The dark history of the glow-in-the-dark watches from Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

There is a big connection between renowned Hollywood director Christopher Nolan and the Hamilton watches.  These watches were also a part of his latest release, Oppenheimer. It might be exciting to know that Christopher Nolan asked the watchmaker to dig deep into their archives to research some vintage models between the 1920s and the 1960s for the movie. The abovementioned watches were a part of Cillian Murphy’s (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Matt Damon’s (Lieutenant General Leslie Groves), and Emily Blunt (Kitty Oppenheimer)’s wardrobe. Furthermore, some of these watches, such as the Hamilton Cushion B included glow-in-the-dark dials made from radium.

As is well-known, radium is extremely dangerous for our health. Sadly, several women who hand-painted the radium watch dials ended up developing serious health issues like cancer. Called Radium Girls, they were not provided with any protective gear while working with this harmful substance and were also unaware of its dangerous effects. These women unknowingly consumed small portions of radium as they licked the tips of their brushes while painting the watch dials and handled the radioactive substance with their bare hands.

Not just that, back in the 1920s, a group of female factory workers sued their employers for exposing them to radium poisoning. They successfully demanded safer working conditions for factory workers. The watch brand Hamilton also used radium paint on their dial between the years 1918 and1963. A year after J. Robert Oppenheimer’s death in 1968, radium was banned from consumer products.

Oppenheimer-Bhagavad Gita sex scene row

Despite receiving critical acclaim, a scene from Oppenheimer has sparked a massive outrage amidst the Hindu community. The scene in question has Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh’s characters, J Robert Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock, reciting verses from the sacred Hindu text after they indulge in intimate activities. Upset with the use of the Bhagavad Gita in such a context, the Hindu community in India has asked for a boycott of the film in the country.

Scientist J Robert Oppenheimer is known to have had a strong connection with the Bhagavad Gita.

The Hindu mythological book is used not once but twice in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. It was also used during the explosion of the atomic bomb scene as Oppenheimer utters a verse from the Gita, “Now I have become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”