Hidden Figures Review

I had the privilege to start the year off right by watching a movie about three trailblazing Women in the world of Science and Technology. This movie is called "Hidden Figures".

The movie tells the story of three African-American Women who worked for NASA during the 1960's. These women are Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. Johnson was the Mathematician, Jackson was the Engineer and Vaughan was the informal supervisor.

These women were the brains behind one of the greatest and most crucial operations in NASA History: the launch of John Glenn into orbit. This mission helped to restore the nation's confidence as it changed the world of AeroSpace Technology while also changing the world.

After the successful launch of Sputnik I, Al Harrison, the director of the Space Task Group, is pressured by his superiors to put more effort into sending Americans into space. Katherine is assigned to assist them by her supervisor Vivian Mitchell, becoming the first African-American woman on the team. Initially, Vivian is hesitant as most were at that time. After all, we are talking 1961-62, the time before the Civil Rights Act was officially signed.

The tone of segregation was very strong among NASA. When Katherine first walked in, everyone stared at her like she was an alien. If you were black, you were treated like you were from another planet anyway. Even though I know my history, those things are still painful to remember.

Katherine's presence is initially dismissed as she is forced to work under the belligerent head engineer Paul Stafford. Dorothy's promotion request was denied by Vivian. Meanwhile, Mary finds a flaw in the space capsule's heat shields, which causes her to become even more assertive in pursuing her degree as an engineer.

Harrison invites his subordinates to solve a complex mathematical equation. Katherine steps forward to solve the equation, as it leaves him impressed. When the Mercury 7 astronauts visit Langley, astronaut John Glenn was very cordial as he greeted the NASA employees of the West Area, who happen to be African-American. Glenn specifically shakes the hands of Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy. I had a deeper level of respect for him after seeing that.

At a barbecue, Katherine meets United States Army officer Jim Johnson (future husband). They are initially attracted to each other, but Katherine is disappointed when Johnson is skeptical about the mathematics of women. Katherine proves him wrong.

As Katherine becomes more familiar with her coworkers, Harrison is upset that she is constantly away from her desk. Katherine explains to him in front of the entire office that she has to run nearly a mile to the West Building to use the restroom because of the "Colored" restrictions.

Remember, Colored signs were everywhere at the time. Harrison goes to the West Building and removes the Colored sign from the restroom. That was a significant moment for me in the movie because Katherine's supervisor finally woke up and realized what kind of impact this had among the staff.

Meanwhile, Dorothy learns of the impending IBM 7090 computer that could replace her and her co-workers. She visits the computer room to see the new machine and finds a way to successfully start it. Later, she visits the library, where a librarian scolds her for reading in the whites-only section. As Dorothy leaves, she picks up a book by Fortran. After learning about Fortran, Dorothy trains her co-workers and receives a promotion to become the Supervisor of the Programming Department. Along with the promotion, Dorothy is allowed to make an arrangement to bring her co-workers with her. While congratulating Dorothy for her work, Vivian tries to assure her that she never treated her differently because of the color of her skin. However, Dorothy is unconvinced. Meanwhile, Johnson apologizes to Katherine, which leads to them getting married. 

As the final arrangements are made for John Glenn's first launch into space, Katherine is informed that she is no longer needed at the Space Task Group and is being reassigned to the West Area Computers. As a farewell gift, her colleagues buy her a pearl necklace. 

However, prior to the launch, there were discrepancies within the IBM 7090 calculations for the capsule's landing coordinates. Glenn requests for Katherine to be called back in to check the calculations. Katherine quickly does so and hurries to deliver the results only to have the door slammed in her face. However, Harrison brings her into the control room so they can relay the results to Glenn together. 

After the successful launch, there is a warning light indicating a heat shield problem with the capsule. Katherine understands the problem and suggests to leave the retro-rocket attached to the heat shield for reentry. Her instructions were correct and Friendship 7 successfully lands in the ocean as the world celebrates. 

After the mission, Katherine is reassigned to the Analysis and Computation Division of NASA. Dorothy continues to supervise the Programming Department and Mary obtains her Engineering Degree. 

In 2015, Katherine received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. A new 40,000 square foot Computational Research Facility at the Langley Research Center was named in honor of Katherine G. Johnson the following year. 

Hidden Figures is both a critical and box office success receiving acclaim all across the board from the Oscars, Golden Globes to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). This movie told a great story about three trailblazing women that changed the world of Science with their behind the scenes contributions to the first and most critical space launch in history. 

I give this Movie 5/5 Stars. Black Excellence at it's finest.