. During the shoot, Costner got kidney stones. Although Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson were great leaders, they could not create greatness by themselves. The women behind the story depicted in Hidden Figures showed us all the power of One. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016[5] and received various awards and nominations, including three nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. She is extremely pragmatic and fiercely devoted to her church and her children. Katherine Johnson was not a leader by position or title, but she was an influential leader nonetheless. Purchasing A critical point in the film is when Al Harrison turns to the fictional character, Paul Stafford, and tells him that his job is to find the one genius who can help them find the answers they seek. 7. Even though Katherine Johnson, in this role, was a hero, there were so many others that were required to do other kinds of tests and checks to make [Glenn's] mission come to fruition. for a customized plan. Al Harrison : You mean Katherine? Good things dont come to those who wait, but to the One who negotiates, creates, and advocates. I was blown away by the story, and thats why I wanted to be a part of the film.. She not only taught herself how to code the new computer but taught her entire team. 09 Mar. When Al works alongside Katherine and learns that the colour of her skin and gender does not define what she can do, he uses his power to eliminate the discrimination within the workplace and challenges his employees to abandon societal norms. Hidden Figures grossed for $326 million worldwide. [26], Katherine Johnson worked mostly in Langley's West Area, not the East Area working mainly in Building 1244 starting in mid-1953, and remaining in 1244 even after joining the Space Task Group, through at least the early 1960s and John Glenn's historic flight.[27][28][29]. Henson. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Most African American people in the 1950-1960s were segregated and had to put up with unequal systems involving school, housing, employment and hospitals. Levi Jackson was a civil rights activist who struggled with his wife's efforts in pursuing a career as an engineer and balancing her home life. [68] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $95.55 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it one of the top twenty most profitable release of 2016. She comes to Langley around 20 years after the other featured women, and her research into sonic boom minimization is used in aerodynamics today. In Donald Bogle's book, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, he discusses how black women in the 1980's rarely had a chance to have . Read 1 discussions on Al Harrison's personality in Hidden Figures (2016) (Movies). Among its many achievements, Octavia Spencer was particularly lauded for her portrayal of Dorothy Vaughan and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Recognizing that the society treats Katherine unequally as the colour of her skin is darker than others, Al works hard to ensure that Katherine begins to be treated as an equal in the Space Task Force. Mary Jackson was a feisty woman. on 50-99 accounts. During the time the movie was based on, Jim Johnson is Katherine Johnson's love interest and later on becomes her husband. Release Dates She becomes the first Black woman on the team; head engineer Paul Stafford is especially dismissive. I loved her defiant spirit! Pearl Young is the NACAs first female engineer and the founder of the organizations rigorous editorial review process for research reports. Dorothy Vaughn showed up to be the boss who brings others with her AND get to be the boss. Like Howard Vaughan, he also works as a bellman at a luxury hotel. When a librarian scolds her for visiting the whites-only section, Dorothy takes a book about Fortran and teaches herself and her West Area co-workers programming. "[79] Eric Kohn of IndieWire argues that the film "trivializes history; as a hagiographic tribute to its brilliant protagonists, it doesn't dig into the essence of their struggles"[80] and similarly, Paul Byrnes concludes that "When a film purports to be selling history, we're entitled to ask where the history went, even if it offers a good time instead."[81]. Professor Claytor, a Black man, creates advanced classes especially for Katherine Coleman and encourages her to attend graduate school. She stood in the gap for her team and made sure they would not be left behind. Fictional Characters. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs Mary faced the choice of being denied or being the One. A statistician and theorist, Stafford has no interest in giving up his white male privileges. [49][50], After Hidden Figures was released on December 25, 2016, certain charities, institutions and independent businesses who regard the film as relevant to the cause of improving youth awareness in education and careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, organized free screenings of the film in order to spread the message of the film's subject matter. She ultimately receives a doctorate in engineering and succeeds in writing code that is still used today. Remind yourself that you do belong. Both are set during the Great Depression between the early 1930s to the late 1960s. Some of the screenings were open to all-comers, while others were arranged to benefit girls, women and the underprivileged. I failed pre-calc," Henson said. Youll