Summary Of The Movie Critique Of Hidden Figures

Despite their remarkable intelligence and qualifications, the women featured in Hidden Figures had to overcome significant barriers to access the same educational and professional opportunities as white individuals. Shetterly writes, "When she began teaching in Virginia in the 1930s, fewer than a dozen black people in the state held doctorates" (Shetterly 23). This passage underscores the limited access that African Americans had to higher education, which in turn contributed to the lack of representation of African Americans in STEM fields. Moreover, the book also highlights the resilience and determination of the African American women featured in the story, who defied societal expectations and stereotypes to make significant contributions to the space program. Despite facing discrimination and prejudice, these women excelled in their roles as mathematicians and engineers, ultimately proving their capabilities and worth in a male-dominated and predominantly white environment.

“A negro baby had only half the chance of completing high school and only a third of the chance to complete college as a white baby that was born at the same time and place” (Hubert). Kids were treated differently by color in schools in the 1960’s; Brown vs. Education and Little Rock Nine are two examples. There are many more examples of how kids were treated in the 1960’s but these are the most known and they show how people were treated. In the North most public schools were not segregated and in the South they were very segregated, very racist, and had segregated public schools. People were rioting and fighting for the freedom that America had promised them. Black parents wanted their kids to go to the white schools and get a great

In 1960-1980, many new advancements were out in the world. Still women were expected to stay home. Women were frowned upon when they got jobs or didn’t marry. African Americans were the poorest living in slums. Other races were treated the same. This was the time of the Civil Rights movement. Whites killed African Americans for doing what they considered wrong in the south. African Americans earned the rights they wanted, to the dismay of the whites.

One significant theme that is present throughout the story is the one of unequal rights for African Americans. One instance of social injustice is described in the very

Imagine living in a country in which someone was denied the right to vote or be a regular citizen because of his or her skin color. This was the main idea of the Jim Crow Laws that existed in the United States from the 1890s until the civil rights movement in the 1960s. African Americans were being separated from whites under the doctrine of “separate but equal”(Teachers’ Curriculum Institute). Blacks and whites had different facilities for every aspect of life. They were segregated due to the racial discrimination of the whites in most of the southern states. In the 1950s, these laws were starting to come to an end, but racism was still present in the South. Racial discrimination in the South during the 1950’s affected the living conditions of those affected because they had low-paying jobs, lived in poor areas and ghettos, and had bad health care.

They struggled for equality and took part in some of the greatest civil rights movements ever known. Although the civil rights revolution came as a surprise, the causes fought for were necessary. According to Foner, “the United States in the 1950s was still a segregated, unequal society with half of the nation’s black families living in poverty.” (902) Many whites paid little attention to segregation because they felt it had no impact on their everyday lives. Segregation impacted blacks, especially in the South, on a daily basis. They had separate restrooms, drinking fountains, schools, entrances to public places, and were unable to enter many public institutions altogether. (902) The arrest of Rosa Parks sparked a year-long bus boycott and marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the South. (904) With Martin Luther King Jr. leading the movement, the freedom of justice and equality finally seemed within reach. According to the text, “King was a master of appealing to the deep sense of injustice among blacks and to the conscience of white America. He presented the case for black rights in a vocabulary that emerged the black experience with that of the nation.” (906)

The film Hidden Figures is based on a true story and adapted from the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race’ by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie is centered around a trio of African-American women who worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and played an essential role in sending John Glenn to space amidst a burgeoning Space Race between the United States of America and Russia. Based in Hampton, Virginia in the 1960’s, film depicts the deep racism and sexism prevalent in the United States at that time. The film provides a glimpse of the stark realities that black women faced at the time. From the segregated bathrooms and

Hidden Figures is a film based on a remarkable true story about three colored women in the 1960s. The movie follows the lives of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Kathrine Johnson. These women used their intellect at NASA to contribute to the launch of the first American into space. Hidden Figures also represents the contribution of these women to society. They helped put a man in space, yet they didn’t receive the proper appreciation during their time. Hidden Figures helps give those women gratitude for all that they did for NASA and the United States. Even though this film acknowledges their achievements, it recognizes the hardships the women faced while working for NASA as well as the hardships of all other African American women in the workplace. A few of the hardships they faced were sexism, discrimination, and ageism.

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.

The Civil Rights Movement’s mission was to end segregation and advance equality for African Americans (Hanks, Herzog, and Goetzman). Almost one hundred years after the civil war, African Americans were still struggling to gain the same rights as white Americans. The movement was led by leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Gaining momentum in the 1950’s with the Supreme court’s ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education where public schools were desegregated, the Civil Rights movement flourished in the 1960’s. One of the group’s main goals was to take on the Jim Crow South. Segregation prevented African Americans from drinking out of the same water fountain, using the same restroom, and even sitting at the same lunch table as white people. By promoting peaceful protest, they were able to educate others on their issues.

All around the nation many people were allowing African Americans into their stores, and schools. Nevertheless, many did not concur with the idea of African Americans being equal. Many weren’t willing to let go of old prejudices and practices. One historical event was the little rock nine. In Little Rock Central High School, nine African American students were associated with the desegregation of the school. By them being accepted in the school it made a great deal of people furious. They began to protest and harass the students. Although by law African Americans were equal, they still weren't treated equal in everyday life. By them being equal it caused more conflict between the races. However, the conflict helped start a civil rights

What I also found to be quite interesting and perhaps a weakness of the film, was the sense of performative racism that four of the main white characters utilize and how the makers of the film appeal to such a phenomenon through symbolisms as well. In the movie, there seems to be two main kinds of racism the characters exhibit, one of them being blatant racism and another being subtle racism through microaggressions. For example, Katherine experiences blatantly racist and misogynistic behavior from her coworkers, especially from Paul Stafford, the lead engineer (making groupthink much easier) and Ruth, the only other woman working in the office. On the other hand, Al Harrison and John Glenn appeal to the subtler sides of racism and performative white pity, Glenn going out of his way to shake the hands of the computers as the film attempted to paint a positive, “not-all-whites” picture of inclusion, acceptance and tolerance, a kind of racism that almost all of the white people in the film come to, by its end. Examples of this can be seen in scenes like the one in which Al Harrison smashes down the “coloreds” and “whites” restroom signs as if implying that doing so will abolish all racial inequalities with a couple of blows of blunt force. One could infer it seems, that paired with the groundbreaking stories of these three women, white people being decent human

The 2016 historical / drama film, Hidden Figures directed by Theodore Melfi explores the themes of racism and sexism in America during the 1960’s. These themes expresses Theodore Melfi’s intention of this film is displaying that sexism and racism is hard to abolish. Melfi uses visual and verbal features of dialogue, costume and symbolism to contribute to the director’s intention.

The film ‘Hidden Figures’, directed by Theodore Melfi, follows the story of Katherine and Mary, two African American women who work at NASA, but are stopped from achieving their goals because they are ‘coloured’. Melfi uses props, dialogue and music to manipulate the audience to think that racism takes effort to resolve and that we are all human. Melfi does this to influence us to change the way we think and feel about people.

As someone once said, “Success is a Journey. The best form of transportation is happiness.” The movie Hidden Figures directed by Theodore Melfi portrays this message as it displays the lifestyles of three black women during the historical height of racial discrimination. Their careers begin in the traditional roles black women are afforded at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s. Their journey continues as their hidden talents are discovered by the administration, giving them unique opportunities. Their striking ability to remain joyful through harsh discrimination identifies the success constantly stood within them as their happiness stands above.