Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Hidden Figures’: NASA’s First Black Female Math Wizards

December 25, 2016 | PG | 2h 7m

There was an African-American woman in the 1960s whose math skills not only outstripped all her male rocket-scientist colleagues at NASA, but also out-computed NASA’s gigantic, room-sized IBM computer. This is how we spell role model.

Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), flanked by fellow mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) meet the man they helped send into orbit, John Glenn (Glen Powell), in "Hidden Figures." (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

Her staggeringly accurate calculations were solely responsible for sending America’s most famous astronaut into orbit and saving his life, and for keeping America from embarrassing itself in front of its heretofore superior, Cold War space-competitor, the mighty Russians.

At first glance, the movie title “Hidden Figures” appears rather blah and generic. Perhaps it should have been the titular counterpart to “Men of Honor,” about the first black Navy diver and been titled “Women of Honor,” since it’s about the first black, female mathematicians and engineers at NASA—because there wasn’t just one; there were three such math-brilliant African-American women working in the early-stage astronaut program during the Jim Crow era.

Actually, it’s a sneaky-good, word-play title: it encompasses the fact that 1) these women were able to figure out redacted numbers (figures that had been hidden from them), and 2) they were the figures responsible for putting a man into orbit, but were themselves hidden from the public eye and got no credit for their work.

The story, while decidedly formulaic, does what old-school Hollywood does well, which is to create films filled with feel-good tropes that seek to atone for America’s sexist-racist past by highlighting America’s unsung wizardly talent. Call it the singing of unsung heroes, through biopics. “Erin Brockovich“ is a good example of this: an uneducated, single mom whose astounding people skills, ability to memorize in excess of 600 phone numbers, and brilliant but untrained legal talent sniffed out big corporation machinations and saved lives.

Then there’s “The Imitation Game,” which also championed a math-wizard minority whose calculations saved millions of lives in World War II, and “Red Tails,” about the first African-American fighter pilots, whose aviation wizardry saved lives, also in WWII.

Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) offers some help to NASA mission specialist Karl Zielinski (Olek Krupa) in "Hidden Figures." (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

‘I Have No Idea Where Your Bathroom Is’

The United States was embarrassed by Russia’s space progress, and so NASA hired the highest-IQ rocket scientists (figurative and literal) it could get its hands on. As author Tom Wolfe famously related in his book “The Right Stuff,” America was collectively depressed about the situation, knowing as we did that “our rockets always blow up.”

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) started out calculating rocket trajectories for the Apollo-series moon-shots, and then later saved famous astronaut John Glenn’s hide. We first see her as a small girl, blowing the collective minds of assembled classrooms and teachers with her rarified, chalkboard math hieroglyphics. She graduated college, summa cum laude, at age 18.

When she finally gets the job at NASA, we witness her particular form of cross-bearing: long, book-and paperwork-carrying, high-heeled sprints down long halls, across vast parking lots, and up and down staircases, to the “colored only” bathroom—far, far away from her desk—only to later get bawled out for tardiness.

She suffered all that (along with a male colleague labeling an empty coffee thermos as “colored coffee”) and still managed to out-math the whole males-only moon movement. Including her manager (Kevin Costner).

NASA official Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), in "Hidden Figures." (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

Favorite scene: Katherine’s given ridiculously redacted stacks of data to check by arrogant colleagues who think their calculations don’t stink. She forthwith holds the sheets up to the light, sees through the black redaction ink, and discerns that they do in fact stink, big time.

Cream of the Crop

Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), who was Katherine’s supervisor, and their mutual friend Mary Jackson (R&B star Janelle Monáe) were also trailblazing female African-American engineers working at NASA in the capacity of “human computers,” or as they were labeled, “colored computers.” Segregation at NASA put the “colored computers” in a separate room, with lower pay and nonstop discrimination.

(L–R) Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) are three brilliant African-American mathematicians working at NASA, who were the brains behind one of the greatest space operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

Katherine’s fight to stand up for herself and her prescient, dead-on, virtuoso calculations; Mary’s court petition to get accreditation from the previously forbidden-to-Negros Hampton High School; and Dorothy’s outsmarting of segregationist librarians to acquire books on advanced Fortran computer-programming (not available in the library’s colored section) so as to avoid becoming IBM-obsolete are the film’s three narrative threads. Throw in a smidgen of romance and family.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) with her daughter, in "Hidden Figures." (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

“Hidden Figures” is largely a look at the racial tensions of the Civil Rights era, tonally similar to the “The Help,” and will most definitely provide role models for girls and minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—and especially in the character-building areas of integrity, perseverance, and communication.

Wry Humor

At times overly saccharine, “Hidden Figures” has some fun humor. In a scene reminiscent of the one in “American Sniper” where a cop stops Navy SEAL Chris Kyle for speeding and ends up giving him a police escort to the Naval amphibious base at the outset of America’s response to the 9/11 attacks, here, after the women’s car breaks down (Dorothy rolls up her sleeves and fixes it herself), an initially racist policeman gives the ladies an escort to the office upon finding out they work for NASA.

Says Mary, “We’re three Negro women chasing a white cop in 1961!” It’s highly likely “Hidden Figures” was released when it was, due to pressure on Hollywood to diversify its offerings.

Johnson, 97 years old when this film released, received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She qualifies for having her picture in the dictionary next to the definition of “rocket scientist.”

Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) in "Hidden Figures." (Hopper Stone/20th Century Fox)

‘Hidden Figures’ Director: Theodore Melfi Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst Running Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes MPAA Rating: PG Release Date: Dec. 25, 2016 Rated 3.5 stars out of 5