"Basically a True Story:" The Beginning or the End, Fat Man and Little Boy, and American Remembrance of the Atomic Bomb

The impact of film as a vehicle for dissolution of information should not be discounted because it allows the viewer to experience the story alongside the characters and makes historical moments more relatable when presented through the modern medium. This, however, can be a double-edged sword as it relates to the creation of collective memory. This thesis examines two films from different eras of the post-atomic world, The Beginning or the End (1947) and Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), to discover their strengths and weaknesses both cinematically and as historical films. Studied in this way, the films reveal a leniency toward what professional historians might consider to be historical "truth" while emphasizing moral ambiguity about the bomb and the complex relationships among the men and women responsible for its creation. While neither film boasts outstanding filmmaking, each attempts to educate the viewer while maintaining entertainment value through romantic subplots and impressive special effects. The mainstream relatability of both films makes them useful points from which to launch discussions about the subject matter and the way Hollywood has chosen to remember it.

Author

• Verstreater, Theresa L

Language

• en

Keyword

• Fat Man
• John Cusack
• Hiroshima
• historical film
• Little Boy
• Paul Newman

Date created

• 2015

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• History

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Long, C. Thomas

Committee Member(s)

• Arnesen, Eric

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/hm50tr89c