First We Bombed New Mexico succeeds at shining a light on a dark and shameful episode in the past (and present) of the United States. It does an excellent job illustrating the tireless years-long effort of community organization, protest, engagement with politicians, research, and work with the media required to get something done. The people of the region are highlighted wonderfully. Their tales of suffering and perseverance are juxtaposed with celebrations and coming together; culture and community spring to live even in the shadow of darkness. Lipman deserves enormous credit for taking years of footage and distilling it into a compelling and moving narrative.
When sticking to the facts and the human stories, this documentary shines. In other areas, it nearly misses the mark. Some subjects heavily speculate about why things happened or were not done, whether it be because of racism or government conspiracy. Demonstrably, there was a government conspiracy at one point to keep Trinity a secret. However, it is a separate question as to whether the motivations were for national security or a cover-up to dodge responsibility. Cover-ups and racism are entirely plausible, even likely.
“Lipman deserves enormous credit…”
Still, when people get a little too certain without hard evidence, it makes one wonder if they are an entirely reliable source. It is, of course, understandable that people feel betrayed and lied to by their government. I’m not begrudging that, merely that the speculation goes on a little too long and detracts rather than adds to the exploration of an extraordinarily important subject. The second issue is that the movie seems more like a piece of activism than journalism. There’s room for that in the world, but sometimes, it can cause people to recoil because they don’t know if they’re getting the whole story. A few interviews with people who are not “true believers” could have gone a long way.
In all, First We Bombed New Mexico is an exceptional piece of documentary filmmaking that tells an important story. The title is perfect — in effect, the U.S. bombed its people in secret. If an individual or corporation did this, it would be a crime, but because the government did it, it is not. This is exacerbated by the fact that the U.S. does not have universal health care. Generations of New Mexico residents have had to bear the burden of the loss of community members and be saddled with medical debt. Few people know this story; more need to. This is another important step in the long journey to achieve some degree of restitution and justice.
First We Bombed New Mexico screened at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
"…exceptional..."
The documentary clearly outlines the impacts of the atomic attack at Trinity, the toxicity of Los Alamos, nuclear mining in New Mexico, and subsequent atomic explosions in the Southwest on New Mexico. Any uncertainty of the effects of these efforts is created by those who invented these toxic conditions not wanting to be responsible and the atomic propaganda that says the bomb was used in an “empty place.” It wasn’t. If we include just New Mexico and the populations of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez (neighboring cities) then we are talking about nearly a million people living near the blast.
It’s time we listen to survivors and their families as thousands have been impacted at this point. May families finally receive the recognition and dignity other downwinders have been afforded but New Mexico was denied. Go see the documentary today! It’s a necessary film to watch alongside of Oppenheimer (which is both critical of the nuclear industry but also repeats its propaganda at times).