In the early 1960s, the Russians had a little head start in the race to space. NASA was still young, and its engineers used slide rules, pencils and vellum to do its designs. And humans were the “computers” who had to figure out the math.
Hidden Figures tells the story of three brilliant African-American women who worked at NASA. Each one of them with her own special skill, each with her own drive and motivation. But in those days, blacks were not allowed to use the same toilets or coffee pots as whites. The odds were against them.
This movie tells the story of what it was like behind the scenes at NASA. We all know that it was John Glenn who was the first American to orbit the earth. What we didn’t know was that up to a few days before his launch they didn’t really know how to calculate the trajectory to get him back safely to earth.
In a time when racism seems to be back on the rise and gender equality is questioned again, Hidden Figures shows us what it was like to live under such conditions. But the human spirit rises, like the rockets of old rose.
As I walked out of the theater I could not think of a single thing wrong with this film. It just felt really good.
I loved how the “computer” women adapted well to technology changing so quickly. Instead of protesting against the rise of IBM computers, they made sure to learn how to program the IMB’s which in turn created new jobs for themselves. Oddly familiar with what is going on now, right? Back to drilling instead of adapting to clean energy!
Yes, but the drillers are eventually starving out, because clean makes so much more sense.
I felt the same way! And I was fortunate enough to attend a post Q and A with Octavia Spencer and Theodore Melfi!