have to run long distances in the rain in high heels and a skirt holding all your files to be able to do what you need to do. So it's very upsetting that we still have to have this conversation. He helps make, A. Philip Randolph is an African-American Civil Rights leader and labor organizer who fights for equal rights for African-American workers. Gloria Champine is a female mathematician at Langley who advances from a clerical position in the Dynamic Loads Division to a job as Technical Assistant to the Division Chief of Space Systems, a role that had previously only been held by men. Being the one to buck authority takes courage of great testicular fortitude, but someone has to be the One to do it. Melvin Butler is the personnel officer at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory who opens the doors to the facilitys earliest black female mathematicians. Al Harrison, Katherine's boss says to her, "What I'm asking everyone in that room to do, all my geniuses, is to look beyond the numbers. The movie also incorrectly shows NASA flight controllers monitoring live telemetry from the Soviet Vostok launch, which the Soviet Union would not have been sharing with NASA in 1961. She confronted her supervisor about this inequity and was summarily dismissed on numerous occasions. Struggling with distance learning? This conversation between Katherine and Vivian allows the audience to predict that Katherine will not be with the Space Task Force for long, however this changes throughout the course of the movie. After recognizing Johnsons immense talent for analytic geometry, her white supervisor, Mitchell, promotes her to join Al Harrisons Space Task Group. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Glenn was unable to see the film due to his health but his family members were supportive. All of them are African-American women; the unit is segregated by race and sex. Grammy-nominated singer Janelle Mone, who portrayed Jackson in the film, said she was proud to be a part of a story so many people didn't know about. ", Vivian Mitchell, played by Kirsten Dunst, is a fictional character representing the views and attitudes of some white women in the '60s. Research indicates that by 2020, there will be 2.4 million unfilled STEM jobs. Additionally, NASA was officially desegregated in 1958 (the film takes place in 1961). One of Katherines daughters. She was a great leader. Rather than waiting on opportunity to come to her, she chose to meet opportunity head on. He hires women for the job because they are good at it and their pay is less than mens. -Graham S. Christine Darden (Also Christine Mann) is a black female aeronautical engineer who worked at the Langley Research Center for many years as a data analyst before rising to the top level in her field. Company Credits He requests that Katherine manually check the electronic computers work before his Project Mercury Mission. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States from 1913-1921 and a native Virginian. You have a civil rights issue playing out with the way African-Americans are being treated. | Katherine meets African-American National Guard Lt. Col. Jim Johnson, who voices skepticism about women's mathematical abilities. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. She works as a human computer at Langley, and is outspoken about the discrimination there. Other filming locations included several other locations in Georgia, including East Point, Canton, Monroe, Columbus, and Madison. Instead of being a powerhouse of one, she built a powerful alliance that created greater opportunity for her AND her team. One of just three Black male engineers at Langley. He led a strike that prompted President Roosevelt to sign two executive orders desegregating the defense industry. . An assistant section head at Langley. Wed love to have you back! Overall, the film received three nominations for the 89th Academy Awards in 2017, winning none: Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. John Becker is the chief of the NACAs Compressibility Division. Other stars include Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, and Glen Powell. A Leader Must Be the One Who Acts Like the Boss When They Are the Boss. He works tirelessly to secure better work opportunities for black people, including threatening to stage read analysis of A. Philip Randolph Henry Pearson : She coauthored a research report published by NASA in 1960, the first time a woman in the Flight Research Division had received credit as an author of a research report. We're all humans. John Glenn : Let's get the girl to check the numbers. John Glenn's flight was not terminated early as stated in the movie's closing subtitles. Renews May 7, 2023 It is simply not possible.[43]. Yes, sir. