The story behind Hidden Figures is fascinating, even more so because it is based in fact.
During the 1960s, in the South at the time of the Civil Rights Movement, there was another war being waged in America — the fight to flight. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was desperate to get a man into space and keep Russians from getting an interstellar advantage.
The Space Race is well-documented, both in fiction and factual works, but what is surprising is the role women — in particular, black women — played in the success of early Mercury and Apollo missions.
An entire division of African-American number crunchers processed data related to the space program to make these flights possible. Three of these women were instrumental in determining the right coordinates, creating the right tools and figuring out the programming needed to put an American safely into orbit.
Hidden Figures presents Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) as three smart and determined female scientists who preservered despite facing the racist, sexist attitudes of the times.
Actors excelled at presenting the attitudes of the day, ranging from oblivious prejudice to downright nastiness. While Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) was presented as a demanding program leader who cared more about results than race, the roles of Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) and Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) were frustratingly authentic.
The fact that the main characters are based on real people who had a real impact on the space program is enough to get parents to the theaters with their children. Unfortunately, the story is only loosely based on their lives.
In the movie, the three most important black women at NASA also happen to be the best of friends, carpooling to work and supporting one another through their problems. John Glenn, made out to be the only influential astronaut of the bunch, is somehow Johnson's biggest fan. For a story based on the truth, there are times when Hidden Figures doesn’t seem that realistic.
However, that doesn’t stop the point of the movie from coming across loud and clear: Black women are smart, capable and have overcome great diversity to make significant contributions to this country. For that alone, it’s worth watching.
Rated PG for thematic elements and some language, Hidden Figures runs 127 minutes and is showing from February 3 - February 9 at the Lyric Theater.