Co-written and directed by Theodore Melfi, “Hidden Figures” is a film adaptation of the bestselling book

entitled “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women
Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race” written by Margot Lee Shetterly. Both the movie and
the book tell the real stories of the three African-American women who had pivotal roles in the 1962
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) mission that sent the first man to orbit the Earth.
These women are Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who all worked as
“human computers” for NACA which would be later known as the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). However, their stories aren’t full of rainbows and butterflies because it coincided
with one of the darkest periods in the United States of America’s (USA) history which is the era of
segregation where black people were considered to be lesser beings than white people.

The film was set during the 1960s at the state of Virginia where segregation laws were still prevalent at
the time despite the rest of the USA moving to reform it. The movie effectively illustrates the tension
between black and white people in its many scenes especially through the experiences of Katherine
Johnson, the main protagonist of the movie. The movie explores the issue of racial oppression in
America really well by making the viewers see and feel the stress, anxiety and pressure the three leading
ladies of the film are going through. There are times in the movie when Katherine Johnson would feel
she couldn’t make her voice be heard because her white male superiors are too stubborn to listen to an
African-American woman like her.

Nonetheless, the part of the movie that displays racial inequality at its finest is Katherine having to go to
the bathrooms of the West Wing of the NASA Langley Research Center which was pretty far from the
building she was currently working at because it was the only facility in the research center that had
restrooms specifically assigned to colored people. From an outsider’s perspective with little knowledge
of segregation, the actions done against people of African descent in the movie by Caucasians seems
ludicrous and outlandish but for black Americans, the events depicted aren’t far from the truth. That is
the beauty of Hidden Figures, it isn’t afraid to tell the truth in its own creative way without understating
the cruelties done to African-Americans. At the same time, it didn’t present over the top scenarios
during that era but instead it exhibited just the cold hard facts of racism in America, the film just told the
story for what it is.

On the other hand, Hidden Figures also inspects the flaws of patriarchal societies and promotes women
empowerment and feminism. It’s not a hidden fact that the film celebrates women achievements as
evidenced by its three very successful leading protagonists but it also exposes the faults of a society only
governed by men. The notion that men are stronger, smarter and better than women was much as
widespread as racism in America during Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson’s tenure with NASA. One way,
the film brought this issue to light was through Colonel James Johnson, an African-American captain and
lieutenant in the United States Army, who was pursuing Katherine Goble at the time. The movie
portrayed Col. Johnson as a man ignorant to the fact that women are more capable than what they
seem if given the chance. As a result, when Johnson tried to gain the affection of Katherine while having
this false mentality, he gets shut down but instead of keeping his flawed mindset, he learned from his
mistake. So, for the second time he made his move on Katherine Goble, he knew not to underestimate a
woman of Katherine’s caliber and any other woman for that matter. In doing so, the mathematician
allowed Johnson into her life and eventually married him. The film used this situation to serve as a
learning moment for the viewers soundly reminding them that it’s never too late to correct the error of
one’s thinking just like what Col. Johnson did, he swallowed his pride and erased the idea of women
being inferior to men out of his mind. If a man that holds a prestigious position in the military can do this
then so can the viewers of Hidden Figures because at the end of the day, nobody can deny the fact that
society needs the other half of the population to function properly.

In conclusion, Melfi’s Hidden Figures is a heartfelt story of three black women rising to the occasion to
prove to all their doubters that women of African descent deserve to be recognized and be given the
chance to show what they can do. The movie blends real historical events with fictional touching
moments seamlessly effectively making an already amazing story of triumph a more grounded and
relatable one. Some parts of the movie may be overdramatized for the sake of the big screen but it
didn’t take away the realism of the film too much and at times it actually helped to emphasize more the
message the movie is trying to tell. It didn’t stray away from the real stories of the real people they are
trying to portray and the movie did its best to produce a factual and sincere retelling of the lives of the
amazing ladies of the West Wing of the NASA Langley Research Center. Hidden Figures is a hidden gem
worthy of all the praise and acclaim because it is a film that successfully delivered a message of love,
women empowerment and equity through the stories of Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan and Katherine
Goble Johnson.