This Oppenheimer Meme Just Created an Unexpected Gay Icon - INTO
Ship Them

This Oppenheimer Meme Just Created an Unexpected Gay Icon

Oppenheimer has been playing in theaters for a mere week, and it’s already legendary. Have I seen it? No. Am I planning to? Absolutely not! But there’s one thing I do care about in relation to the box office smash: the memes.

And let’s be quite clear: the memes are good. We’re talking top-tier. We’re talking spit-take. Especially those concerned with building up the fledgling hypothesis that Albert Einstein (played by Tom Conti in the film) was absolutely head over heels gay for the destroyer of worlds himself.

Perhaps the film didn’t set out to tell a meme-ified love story, but that’s absolutely what it’s become online.

Now in reality, Einstein, who did have a track record of supporting gay rights, was probably 100% heterosexual. But will that stop anyone from shipping Oppenstein? Of course not. How dare you even suggest it!

https://twitter.com/LibrarianPoster/status/1684730016871989248

To make matters even sillier, a certain cheesecake shot of the famous scientist is making the rounds, accompanied by various Lana Del Rey lyrics.

https://twitter.com/JUSTAPARTYG1RL/status/1684657465949052929
https://twitter.com/vilehag/status/1684639706376441856

That tiny flash of thigh, the sandals…it’s giving “Venice Bitch.”

Fellas, is it gay to cross your legs for a photo? The Internet says yes.


Henry Giardina (he/they) is the editor of INTO. He lives in Los Angeles. Past publications include the New York Times, The Believer, The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, The Atlantic, Film Comment, and Gizmodo. He is @punkgroucho on Twitter.