Nudity as a Storytelling Device in 'Oppenheimer'

Oppenheimer is among the best movies of 2023. With that however comes controversy and discourse, people looking for a reason to complain or sharing a genuine critique of something that simply eluded them. For me, I have noticed many takes on the use of nudity in Oppenheimer. Many of my fellow critics have called out director Christopher Nolan for having star Florence Pugh topless in a pair of scenes. They feel that the nudity is needless or gratuitous. Some even say that Pugh is being exploited.

I think these critics and audience members are missing the point. The nudity in Oppenheimer is a shorthand, it’s intentional. The nudity in two scenes in Oppenheimer involving Cillian Murphy’s title character and Florence Pugh’s troubled but brilliant Jean Tatlock, serves multiple narrative functions. First, her nudity is important to the first encounter between the two. His nudity in the second nude scene in the film furthers their story in a rather brilliant way. Finally, the both of them being nude at different points in the film highlights and calls attention to the hypertensive urgency of their on and off romance.

When Dr. Robert Oppenheimer first meets Jean Tatlock, their banter crackles with chemistry. The pair are immediately drawn to each other with Tatlock being the rare woman to step up to Oppenheimer and challenge his superior attitude. This challenge escalates quickly to the bedroom where they have a fast moving, down and dirty sexual encounter where she’s nude and he remains almost completely clothed. There is a purpose to this. Tatlock as a character is open, honest, vulnerable and confident. She’s a counterpoint to the guarded, self-involved and arrogant Oppenheimer. He’s shielded and she’s not, she’s vulnerable and he’s likely to hurt her.

None of that is explicit in dialogue, it’s entirely implied by their interaction and by the nudity itself which exists to illustrate these two very different people, an open-hearted woman who wears her emotion, intelligence and allegiance on her sleeve and the incredibly guarded, fearful, and ultimately insecure man that Oppenheimer will show himself to be later in the movie when he fails to find the courage to speak against the bomb before it gets dropped. The charge of the scene is heightened by Pugh’s nudity, she’s more challenging and forward while he’s struggling to maintain his air of superiority.

The second nude scene is just as or even more revealing of these characters. Their dynamic has changed. Oppenheimer has gained confidence and become more willing to be open and vulnerable. This is demonstrated by Cillian Murphy being nude in the scene just as Florence Pugh is nude in the scene. The two characters are now on an even emotional plane, their cards are all on the table. Each is being emotionally honest about where they are in their relationship. It’s the first sign of Oppenheimer becoming more self-aware and willing to question his own status quo. Meanwhile, while he’s changed, Jean is the same, she’s still open, honest to a fault, and vulnerable. The nudity is telling us who these characters are at this moment.

Nudity, in and of itself, creates a charge in a movie. It’s out of the norm, we’re rarely prepared to see nudity in a mainstream movie these days. Thus, Christopher Nolan is able to underline the importance of these scenes by heavily calling attention to them. The simplest way to make us perk up and pay attention is to challenge the audience with nudity. It’s a distinct and necessary choice. The nudity has layers to it in terms of story and character. Plenty of movies have gratuitous needless nudity, it’s rarely used as a storytelling device. In Oppenheimer however, Christopher Nolan uses nudity with a purpose well beyond titillation.

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