Discrimination In Film Hidden Figures
Hidden figures, a biographical film based on historical events, shows three women - Katherine Goble, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson who influenced the way N.A.S.A. treated women and men of different races.
After World War 2 drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. This is known as the cold war. This battle threw the world’s two great powers of the time – the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, against each other. During the late 1950s conquering space become another dramatic competition. Each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, military weapons and its political system. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for ‘traveller’), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. This made the Americans want to work even harder than the Russians.
They continue to work to find the unknown math they need in order to find the “go/no go zone”, in order for the Friendship 7 spacecraft to land safely and to get John Glenn who was an engineer, astronaut, businessman and politician, home safely. John aimed to be the first American to orbit the earth. The IBM 7090 electric computer that replaces human computers, Dorothy learns how to program the machine and is finally assigned supervisor of the area. While Katherine is assigned to go back to the West Area Computers. On the day of the launch, there are discrepancies that arise in the IBM 7090 calculations for the capsule’s landing coordinates and Astronaut Glenn requests that Katherine be called in to check them. After she does, they proceed with the launch and it is successful.
During the 1960s, sexism, racism and discrimination played a great part in society however, this had a very negative impact on the public. Women were not treated as equals to men, and women who were coloured were treated poorly. They were seen to stay at home parents, cooks and cleaners. If they had a proper job it was nothing too drastic or difficult. Both women and men of colour were treated as though they were unimportant or less than human in comparison to whites. Why should the colour of a person’s skin or their gender affect the education or the job they receive? Why should it affect the way they are treated in the workplace?
Katherine Goble (Johnson), Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson were part of NASA’s team of human ‘computers. The group was made up of mostly women who calculated complex equations by hand in order to allow space heroes such as Neil Armstrong, Alan Shepard and John Glenn to travel safely into space. The women sent shockwaves through NASA as they were smarter than most of the white men. Hidden Figures teaches the audience that you do not need to be a certain colour, look a certain way or be a particular gender to make a difference in the world and be the change that the world so desperately needs.
During the film, Katherine, the film's protagonist, sticks up for herself when Al Harrison the head of NASA enquires where she disappears to, for roughly 40 minutes every day. Katherine states that there is no bathroom for her in the building and that she must run half a mile to relieve herself every day, she also states that the men she works with will not use the same coffee pot as her, that she does not get paid enough for the same work that these men do. This was a wake-up call to Al as despite NASA’s claim to be forward-thinking. He is enraged by this so much that he knocks down a coloured bathroom sign. This highlights how unfairly women and people of colour were treated. This shows women that they have the strength to stick up for themselves and that they deserve to be treated the same as everyone else.
Mary is smart enough to become an engineer but needs to attend an all-white high school to obtain the qualifications that are required of the job description. She pleads her case in court and wins over the local judge by appealing to his sense of history, as he was the first in his family to join the armed service being the US Navy, the first to attend university and the first state judge to be recommissioned by three consecutive governors. She explains that she wants to be the first and that what case that he sees today is going to matter 100 years from today. She is granted legal authorization to attend the school to obtain her engineering degree, however, only the night classes. Both situations show that you do not have to do what is expected, you can be the first, the change.
Film techniques including both setting and cinematography that were used in the film, helped to create a modern take of the period it was set in. at the very beginning of the film the main character Katherine was seen behind objects, such as when she is seen kicking pine cones and counting them as she goes. In this scene, she is placed behind trees. There is also dark lighting, showcasing that things are not how they should be. That they are seen as unimportant or not useful. The cinematography was used to create a Kodachrome look to make the film appear as it was produced in the 1960s. Katherine, Dorothy and Mary were put in bold costumes to showcase that they are important characters and different to the rest of the community. A lot of the white male characters wear white shirts and black pants to separate them from Katherine and the others.
Overall, this film shows how far the world has come and the history behind it. While sexism and racism are still around, it has made progress. Women are now allowed to work amongst men without being torn down constantly about being a woman or a woman of colour. Women also experience similar pay rates and job opportunities but are still not fully equal. While parts of the world are still against each other, this film allows students to see how the past was and how different the world of today is. This film highlights a significant historical event to the world, showing students how we came to be here today, in a world that is so different to about 80 years ago. Due to this, I believe this film should be compulsory viewing in all schools.