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. The campaign began as individual activism by Spencer, and made a total of more than 1,500 seats for Hidden Figures available, free of charge, to poor individuals and families. "[72] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Here, Johnson works alongside Vaughan and Jackson. [33][34], The Space Task Group was led by Robert Gilruth, not the fictional character Al Harrison, who was created to simplify a more complex management structure. John Glenn Allowing your team to operate fully in their gifts, talents, and genius, allows their genius to work to your advantage. Although he is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts in founding the League of Nations, he is dedicated to reinstating and preserving segregation in the Civil Service after Reconstruction. See a complete Character List for Hidden Figures, as well as in-depth analysis of its most important characters. [54], In February 2017, AMC Theatres and 21st Century Fox announced that free screenings of Hidden Figures would take place in celebration of Black History Month in up to 14 select U.S. cities (including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami). In 2015, President Obama awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom. [55] 21st Century Fox and AMC Theatres also invited schools, community groups and non-profit organizations to apply for additional special screenings to be held in their towns. [Turns to look at Katherine] In Hidden Figures, he plays Col. Jim (James) Johnson, a captain and lieutenant in the United States Army. I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it. Waiting is not a prosperity strategy. She was the head of the West Area Computers, leading a group of African-American mathematicians through crucial space projects. The main characters of Katherine Goble, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan worked at NASA and saw many opportunities for their professional growth; however, their bosses and colleagues did not offer these women support nor did they respect their dignity since they were all African-American. Al Harrison When she was finally given the opportunity for a promotion, she refused to take it unless her entire team could come along. When a woman of colour, named Katherine Johnson, begins to work for the Space Task Force, she experiences discrimination from her colleagues. He later apologizes and begins spending time with Katherine and her three daughters. | When he is showing his colleagues and staff members that Katherine can use any bathroom she would like, regardless of her skin colour, he is showing them how he wants them to treat Katherine. The girl? The school turned out to be run down and dilapidated, a hidden cost of running two parallel school systems. She chose to challenge the system and be the first. It only takes one to be the voice, the genius, the pioneer, the advocate, the leaderthe one who changes history. These attributed were showcased many times throughout the film Hidden Figures. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. The Women of NASA set was released November 1, 2017. Hidden Figures features several other prominent actors in supporting roles, including Kevin Costner as Al Harrison, Jim Parsons as Paul Stafford, Kirsten Dunst as Vivian Mitchell and Mahershala Ali as Colonel Jim Johnson. Below, read more about the cast, who they played and how the actors prepared for their role. He is able to help Katherine receive the respect she deserves. It was an inspiring story that brought me to tears, made me laugh, but most of all made me think. [6] Allison Schroeder wrote the script, which was developed by Gigliotti through Levantine Films. "Civil Rights Movement.". Although these women were discriminated against by the colour of their skin, they did not let it affect their capabilities and were determined to achieve their personal goals. She is extremely bright, and she finds herself frustrated when the intelligence that landed her. : While Melfi may have included this part of the story to shed light on the reality of segregation in other areas of the country at the time, the addition of this story line strays from what Johnson actually experienced at NASA. One of the many poignant scenes in the movie is when Al Harrison notices Katherine Johnson is not at her desk and complains how often that occurs. Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Costner | based on the book 'Hidden Figures' by Margot Lee Shetterly For better or for worse, there is history, there is the book and then there's the movie. Club comments that "lack of surprise is in this movie's bones. She is inspired to use "her knack for numbers and all things analytical" to pursue a degree in the sciences at Hampton Institute, Virginia. Marys husband. Quit playing small. The film sheds light on issues the Black community faces that are especially relevant today, including workplace discrimination and the experience of having accomplishments diminished in favor of their white counterparts. There. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! The end of the film provides a glimpse into what the real Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson went on to accomplish. Other major characters, who portray the mostly white staff at NASA, have a significant role in the movie. A Leader Must Be the One to Advocate for Others. This is in result of Als power instructing his employees to not treat Katherine any differently. A critical point in the film is when Al Harrison turns to the fictional character, Paul Stafford, and tells him that his job is to find the one genius who can help them find the answers they seek. I didnt even know computers were people before they were computers, she said. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. You just have to act like one, sir. However the next day, final figures revealed the film tallied a weekend total of $22.8 million, beating Rogue One's $21.9 million. Due to the creative liberties Melfi takes with the plot of Hidden Figures, it is hard to establish what Johnsons actual experience at NASA was like versus what Melfi thought would make for an inspiring film. Yes, sir, the smart one.