“Hidden figures” is an incredible movie because not only does it say the story of the first ship sent in space, but it also talks about the women behind this invention. The message I got from this movie is that women are very important in this world, and it is about time that we give them the respect they deserve. If those women were not there, space exploration will not be what it is today. They were the bones of NASA. They did not give up instead they demand to be heard by men.

Another important message is the strength behind collaboration. Even though they had the intelligence and perseverance, they became stronger when they allied their force for a common goal. It  was so powerful to see how they progressively changed people opinion and beliefs toward them.

However it is sad to see that despite all these years women still do not get what they deserve. They are still underrepresented in powerful positions. Women are underpaid and disrespected. The government still does not consider women’s issues as real issues. We still have a long way to go because all those injustice are worse for black women.

Hidden figure is a great movie, yet how many of those do we need in order to make society understand the reality about women?

Sometimes Hollywood does a good job and tells a meaningful story. This movie represents one of these times. Before watching Hidden Figures, I did know know about Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. It was nice to watch a movie which showed the strength and intelligence of black women. Many times black women are over sexualized or shown as being uneducated. It is refreshing to watch a movie which tell the stories of real women who overcame so much just to show people that they were capable of amazing things too. Hidden Figures was very inspiring and highlights one of probably many other stories which go overlooked because of the people who they represent. I hope to see many more movies which celebrate minorites in a different light from what we are used to seeing.

I was fortunate enough to get the chance to watch “Hidden Figures” at Cornell Cinema. I’ve seen the trailer of this movie a while ago and I’m glad I got the chance to see it at a Rose event. Overall, I thought the film was incredible. The acting and cinematography was amazing, and it really captured the frustrations colored women had to go through just to prove their worth. The soundtrack that went along with the film showed how empowering these women were, especially the scene where they march down to the computer room because they were the only ones who were able to program it.

After the movie ended, we had a discussion with a Cornell professor about why very few women graduate with a computer science degree compared to other STEM disciplines like biology, engineering, chemistry, etc. Personally, I think the main reason is that programming has always been predominantly a male field. There is the geek culture and the love of video gaming that comes along with it, which further reinforces the perception. Although a lot more women are pursuing CS as a major recently, I hope that the preconceived notion that computer science is exclusive to men will wear off over time.

To be honest with you all, I’ve been holding off on watching Hidden Figures until I could go see it in theaters. I’m so proud of myself, for choosing to see this movie in person and not stream it illegally off the internet. While I typically have no qualms about doing so, something about this film demanded that I give my money. Maybe because it was a cast of black women, maybe it was because it was a beautiful story of perseverance and resilience. Or maybe it was because a movie made by black people, for black people requires my fiscal contribution*

While this movie accomplished its mission to normalize black women in stem fields, it always reminded me of the joys of sisterhood and elevated friendships. Over the course of my three years at Cornell, I’ve been privileged to surround myself with accomplished, intelligent and resourceful black women. There were too many moments, in this movie were I understood the struggle of being thought of as inadequate but thankfully I had the sisterhood to uplift me and remind me of my place at this predominately white university.

This movie should act as a call for the film industry to write more stories that highlight the hidden story of those who’ve greatly contributed to this country and to movements. I often wonder what other stories aren’t being told. I look at the movie, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. A movie like this shed enormous light on the race and class ethics of medical research.

I truly believe that great movies will always ;look to highlight the hidden life of a figure. Just recently discussing with a friend the logistics of the civil rights movement. While I know that the leaders civil rights activists and black power groups were competent to organize strategy, but who was the person drew the maps for the civil rights movement?  At a time when you couldn’t use google maps to coordinate the marches or the walkouts. Who was she or he? Who was the person that understood the city so well that they could chart a march that would bring the city to a halt, garner the most attention, and out the least amount of lives at risk.

It’s time we re-evaluate those who are writing the history of the world and why they highlight some stories over others. I hope that going forward we begin to take a critical eye to the histories we’ve come to accept as true.

*Rose actually paid for this movie. But regardless, money was going towards this movie compared to a free streaming.

