TV NEWS
Oppenheimer’s Affair With Ruth Tolman Is Worse Than You Think
By RUSSELL MURRAY
This story contains spoilers for “Oppenheimer.”
SPOILER ALERT!
“Oppenheimer” has many different storylines, but one that receives a fair bit of time, yet still gets lost in the historical drama is the story of Ruth and Richard Tolman.
They are the friends that Oppenheimer betrayed and his treatment of them is unforgivable. Oppenheimer stayed with the couple in California, but he was having an affair with Ruth.
The brief exchange between Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and Richard Tolman (Tom Jenkins) implies the affair was retaliation for being excluded from the Manhattan Project.
Oppenheimer later finds out from Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) that the anger was misplaced. Richard was the only one who had anything positive to say about Oppenheimer.
Richard never discovered Oppenheimer's affair and died ignorant that the man he trusted and admired took advantage of his kindness out of pure jealousy and ego.