FEMINIST RATING: ♀ ♀ ♀
OVERALL RATING: ✮✮✮
The true story behind Hidden Figures is nothing short of legendary as it centers on the brilliant African-American women who worked at NASA during the Space Race, namely Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. Their story itself is inspirational, exciting, and important and the film is also important as it helped to reveal the story of these inspirational women and their triumphs to mainstream audiences. However, the cinematic qualities of the movie are not nearly as impressive as the story it portrays.
Picture 1960s America. You may think of mod fashion, The Beatles, Andy Warhol, hippies, and tie-dye. However, as the 1950s came to a close and the 1960s began, the Civil Rights Movement had begun to take shape. The goal of those who were apart of the movement was to end racial segregation and discrimination which was rampant in the late 50s and early 60s. When you think of the 1950s, you may think of soda fountains, jukeboxes, and Grease as the aesthetic is heavily romanticized. However, it was only in 1954 that black children were allowed to attend white schools. While this was, of course, a victory, it is often forgotten that while black children were moved into white schools, the parents of white children refused to let black teachers educate their children. Thousands of black educators were suddenly without a job in the mid 1950s.
This is the sort of social and political climate that serves as the background to the Hidden Figures story. In 1961, black individuals were living in a world in which white people not only disliked them but found the very sight of them repulsive. It was the sort of world where white people refused to sit in a seat if it had previously been occupied by a black person. It was the sort of world where a black teenage boy was brutally murdered for simply having an interaction with a white woman outside a grocery store.
Though this particular time was a dark and shameful period in American history, it is when Hidden Figures takes place. After a satellite was successfully launched by the Soviet Union, there was a great deal of pressure to send American astronauts into space as soon as possible. This led NASA to do the unthinkable--hire black women.
The story mostly focuses on Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), a genius physicist and mathematician who became the first African-American woman on the Space Task Force team.
Though she gets disapproving looks from her new colleagues and opposition from head engineer, Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), she is also treated cordially by astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) and her supervisor Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). A notable example is when Katherine gives an angry and passionate speech about how there are no bathrooms for non-white people in their building and it leads to Harrison dismantling the whites-only sign in front of a crowd of onlookers, allowing the black women to use the bathroom as well. Considering that this event did not take place in real life, it leads one to assume that it was only included into the narrative in order to depict white people as saviors.
Like most American films dealing with race, several of the white characters serve as saviors to the black characters by simply treating them with respect and also helping them to integrate into their new lives and positions (see also: The Help, 12 Years a Slave, Freedom Writers, The Blind Side, Radio, and The Soloist). However, in the 1960s, respect from white people was something black people were rarely afforded. Including white-savior characters in films only help to ease the guilt of white audience members. This trope is inherently narcissistic in its attempt to portray white characters as “not all bad” since, in reality, there were very few white people standing up for civil rights at this particular time.
The three women, Johnson, Dorothy (Octavia Spencer), and Mary (Janelle Monae) are depicted as outsiders--which is putting it lightly. We are reminded of the injustices and discrimination that the women have faced but the film’s light-hearted nature keeps it from diving deep into the aggressive, hate-fueled racism in the heart of America at the time. This story should have highlighted the women’s grit and determination in the face of adversity while also depicting them as real and vulnerable people. The film would also have done well to add more scenes involving the three women interacting with each other and discussing their difficulties and triumphs as their views on the subject is much more interesting than the tedious conversations between the women and their white colleagues.
The three women, though each marvelously portrayed by the respective actresses, are often crowded out of the spotlight by their white co-stars. Their story is more about the women being accepted by their white colleagues and authority figures than their actual feats. Katherine is ultimately praised and supported by Harrison and is begrudgingly accepted by Stafford in the end, Dorothy wins the approval of her supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst), and Mary gains permission from a white judge to attend night classes at an all-white school so she can obtain an engineering degree. In reality, there were no white people who helped these women achieve such impressive feats. They were able to succeed in their respective fields because of their strength in the face of adversity on all sides.
Though we have come a long way since the #OscarSoWhite campaign of 2016, we still have a long way to go. Compare Hidden Figures to other racially charged and critically acclaimed films of 2016, Fences and Moonlight, and you will see how it pales in comparison when it comes to issues of not only race but also when it comes to its overall cinematic potency (or lack thereof). Comparatively, Hidden Figures comes across as dull and ultimately ineffective in its attempt to show black women as heroes in their own right. The difficulties, discrimination, and racism that these women faced throughout their lifetimes were erased in the film in order to present a feel-good family dramedy that keeps the rampant racism of the 1960s just out of reach and out of view.
That being said, the fact that such a film exists is a good indication of where we are heading in regards to films starring black women. Seeing so many black women onscreen together, though the scenes are few and far between, is a breath of fresh air and the commercial success of Hidden Figures proves that people want to see more black women in movies. This is just the beginning. While the film misses the mark, the book and the story that the book is based on is as inspirational as it is harrowing and the triumphs of these women should not be forgotten.
