‘Oppenheimer’ sex scene sparks backlash over use of Hindu text
- ‘Oppenheimer’ features a sex scene including the Bhagavad Gita
- Mahurkar: The scene is a ‘scathing attack on Hinduism’
- Ramakrishnan: The lack of context was ‘disappointing’
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(NewsNation) — The “Oppenheimer” movie, about the man who oversaw the development of the atomic bomb, has caused outrage among some Hindus.
Uday Mahurkar, founder of the Save Culture Save India (SCSI) Foundation, says the movie contains a “scathing attack on Hinduism” since the Bhagavad Gita, “one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism,” is read during a sex scene.
The scene features actress Florence Pugh playing Jean Tatlock and actor Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. In it, Murphy’s character recites the scripture before engaging in sexual activity.
Mahurkar and the SCSI Foundation are urging filmmakers to take the scene out of the movie.
“We urge, on behalf of billion Hindus and timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Geeta, to do all that is needed to uphold dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across world,” Mahurkar tweeted. “Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation.”
Ramya Ramakrishnan, the community outreach director of the Hindu American Foundation, told NewsNation host Dan Abrams she watched the movie Sunday and was not offended by it, but instead disappointed.
“To use a very profound line without much context was a little disappointing for me,” Ramakrishnan said.
She continued: “There was no context to it, so most people don’t know the significance of this (scripture.) Oppenheimer was deeply influenced by the Bhagavad Gita. I just feel for a movie that was really long, there could have been some additional lines added to explain.”
Universal’s “Oppenheimer” grossed $80.5 million from 3,610 theaters in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend and is expected to take in strong numbers for weeks. Internationally, “Oppenheimer” brought in $93.7 million from 78 territories, ranking above “Barbie” in India.