I had the opportunity to view the film Hidden Figures and the listen to the discussion that followed regarding the role and growth of the STEM fields. The film was fantastic and followed the lives of women who faced much discrimination because of their race and their sex. Though these woman faced many challenges they over came their hardships and perserviered in fields that only men were thought to be able to study and do well. Despite these issues, these woman furthered the space program as well as provided role models for future young woman that have been discriminated against. The panel that followed the film discussed the role STEM fields have played and will play as society and technology advances further. Additionally, it was discussed that not as many women are involved in STEM fields as men. This film as well as the panel was very interesting and provided a lot of information as to how women, societies ideals, as well as technology have evolved and will further evolve. I do recommend that if you have not seen the film Hidden Figures, that you see it

Thursday movies, a trend this Spring semester, made me look forward to it. But I was never was this excited as to this, to watch any other movie. Hidden Figures was released early this year, and I was unable to watch it then, thus, Rose Thursday movie night offering to watch Hidden Figures were exciting. The story of these three women of color’s achievement is brilliant.
In fact, it was really motivating to mid-semester beaten up brain.
However, as another individual in the audience, pointed out right after the movie, during the Q& A session, there was a subtle but vibrant political message about racial struggles and how to fight against this oppression. This story narrative had a supervisor, who didn’t “see color” only saw talent and hard work. This individual is a savior, who saves the day for one of the main characters. In addition, the entire story was occurring in the backdrop of space mission race with Soviet, and these women of color who are treated unjustly and unequally based on their race were still displaying loyalty and patriotism. The movie gives a strong patriotic message: although these women of color were oppressed and discriminated, they believed in the system, displayed loyalty to and patriotism. And continued to work within the system.
Despite this nationalist propaganda, and the savior veneration, the movie felt definitely motivating on a Thursday night after a busy week.

I greatly enjoyed last week’s screening of Hidden Figures. I think few movies can really stir up real emotion within us, and I noticed that several other students in the theater were also moved to tears.

After reading through some of peers’ responses, I was drawn to that by Ilse in particular. I think she made several good points about how the film adopted some elements of white saviorism, by incorporating fictional white characters who assist the main three Black heroines on their way. That said, I think there are good reasons to disagree with this interpretation too.

From what I saw, a number of hostilities were clearly directed by characters such as Harrison, Mitchell, and Stafford towards Goble, Vaughan, and Jackson, ranging from passive aggression, condescension, and insensitivity. This is not even to mention the outright racism inflicted by some of the supporting or minor white characters on them. The film’s message is one of reconciliation, one that ends with the “hidden figures” largely at peace with these white leads, who eventually come to admire and respect them for their hard work. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad signal to send, especially in times of racial strife. I think it would have been worse for the film to portray every white character as a one-dimensional racist.

That said, I do think the film might unwillingly promote the idea that “hard work” can get anyone ahead, and that outside intervention might not be necessary at all. It promotes the American ideal of individualism, yes, but it relegates the civil rights movement and its social organization to the background. But then again, you can’t fit everything in one film.

While I enjoyed Hidden Figures, I was slightly uncomfortable with how the film dealt with race. Obviously, I loved seeing black women’s intellects celebrated on the big screen, but I actually felt that the movie’s portrayal of white characters was far too sympathetic. Of the four most prominent white characters (Harrison, Mitchell, Stafford, and Glenn), all four, by the end of the movie, are sympathetic towards the black main characters and take an active role in reducing discrimination against them. This feels somewhat unrealistic, given how pervasive racism was in the 60’s. In addition, much of Katherine Johnson’s achievements in the film are only accomplished because Harrison (a fictional character) goes out of his way to accommodate her. Mary Jackson only becomes an engineer because a white engineer encourages her to do so and a white judge allows her to take classes. This narrative, in the film, feels a bit too similar to the worrisome “white savior” narrative, when a work of art emphasizes how a benevolent white character cures the ills of the people of color. While it is true that these women’s accomplishments were often only possible with the aid of sympathetic white people, it is alarming that the much of the ugliness of the pervasive racism of the time is swept under the rug. This is even more concerning when you consider that both the director and the writer of the film are white.

After watching the film, I thought that perhaps the white characters had been altered from their historical counterparts in order to make them more palatable for white audiences. However, Harrison, Mitchell, and Stafford were all fictional characters created for the movie, and Katherine Johnson actually reported that she didn’t really notice segregation while at NASA. She says, “I didn’t feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research. You had a mission and you worked on it, and it was important to you to do your job…and play bridge at lunch. I didn’t feel any segregation. I knew it was there, but I didn’t feel it.” In addition, apparently John Glenn DID have a great deal of respect for Katherine, and really did specifically request that she check the numbers for his launch. All in all, despite some of the disturbing similarities to white savior narratives, it appears that the film was actually mostly accurate in its sympathetic portrayal of the white NASA employees.

