The film Hidden Figures is set in the 1960’s during which racial segregation was still heavily in place. People of different races did not mingle, did not share the same spaces, and were seen as having very different lives. Within the film, these rules start to bend, starting with three very intelligent Black women working for NASA. While working for NASA, they worked on computing numbers in order to help compete with Russia in putting a man in space. Throughout the film, Catherine, among her two best friends, fight against racial injustice in order to do their jobs effectively and prove they belong. Although the film is heavily related to the topic of racial injustice, there are also many instances of gender inequality and injustice within the film as well. There was a point where Catherine was not allowed in meetings, not only because of her race, but her gender as well.
Hidden Figures displays multiple comparisons to lessons related to the coursework from this class, the main relation is the concept of the One and the Other. There are several different aspects shown in this film regarding this concept, the first could be that the Black characters could be depicted as the ‘Other’ and the white as the ‘One’. Throughout the film, the white characters acted superior to the Black characters and showed hated when they wanted equal opportunities as them. Through the whole film, the white characters were the leaders in charge. Another example of this lesson would be of gender, males would be the ‘One’ as females would be the ‘other’. In the film, it was predominately male characters in the roles of power and when a female wanted to be an engineer, disregarding the fact of her race, they said it wouldn’t be possible because she was a female.
This film raises many questions for me, and I think the creator of Hidden Figures wants you to walk away from the film feeling empowered from this film. I think the creator wants you to reflect on your life and how you live your life much like how our diary of systemic injustices challenge us to look at the world, to make sure you are respecting all humans regardless of race, gender, age, etc. The film makes you wonder how diversity has changed throughout the years and I’m very curious to see how the world will continue to change throughout the years. How do you think the world will be in the next few years in regard to diversity? The next decade?