Hidden Figures [Movie Review]

Introduction

In February, I read and reviewed the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. The review can be read here. I truly enjoyed the book and have finally seen the movie (about a week ago) based on the same story, also titled Hidden Figures.

Review

The movie begins in 1961at the beginning of the space race when NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) becomes NASA (Nation Aeronautics and Space Administration), some years after the start of the book. This is about chapter 16 in Shetterly's book retelling the story of the "colored computers" at Langley Air Base. The movie was full of information about three of the women, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorthey Vaughan. (I explain more in-depth about them in my book review).

Readers of the book will find that the movie brings the book to life. One situation, in particular, was difficult to imagine, in which Katherine had in finding a "colored" bathroom. She is shown running across the campus carrying her stack of files and work just to simply “relieve” herself. While this was noted in the book it did not sink in until I saw the movie, nd the big scene which her boss made over here being gone for 40 minutes a day. Dorthey is seen seeking advancement which seems hindered at every turn until she looks to the future and becomes the first supervisor for the new IBM machine. Mary appears to have the easiest time, though she is the only one with a legal case to enter the all-white high school building for night classes. The movie made what these women did truly amazing, especially Katherine (who most of the movie is focused on).

Another aspect which impressed me was the way they could do math, the computers where

completing complex calculations in their heads with little assistance from machines, if they had one it was an adding machine. Catherine was shown to be faster and more reliable than the new machine. This was not lost on John Glen when needing last minute calculations done. Matt Blitz (2017) states explains that the scene with Katherine requesting to enter a briefing shows the need of many organizations of the time to break down prejudice. About Stafford’s reply to Katherine of “There’s no protocol for women attending” to which one of Johnson’s most remembered lines of “There’s no protocol for a man circling Earth either, sir.” Blitz says that it “underlines this based-on-a-true-story movie. He is sharing that the quote embodies much of what the movie is about, as well as the story. While this is monumental and easily pointed to, what caught my attention was the respect which John Glen (portrayed by Glen Powell) included the women, especially the African-Americans in the conversation. When the Mercury 7 arrived at the base for training he notices them standing apart

from the crowd and instead of leaving, as the heads want him to, he chooses to go and say hello and shake their hands (specifically Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary), something unheard of in the South at the time. White men did not speak, let alone shake hands, with African-American women, but he did. This brief scene along with a few others shows a contrast in the ideas of north and south. Not all people are bad or stuck in their ways. The movie brought these out more clearly because of the visual elements that text does not convey.

Overall, this is a beautiful example of historic biography. Many of the elements were unknown before and are brining light not only to African-American's at NASA early on but also to women who worked on the numbers. The honor given only to white men for reaching the moon truly belongs to all those who engineered, calculated, and designed during the early years at NACA and NASA.

Hidden Figures Website: http://www.hiddenfigures.com/

On this website, you can find information about both the movie and the book

Search for Hidden Figures Website (Movie Page) https://searchforhiddenfigures.com/the-movie/

20^th Century Fox Movie Website

http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/hidden-figures

Read others like Hidden Figures

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2017/02/readers-advisory/ra-crossroads/no-longer-hidden-figures-ra-crossroads/

If you enjoyed Hidden Figures Library Journal has compiled a list of other books to read about women in STEM fields and others who overcame great odds to do what they love.

References

Amazon.com (2017). Hidden figures [Movie Image]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Figures-Taraji-P-Henson/dp/B01LTI1RHG/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01LTI1RHG&pd_rd_r=JERP9PTC5J8BG13EFZ96&pd_rd_w=D8Sst&pd_rd_wg=IksCZ&psc=1&refRID=JERP9PTC5J8BG13EFZ96

20^th Century Fox. (2016, August 14). Hidden figures: Teaser trailer [HD] 20^th Century FOX [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8xHq6dfAo&index=330&list=WL

Blitz, M. (2017). The true story of ‘Hidden Figures’ and the women who crunched the numbers for NASA: While telling the story of three unknown space heroes, Hidden Figures, also reveals a greater truth about NASA.  Popular Mechanics Goes to the Movies. Retrieved from http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a24429/hidden-figures-real-story-nasa-women-computers/

Kundu, S. (2017). Review: Hidden figures [Still Image]. Retrieved from http://standardissuemagazine.com/arts/review-hidden-figures/ 

Shetterly, M. L. (2016). Hidden figures: The American dream and the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. [Kindle Edition]. William Morrow.

Melfi, T. (Director). (2017). Hidden Figures [Motion picture]. United States: 21^st Century Fox.