GOP Senator Asks Oscars to Recognize Victims of Nuclear Testing After Honoring Oppenheimer

AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib; Universal Pictures

After the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Oppenheimer for 13 Oscars, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked the organization to give recognition to someone else: people who have suffered from the effects of nuclear testing.

Politico had the letter that Hawley sent to the Academy on Thursday, which featured a cordial but impassioned call on the organization to recognize not just the achievements of the cautionary biopic but the real-life victims who are “still reckoning with the health and financial consequences of America’s nuclear research” decades after J. Robert Oppenheimer’s involvement in developing and testing the nuclear bomb.

Here is Hawley’s letter:

Dear Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

This week, the Academy announced its full slate of nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards. Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer is in the lead, with 13 award nominations across a variety of categories. Public interest in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life story has never been greater, and the ongoing significance of his legacy will undoubtedly be a major focus at the 96th Academy Awards.

As you continue preparations for the ceremony on March 10, I write to urge you to include programming that recognizes the victims of America’s nuclear testing. The Oppenheimer film tells a compelling story of these test programs. But it does not tell the story of the Americans left behind — still reckoning with the health and financial consequences of America’s nuclear research, after all these years. Shouldn’t the victims who are still paying the price have a voice, too?

Across the nation, thousands of Americans currently suffer from cancer and other debilitating medical conditions, brought on by long-term radiation exposure. In places like my home state of Missouri, the radioactive waste of the Manhattan Project was never fully cleaned up. In many Western states, Americans living downwind from nuclear tests were never told the truth of their exposure and its consequences. In both cases, innocent people have suffered for decades. And now Congress stands poised to allow what limited compensation the government has offered victims to expire. That cannot be allowed to happen. These victims deserve justice through fair compensation from their government — and you can help by telling their stories.

The Oppenheimer film closes with a haunting image of the world consumed in nuclear fire. That particular future has not yet come to pass. But countless good Americans have already paid a price for their government’s negligence in testing and failure to clear up nuclear waste. They have the right to be heard on a national stage — especially yours.

Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
United States Senator

The Academy has been under fire since announcing the Oscar nominations on Tuesday when it snubbed Greta Gerwig in the Best Director category for her work on the billion-dollar hit Barbie. Also snubbed was Margot Robbie, who played the titular role. Both are nominated for writing and producing the movie, respectively.

The spotlight was also on the Academy for nominating Ryan Gosling for playing Ken, and many highlighted how nominating the actor playing Ken but not Barbie only hit home the whole theme of the movie.