Hidden Figures

I'm a sucker for stories about the Space Program. Always have been, probably ever since I was a kid. So, naturally I was intrigued to see Hidden Figures, the true story of three incredible women who in their own ways made the U.S getting into space that much more possible. The film focuses on mathematical genius Katherine Johnson and her friends Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson and their contributions to NASA during the Space Race with Russia in the 1960's. 

Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), along with her two close friends and colleagues, Dorothy Vaughn (played by Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monae) work in the segregated Computing department at the Langley NASA research center in Virginia. Dorothy is working as the group's de facto supervisor without the actual job title, something she tries to appeal to the ambivalent HR manager Vivian Mitchell (played by Kirsten Dunst). Mary Jackson likewise runs into similar issues when she tries to get an Engineer position, but is told she needs extra schooling before she can apply. It's a setback that seems all the more difficult because the classes she needs are taught at a whites only school. Katherine is sent up to the Space Task Group to assist with calculations for a series of space launches to work directly under Director Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) and Head Engineer Paul Stafford (played by Jim Parsons). Harrison only cares about the math and seems indifferent to who is doing it whereas Stafford is a bit more belligerent towards Katherine because he doesn't feel his figures need to be double checked by her. Things are even more difficult for Katherine as there are no restrooms for "Colored" folks in her new building and her co-workers set up a separate coffee pot for her after witnessing her drinking from theirs. Still, all three women persevere and make invaluable contributions to the early days of the U.S Space Program.

The film was directed by Theodore Melfi from a script written by him with Allison Schroeder. They maintain a good balance between all three women showing care and nuance in depicting their struggles as well as their triumphs. Now, this is a movie focusing on Black characters in early 60's Virginia, so racism is going to be a large component of the film and I have to give kudos to the filmmakers for how it was handled. It shows perhaps a more realistic view of how racism actually was for many of these people. There was almost a passive aggressiveness to it (although, it could also be that we're dealing with nerdy individuals and we tend to shy away from direct confrontation when possible anyway), such as the separate coffee pot. But it also shows how many perhaps were not even aware of their own racial prejudices, such as with Dunst's character interacting with Spencer's. Then there is another layer, with Costner's character Director Al Harrison who is simply oblivious to the struggles of Mary Johnson until she throws it right in his face and it's not until then, and until it inconveniences him with her having to run clear across campus to use a restroom, that he does anything about it. The most clear cut tension is between Parsons and Henson's characters, although that may have more to do with ego than racism. But there is still that overwhelming feeling of "that's how it's always been done why should we change?" attitude that made the film ring more true than some others. 

The film also equally celebrates each character's triumphs and moving forward as well, whether it's Dorothy's realization that the arrival of the new IBM computers will render he computing team obsolete and sets out to not only teach herself but her team as well how to run it, Mary going to court to get a special exception to attend classes at a whites only school to work towards her Engineer position or Katherine gaining respect and position in her department to the point that John Glenn (played by Glen Powell) refused to fly his mission until he knew Katherine had personally gone over the launch figures (that's actually true and I was really glad to see it was included). 

Beyond that, the film is also a great look into the early days of the Space Program and how much of it had to be invented, both physically and mathematically. There just was no precedent for what they were trying to do. There is a scene where Katherine comes into Al's office with the latest figures and Al promptly places them in the trash, explaining that what she was working on was now obsolete as they keep reworking the math to chart out the flight plans for the space launches. The film also shows just how far we've come in the last fifty or so years. Dorothy's team were actually called Computers, which the machines were named after, which I thought was an interesting detail. Also, the IBM computer NASA gets fills an entire room and is in fact bigger than the door to the room it has to go in, leading to an amusing scene where they actually have to knock down a wall to get it in. 

Overall, Hidden Figures was a fantastic and absorbing look into a chapter of the Space Program that has been overlooked for far too long. It's nice to see the contributions of these three amazing women finally getting their due. The whole time I was watching the movie, I kept thinking, "Why the hell didn't I learn about this in school?!" Still, better late than never, I suppose.