Oppenheimer viewers have all noticed this historical error in the film
On 21 July, the highly-anticipated blockbuster, Oppenheimer hit the big screen, starring Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. As per IMDb, the story follows "American scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his role in the development of the atomic bomb."
But while plenty of filmgoers were heavily invested in 'Barbenheimer' (the social media phenomenon down to the simultaneous release of both Barbie and Oppenheimer), a large portion of viewers also caught wind of something else amid the chaos - a *huge* historical blunder from the latter.
For some context, the film is set in the 1940s, and one scene features a large crowd waving the US flag. However, if you zoom in, you'll realise that the flag on display is the current version that has 50 stars. (FYI, the stars resemble each of North America's states.) But back in the 40s, there were only 48 declared states, because Hawaii and Alaska weren't officially classed until the end of the following decade in 1959. Which means for historical accuracy, the film should have used the 48-star flag.
Now we know what you're thinking - that's some eagle-eyed detective work there, right? Correct, but it wasn't just a select few who noticed it, there's a whole load of tweets circulating online of people who spotted the error.
"In a 1945 scene in Oppenheimer people are waving 50-star flags, despite the US flag having 48 stars until 1959 when Hawaii and Alaska were added," one fan said as another penned: "Major issue with Oppenheimer: in the scene where they're celebrating in the auditorium, the small American flags people are holding are 50 star flags instead of the historically accurate 48 star flag (Alaska and Hawaii were not states in 1945)."
Despite this, the majority of people looked past the mistake and still praised the film immensely.
"Yea so Oppenheimer is unarguably one of the best films I’ve ever seen holy f**k. The only flaw is that they showed American flags with 50 stars on it when the US only had 48 states in 1945 lol. That’s it. The rest of it is perfect," one viewer typed, as a second echoed the sentiment.
"Oppenheimer. What a film. I'm one to find faults with a film but can't apart from the flag later on," they said.
Well, there you have it.
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