By Paul Hall
In the new film Hidden Figures, we pull back the curtain to see some of the brave African-American women who worked behind the scenes to put a man into orbit and bring him back home safely.
Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) knew her math. Always ahead of boys and girls her age, she grew into one of the smartest mathematicians around. But there was a challenge that Katherine couldn’t easily solve. She was an African-American woman and was looking up from the bottom of the societal totem pole.
NASA hired African-American women, but still had segregated bathrooms. It employed these bright ladies, but hid them away until an assignment came along. Being hidden would not be enough for Katherine and her friends Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). Together these three amazingly bright and driven women were about to change the culture at NASA and help put a man into orbit.
Both Mary and Katherine were under the Dorothy’s wing. When a task came for a “computer” (the term the people at NASA used for highly intelligent mathematicians), Dorothy immediately knew her smartest person for the job was Katherine. Off she went, to become a trailblazer in a white-male-dominated team that first viewed her as someone to get coffee and double check their “obviously” correct work. But it didn’t take Katherine long to start solving mathematical equations that hadn’t been developed yet and establishing herself as one of the brightest and most knowledgeable people in the room.
At the same time, Mary was trying to become the engineer she desperately longed to be. Her male superiors knew she had the talent for the job, but a certain level of education was required. To get that education, and achieve her dream, Mary would need to fight a system that was still not open to African-Americans.
And Dorothy wanted desperately to obtain a supervisor position that was denied to her for years, so she took matters into her own hands and studied everything she could to make herself more qualified than anyone in the building. Then she couldn’t be denied, could she?
Hidden Figures is an amazing story of perseverance against all the odds. Based on a true story, this film does that thing that we need more of: It tells an inspirational story that hopefully drives the next generation to do more. These three amazing women didn’t let anything stop them. Some people they met supported them and understood their talents while looking beyond the color of their skin and their gender. Others preferred the way things were and didn’t want to change the status quo.
Katherine, Dorothy and Mary knew what they were doing was bigger than them; they were creating a tidal wave and something that would have far-reaching institutional implications.
Hidden Figures is an inspirational film with a gentle touch. What these women have done for the science program is measureable and significant. What these women have accomplished for women and girls everywhere is immeasurable.
As a parent of a daughter, I am pleased to see strong female role models who fight for what is right and long for the way things could be instead of the way things are. Get inspired by Katherine, Dorothy and Mary — I know I am.
Paul’s Grade: A- / B+
Hidden Figures
Rated: PG
Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Mon√°e
Director: Theodore Melfi
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