidence and arrogance aside and realise that no really, he did totally create the possibility of nuclear war for several lifetimes. The ending could be his own thought process thinking back on that moment.
Or, the entire guilt could just be how Oppenheimer wants to think about himself. Maybe Strauss's analysis of his character wasn't as drenched in cynicism as we think...
If I were to combine this two disperate interpretations together, I like to think that Robert told Einstein this as a way to make him feel sympathy and as a way to spur him as part of his anti-arms race angle. He might not have felt his own despondant "I destroyed the world" guilt for real until much later after his clearance was revoked.
Basically, he could have been exaggerated intially, only to put his confidence and arrogance aside and realise that no really, he did totally create the possibility of nuclear war for several lifetimes. The ending could be his own thought process thinking back on that moment.
Or, the entire guilt could just be how Oppenheimer wants to think about himself. Maybe Strauss's analysis of his character wasn't as drenched in cynicism as we think...
