Progress of Three African American Women in “Hidden Figures”

Hidden Figures, an incredible, untold, true 1960s historical fiction film directed by Theodore Melfi. This movie shows the progress of three African American women who work at the headquarters for NASA in Hampton, Va. These women are striving to create the most significant space launch in history, the launch of John Glenn into orbit. This film occurs during the time of segregation and workplace sexism was prevalent, but more specifically it tackles African American women's rights. The three African American women's lives the movie follows are Katherine G. Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. In the film, they were referred to as ""computers,"" as if they are simply machines, not actual people. Hidden Figures was a compelling and moving story; although it did not portray history extremely well, as there is a Hollywood touch added to the movie, and some scenes are not entirely historically correct.

The movie's main storyline is the division between the two colored skins, the blacks and whites, and how differently they were treated. In the 1960s, the white colored skinned people got treated like they were superior and people with darker skin were considered low-quality

The most powerful scene in Hidden Figures was Al Harrison knocking down the white women's bathroom and making it a bathroom for everyone, coloreds included, so Katherine did not have to run half a mile to a different wing of the building, occasionally even in the rain just to go the restroom. That is all fake too. Katherine ignored the rules and still used the women's restroom in her wing. This scene signifies the experience Mary Jackson had when she worked for NASA. Also, there is no record of anyone ever personally taking down restroom signs. All these scenes are meaningful and valuable to the story, but leaving them out would have made the story exceptional.

Hidden Figures is a such a touching movie because it tells the story of how three strong African American women stood up to being kept down. They refused to go unnoticed. They demanded to be seen as equals to their white counterparts. Hidden Figures is about the struggles women faced, but more specifically African American women.

Cite this page