A task to take a man into space seems like an impossible accomplishment for three African Americans in the 1960s. But it is done or I should say mission accomplished.
The film Hidden Figures premiere Jan 6. It is a film based on a true story about the 1960s space race with the United States and Russia. Taraji Henson plays Katherine Johnson who is a mathematician for National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and can work with any numbers place in front of her. Octavia Spencer is Dorothy Vaughan in the film. Vaughan became the first African American women to be promoted as head personnel at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Additionally, Jackson was the first African-American engineer for NASA.
What I enjoyed about this movie is that it doesn’t just tell the facts of the story. It tells a story that involves people lives and real human emotions. People today can watch the film and relate to it, learn from it, and be entertain at the same time. For instance, there is a scene when Johnson come home to her daughters and they mention how it felt like their mom was gone for 300 hours at work. This shows the sacrifice that these women had to face to make a man orbiting the earth possible. These women were not just scientist and mathematician but they were also mothers, wives, and daughters which made the characters engaging.
Foremost, Pharrell Williams did an amazing job with the soundtrack. William produces music that can take the audience back to the 60s. His music resembles artists such as James Brown and Ray Charles. My favorite character in the movie is Mary Jackson because she is the funniest. She is not afraid to say things on her mind. Although, it may not be politically correct. Jackson shows a lot of confidence.
One of my favorite scenes with her is when she is not afraid to find white men attractive. During this era, I’m sure it wasn’t normal to find another man outside of your race attractive but she didn’t care. “It’s equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color,” said Jackson. All three of these women are bold in the challenges that they face. In 1960s they faced segregation. Also they had to deal with being a women in a male-dominated work environment. One of the barriers Johnson faced is not having a colored bathroom in the building that she worked in. Therefore, Johnson had to run 40 min everyday to the colored bathroom and back to work while wearing a long skirts and heels. During the time, women was not allowed to wear pants to work. Despite the obstacles these women faced, they were a big influence in John Glenn orbiting the earth in 1962.
This movie is not a black film. It does display black girl magic- the success of African American women. However, this shows African American and American history margining into one. Ultimately, this represents a human perspective of what we can do when we work together. It doesn’t matter where we come from or the color of our skin. This is a great movie for young adults, teenagers or anyone who has a dream. The film definitely showed me the only limits there are is the ones we create in our mind. When my sister and I left the movie theater I definitely felt like we can do anything we put our mind to.