Hidden Figures - Liked It

Stars:  Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
Run Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

The Movie

The first movie this week is Hidden Figures which brings us the story of three women who helped out greatly at NASA during the race to space in the 60s. They aren't just any women though, they are black women during the time in the U.S. that blacks and whites were segregated and not treated fairly. 

First, we have Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) a brilliant woman who can handle any numbers or math equations thrown at her. With the United States racing to beat Russia into space, there is a team that is in need of a computer, and Katherine gets chosen for the job. At first, she is not treated fairly and not given the chance to prove her worth. She even has to run half a mile to the other building just to use the colored bathroom. Second, we have Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) who is a brilliant engineer that is chosen to work on developing the physical aspects of the space launch. Being a colored woman, she is unable to physically become an "engineer" and this is her main struggle through the movie. She petitions to go to classes at an all white school to gain her credentials to become an engineer at NASA. Lastly, we have Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) who runs the colored women computing division of NASA. With technology advancing, she is aware that at some point in the near future, the group will be disbanded as computers (actual computers we know today) are making an entrance and can make any calculation necessary. 

Each woman is able to make her impact on NASA and the start of the United States Space Program. Because of their work, we were able to put a man in space and have him orbit the Earth. Along with these amazing stories of how the woman overcame all obstacles thrown at them, we are shown their lives at home and how they handled life in segregation. 

​Liked Its & Hated Its

• I love math. If I decided to get a major in it rather than a minor, I would hope that I'd end up somewhere like these three women doing something important. 
• I liked Janelle's character. She was so fun and carefree, but also strong and willing to do what it takes to make it in her field of expertise. 
• <SPOILER> I liked the scene where Kat gets proposed to, thought it was hilarious. 
• I liked how the lead astronaut (John Glenn) treated the woman, he didn't care that they were colored only saw their brains and trusted them completely. 
• Though I liked John Glenn as a character, the guy who played him is in Scream Queens (which is a complete bash to sororities everywhere) and he is a not so nice guy, so that is really all I could think when I saw him. It's a shame. 
• I hated how Jim Parson's character treated Kat. Honestly, I hate how all of them were treated by everyone, why was it like that back then? Makes me angry. But I liked how they all came around to accept Kat and the others in the end.

​Rating

I thought Hidden Figures was a good movie. It had enough comical scenes that left me laughing in the theater and I always love a good movie about mathematics and physics and space (unless they show a lot of stars that is).  The story told here is very inspiring and I'm intrigued enough to perhaps read the book about these three women of NASA. We got another two movies this week that take place around the same time so buckle up your seat belts and check back tomorrow!