Review of the Movie Hidden Figures

The Movie Hidden Figures, Fox 2000 Pictures shows the based on a true story of how three African American Women, Katherine Goble was also known as Katherine Johnson later in the movie, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson all have gifted intelligence in Mathematics and Science and have the determination to follow their dreams; even though, they are barred from reaching their full potential due to racial and gender stereotypes of 1920s-1960s.  They end up working for NASA but are not entirely free from negative societal views.  The movie challenges the idea, Can a black woman be a math genius?

Memorable Quotes, During a Post Test Discussion of Friendship 7

         “There is another opening in the engineer training program.  Mary a person with an engineer mind should be an engineer.  You can’t be a computer the rest of your life.”

“Mr. Selenzki (Sp?) I am a Negro woman.  I am not going to entertain the impossible.”

“I am a Polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi Prison Camp.  Now I am standing beneath a spaceship that’s going to carry an astronaut to the stars.  I think we can say we are living the impossible. 

Let me ask you, if you were a white male would you wish to be an engineer?”

Mary says, “I would not have to I’d already be one.”

There were also two different scenes with Katherine, one as a small child when accepted to a West Virginia Collegiate Institute where the Professor addresses her, “Ms. Coleman, why don’t use solve the equation on the board?”

Then he hands her the chalk. 

She stuns the class of teenage/college males. 

And a future scene which was like a throw-back to her early memory where she is handed the chalk. This is when she is an adult working for NASA.  After she speaks to Mr.  Harrison more than a few times he starts to break down barriers and allows her into the boardroom secret NASA Meeting. 

He hands her the chalk. 

She thought she was going to be getting the necessary data she needed, but she was the one who gave it. 

I noticed the song “Runnin’” advances the plot.  It’s used every time Katherine has to leave her building, run across a parking lot turn into the downstairs floor of the NASA building designated for colored people in order to get to the bathroom.  Then she has to run back knowing she is probably going to be accused of not caring about her job.  It really illustrates the racial discrimination.    

I agree with an aspect of Pete Hammonds' quote on the back of DVD Case, the movie is uplifting.