Hidden Figures (2016)

When I watched this movie, don’t tell me how much I was blown away by these wonderful women, how much they contributed to society becoming the way it is now.

By starting off with the title, just reading it made me want to watch it so badly. Hidden figures, meaning the important figures in history that weren’t recognised as much as they should, as told in the word ‘hidden’, tells us that anyone can be who they are, no matter the type. In this movie, 3 black women and all other people of a different colour to the white people, were persecuted, just because of the way they looked, the colour of their skin to be exact. White people at the time thought of them to be ‘dirty’ or ‘not right’, so simple things like public bathrooms, schools and just getting a seat on a bus, everyone had their privacy. The white at the front, and the black at the back (this just makes me feel that the whites don’t want to see the blacks, so putting them at the back is a sign of disrespect, telling us that the blacks were not meant to be seen).

This also tells us why it took so long for people to realise the importance of these ladies in science. No one really cared what happened to people of colour at that time. White were the highest, blacks were the lowest. No one crossed paths with each other.

Until they came along into nasa. Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.

These women are such the role-models, inspiring people to be the best person they can be, not caring about whether they are black or white, tall or short, fat or thin, different or ‘fitting for society’, everyone is special in their own way. The things they inspire us to do are:

Catherine Johnson: Follow your dreams, don’t cower just because you’re different. As she says, “Like what you do, and then you will do your best”.

Mary Jackson: be who you are, strive to be the best person you can be, stand out from the crowd. As she says, “ I plan on being an engineer at NASA, but I can't do that without taking them classes at that all-white high school, and I can't change the colour of my skin, so I have no choice, but to be the first.”

Dorothy Vaughan: be strong, e brave, go beyond your limits to do your best, strive to change the world. As she says, “ Separate and equal are two different things. Just 'cause it's the way, doesn't make it right.”