Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures
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Hidden Figures

 

Three brilliant African American women at NASA — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson — serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and motivate the world.

 

 

Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary are great examples of people of resiliency, they fought for their rights while making it possible for a living human being to orbit around the Earth. 

Mary Jackson fought for her rights to attend an engineering school because that what was fueling her heart and became the first female engineer of all color at NASA. Then, Dorothy Vaughan never stopped doing a job of a supervisor even if she won’t get promoted for it, she kept her head high and eventually she became NASA’s first black supervisor. Finally, Katherine Johnson became a permanent member of the Space Task Group. In 2015, Katherine was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Each one of them proved that the color of their skin and their gender won’t hold them back to achieve their dreams that seemed impossible back then in their time.

 

My favorite parts in the movie

 

One of my favorite parts in the movie was when Mary was told to help Zielinski with the Mercury 7 capsule and Zielinski realizing the potential of Mary. He opened Mary’s eyes by telling her ”I’m a polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi prison camp. Now I’m standing beneath a space ship that’s going to carry an astronaut to the stars. I think we can say, we’re living the impossible,” Zielinski also asked “If you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?” And she proudly proclaimed that “I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one.” It shows how confident Mary is in her skills but a big barricade is enough to keep her from using it, and when Zielinski noticed it he gave her a boost to achieve her dream.

 

I also liked the part when Katherine realized that she had enough of the racism and gender bias and stood up for herself being late because there weren’t any “colored” bathrooms that are available near her new office and stood up for herself. After that incident Al Harrison was seen whacking the colored restroom sign and after successfully removing the sign he said “There you have it! No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms. Just plain old toilets.” and told Katherine “Go wherever you damn well please. Preferably closer to your desk.” That very moment felt wholesome because he knew her worth and everyone should be respected equally.

 

Overall Hidden Figures is a great movie full of lessons a person could learn and it is also a good movie showing an example of resiliency. I would recommend this movie to every student struggling to see the long term goal in life.