Hidden Figures

There was a world not long ago where lines were drawn, where demarcation was defined when you were born, opportunities were withheld, life's ambitions cruelly quelled, aspirations, dreams, desires could not be formed. Although the ladies down at NASA had some fight, and to complement their toughness they were bright, conjuring numbers, equations, to prevent Russian invasions, as they conquered syntax, these girls had some byte. Now because of this great film they are recalled, it will leave you captivated and enthralled, the meaning of the great space race, exacted with finesse and grace, although at times you may just feel, slightly appalled.

Hidden Figures is a real gem of a film.

First and foremost this is down to some incredible performances. Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae were an absolute joy to watch. From the very first scene with all three of them on screen together, you just knew the film was going to be something special. All three of them were fantastic and I couldn't take my eyes off of them. The supporting cast were also great, but it really was all about these three talented actresses smashing it.

The story is something very special too. It was one I knew nothing about, but am so glad I now know more about it thanks to this film. Hidden Figures tracks the careers of three women working at NASA at the height of the space race. The film is so inspiring as we witness their perseverance, their incredible spirit and talent, and their pioneering impact on humanity's exploration of space. This alone would have been impressive, but these women were able to achieve what they did in the face of gut wrenching sexism and racism. Hidden Figures does such a good job of shining a light on the racism and despicable attitudes that these women had to face, and as a result is a pretty tough watch at times.

What also makes this film very special is the expertly crafted script. If, like me, you have no idea about science and maths, don't let that put you off. The script does a great way of simplifying things, so that you can appreciate the gravity and importance of what these women were doing, without getting bogged down in heavy exposition.

I really could not recommend this film enough. Everything about it fits together so perfectly, from the direction to the acting to the score, its just such a good well rounded film.

Watch Hidden Figures ASAP! You will not be disappointed.

"Hidden Figures" came out several months ago and there are already quite a few reviews for it. Because of this, I don't plan on saying a lot.

The film is the story of some inspiring black women who worked in the space program during an era when black women were highly marginalized. The acting is terrific and the production all around is well made and enjoyable. Not surprisingly, the movie did well in the box office and no doubt you'll have a nice time if you see the film.

Do I have any quibbles? Well, a few details here and there were changed to make the story more cinematic...which is the norm for Hollywood films and something I can look past since the story is essentially true.

My grandson advised me to watch this movie. I'm not much of a movie watcher but was greatly impressed with the movie. I was employed by a major company in the late 60's This movie occurred a little before that. I was actually a teen when John Glen took his trip into space. I and many other blacks had no knowledge of this crew of women and how they contributed to the NASA project. In the late 60's, there were race riots and lots of racial conflicts. I remember in my senior year, Westinghouse Electric was located in a black community but had no black employees. They came to the black high schools and wanted the top 3 stenographers from each school to apply to their company. This was based on efforts from the community to hire black employees. We were tested. We all had to have 3.8-4.0 QPA's and be able to type 80-100 words per minute and transcribe at 100 wpm. I was 1 of the lucky ones. I had an academic diploma with business classes as my minor. Ten women were hired. I was so excited. But the minute I walked out on the floor, all eyes were on me. There were no black/white bathrooms, but we were pushed to the back of the line and not allowed to use the mirrors until all the white girls had left the restrooms. It wasn't a rule, but we were shoved to the back. We were laughed at and talked about in front of our faces. But under no circumstances was I going to allow somebody else to take this job away from me. We took it! We were treated like we were from a 3rd world country. The white girls didn't even know how to change the typewriter ribbons. Their typing speeds only had to be 45-50 to get in. Shucks, I had to be the best! I was awed to have typed on the IBM Selectric typewriter. The same one in the movie! But we had to care for their machines as well as our own. In high school we only had manuals. Eventually I went to Univ of Pgh. to study accounting at night. I took all of the courses required to get out of the steno pool, but was consistently turned down 10 years trying to become an Accounting Clerk. While whites with less education and less seniority were chosen over and over again over me. I had to type for the controller, because of my super fast, error free statistical typing skills while his secretary filed her nails and poured coffee. Of course, I was never paid what she made. To make a long story short, we black women stayed. Some of us for 40 years. It took years before we were looked at like humans--before people would talk to us, eat at the same lunch table, sometimes they would make us wait last to get on the elevators to go home. But over the course of 10- 40 years, we earned that respect. We did become manager secretaries. We did earn engineering degrees at night and worked our way up. We did end up with white women becoming our best friends. We became their bridesmaids instead of their maids. We went to their parties, instead of cleaning up after the parties. This movie may make some people uncomfortable, and perhaps you don't believe it was like that for smart black women, actually any black person. But believe me, I am a living witness at age 67 to recall the bigotry and hatred I once experienced as a young woman 18 years old, only to retire from the company with much respect. Many of my friends that started when I started, are still in touch. We always laugh and say "We were the first." Because we knocked down those walls of prejudice and differences and created a path for people of all colors to follow. I loved the movie. I only wished that those women had been recognized a little sooner for their contributions to the NASA PROJECT. The portrayal of bigotry and indifference is real. It really did happen in the 60's. As a child I remember the black/white bathrooms--not being allowed in Howard Johnson's on the turnpike and going shopping in the department store via the back warehouse door. Katherine was older than me. Did she run almost a mile to the bathroom? Maybe, maybe not. But don't judge this movie based on that. Some real prejudices were worse than that. History cannot be changed, only learned about. I am proud to be a part of that growing history along with Katherine.

I'm an engineer. I designed computers, I grew up in the south during the 1950s and 1960s. I was heavily involved in the space race at an early age and watched every launch and recovery on black-and-white TV. I never saw separate restrooms and drinking fountains for "colored" but they were there. I never rode on segregated public buses, but they were there and I knew it. This movie, "Hidden Figures," brings all of these worlds back to me. No, it's not a painstakingly accurate picture. NASA didn't have flat-panel screens back then. Communications between the ground and the Mercury capsules were not static-free. But a lot of this movie feels real. Very real.

The protagonists in this movie are three women of color working in one of the most unwelcoming environments they might hope to find: NASA Langley, Virginia, in 1961. As women, they were employed as human "computers" because they were less expensive and they got their numbers right. As "colored" folk, they got their own separate (and sparse) restrooms and their own, separate dining facilities. This was not America's shining hour, even in some place as lofty as NASA.

At the same time, civil unrest was rising in the towns. This is the time of Martin Luther King's rise to prominence. It's a time just before the rise of militant civil rights groups. It's a time when resistance to segregation and discrimination was still civil, but as the movie shows, that resistance was beginning to firm up and become widespread.

There are several reasons to see this movie: from a civil rights perspective; from a feminism perspective; from the perspective of the early space race when we lagged the Soviet Union, badly. If you lived during this time, see the movie to remember. If you were born later, see this movie to see what things were like.