This past Thursday, the Rose Scholars attended a screening of the academy award winning movie Hidden Figures at Cornell Cinema. Personally, when I heard that there was an event to watch this movie and attend a discussion session afterward, I did not hesitate to sign myself up. For various reasons, I was not able to watch this movie in theaters and getting to watch it at school, even on the pseudo bench at the very back of the theater next to another person, made the entire experience worthwhile.

I understood the gist of the movie, about the influence of black women in NASA and its impact on the advancements in exploring space. However, what I had no clue about were the lengths to which these women went to get the recognition they deserved and lay the ground for future generations of minority women. The movie was set in a segregated atmosphere, where the separation between whites and colored people remained a very evident part of society. The acting was phenomenal, to say the least, with one of the main protagonists Katherine Johnson – played by Taraji P. Henson – bringing me to tears in by expressing just how hard it was to be a single mother of three children, be more intelligent than the men she worked with and still be ostracized for her gender and race, and have to struggle with the way the world viewed her. I have never felt more empowered as a Latina woman to hold my head up high, to all the trials and discrimination that will come my way, and simply face it head on to the best of my abilities.

At the end of the screening, there was a discussion about the movie and the influence that Cornell’s math and computer science departments have had on innovations with NASA. It was crazy to learn that without Cornell math department, chances are that the first mission launch to space would either not have been possible or not have occurred when it had. Additionally, the growth of women in the field of computer science has allowed for more opportunities for women in the STEM fields to find careers in mostly male occupied professions. I hope Hollywood continues making films such as this one in the future; one’s that are based on true stories meant to motivate and wake up the youth of today to take advantage of all the privileges we have.

Hidden Figures (2016) came out at a time that appeared to be a promising transition from the first African-American president to the first female president, when the political and social tensions in this country were rising heatedly but remained very much hopeful; that not being the case, the film, like many others from recent years—Dear White People (2014), Fences (2016), Moonlight (2016)—serves as a reminder of the perpetual systematic oppression that is the historical backbone this country continues to live on. It is very refreshing to watch empowered black women on the big screen in a Hollywood production, which is rarely the case (maybe Dear White People comes close to it, but even that was an independent film that did not engage with that dialogue specifically). Hidden Figures was both informative and entertaining; it was energizing to witness these women succeed in assisting the space race in the mid-1960s as human computers and somewhat shed a heroic light on stories that oftentimes remain unrecognized. Hidden Figures not only introduces an important conversation on race but also on women in STEM field research. It is interesting to take this in light of recent changes to the Barbie doll collection which now offer Barbie’s in different shapes and sizes (tall/petite/curvy) and advertisements for kids such as the “Princess Machine” or the Verizon video that promote the messy, lab-like, building-block child’s play catered for young girls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQXZ_g2d5ao

I saw Hidden Figures for the first time over winter break and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see it for the second time at Cornell Cinema tonight. Even though I remembered the plot clearly from my first watching, I came away from tonight’s showing with a lot of new insights into the film. For one thing, it was a very different experience to see the film in a packed theater with people laughing, clapping, and commenting throughout. While I have been to many films where the audience clapped at the end, I thought it was great tonight that people clapped throughout the film after the scenes in which the protagonists stood up to the racist and sexist hierarchy they encountered at NASA.

I also found the talk and discussion after the film added a lot to my understanding of the themes the film portrays. While Hidden Figures is a very upbeat film with a typical “Hollywood ending” in which the female protagonists succeed in their career goals despite the obstacles of racism and sexism, Professor Weeden provided an important reality check on the continued lack of female and minority representation in the computer science field. I was very surprised to learn that even at Cornell, which is above the national average, only 20-some percent of computer science undergrads are women.

Additionally, I really enjoyed hearing other people’s opinions on the film as a whole in the discussion time. One person expressed the idea that parts of the film promote a white savior mentality by portraying many of the gains the women achieved as stemming from concessions from the white male establishment. While I agree that some of the scenes could be read this way, I also thought that many scenes in the film, like when one of the protagonists smuggles a book out of the segregated library so that she can teach herself computer programming, emphasized the women’s agency and initiative in securing changes in their lives. Listening to her viewpoint on the film, however, definitely encouraged me to analyze the film’s message more critically and be aware of potential issues with the portrayal of these “hidden figures.”