Review of Hidden Figures (2016) by Ryan F — 13 Nov 2018

Hidden Figures directed by Theodore Melfi is a thrilling experience about two African American women, who worked for NASA in 1961. These women were named Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, and they were part of one of the most inspiring movies to hit the theaters ever. They each had separate jobs, but have to push through the same problems. Katherine's job was to figure out how to make a spaceship go into orbit, Mary's job was to help engineer a spaceship that could sustain high heats and high altitudes, and Dorothy was the supervisor for her group, which she was then the first ever African American to do so. 1961 was a highly racist time, so the three women had to overcome lots of difficult problems such as having to run a long ways to go to the bathroom, and had to drink from a less purified container of coffee. These females also had to work in a separate room and had to deal with the prejudiced coworkers surrounding them. Hidden Figures gives watchers the thrill of overcoming racism while pulling together an astounding story of trying to figure out how to get a spaceship in orbit, and to land on the moon.

Hidden Figures has many aspects of overcoming racism. One aspect is when Caroline first gets promoted to her job for the duration of the movie. Her co-worker, Paul Stafford, seems to be extremely prejudiced throughout the book. Caroline offers to check his work, and he says "No it is already correct", and does not let her check it. Also throughout the movie, Caroline is giving information to Paul, and he quickly tells her that it is wrong or outdated, which she goes back to her workspace, and retires at her work, clearly aggravated. In the next scene, Caroline begs Al Harrison, the leader of the NASA group, to let her in the meeting, and tells him that she has the right information, but Paul refuses to let her in the important meeting. Al overrides Paul and Caroline is let into the meeting. Later in the meeting, her information is finally seen as correct, and useful, and later in the movie, this information helps NASA reach the moon. Another reason that these women had to overcome racism was that of the unfair gender separated bathrooms and coffee dispensers. This is inadequate because often times throughout the movie, Caroline has to run about half a mile in high heels, just to go use the restroom. Because of this, Caroline's work is often delayed and causes her to be yelled at a few times. This is resolved by Al because he knocked down the "Colored Women" restroom sign, and declaring that all women will be allowed to use the white women's restroom. This is seen as shocking by readers because, at the time period, many other companies would have not cared about it. Another scene where racism is taken place is when Caroline is riding the bus, she has to sit in the box. Surrounding her are African American people who are protesting for equal rights. During this scene, Caroline and her children are clearly upset about having to sit in the back of the bus, and they dream of a day where they will be able to sit wherever they want.

Theodore Melfi directed this movie with almost perfection. The overall message is very moving and is an important message to know today. This movie is great for people of ages 10 and above because the topic is a little harsh for a 9 or below year old, and people who seek the excitement of overcoming racism should watch this movie.