Arlon Ralph I.

Campos
POL SCI 103 - Introduction to Political Theory - A40
April 27, 2020
“Hidden Figures”

(Film Analysis Essay)

People all over the world came from different races, and its very sad to think that

some races are considered inferior over others. People are labeled according to what race they

came from, and this is what they call as “Racial Discrimination”. This kind of discrimination

is not the only big deal. There are still many kinds of discrimination, and one of this is the so

called, “Gender Discrimination” wherein, women are thought and seen to be lowly beings

over men.

The first part of the movie “Hidden Figures”, made me sad but, as the movie progress,

it made me feel this very strong emotion of admiration. During the cold war, the two Rivaling

countries are competing to send a man in the space. This competition was called, “the space

race”. The NASA is the one working behind the attempt of America to be the first country to

send a man in the space. There are these three friends, Katherine Gobels, Dorothy Vaughan,

and Mary Jackson, and several Nigerian women who are working with many of history’s

greatest minds in attempting to launch an astronaut into orbit, and along with this of course is

the guaranteed safe return of the astronaut into the earth. As the Nigerian women worked in

NASA, they have experienced discriminations because of their race and gender. This is the

part of the film that will really make the viewers sad. Almost everything in America was

segregated back then. Starting from restrooms wherein white and black American’s restroom

is segregated. Blacks cannot use the white’s restroom. This seems a simple thing, but for

Katherine Gobels who was transferred from the computing group to the space task group, this

was challenging. The space task group building doesn’t have any restrooms for black, so

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Katherine needs to be out for 40 minutes a day inorder to go to the building of the computer

group wherein she can find a restroom for blacks. Later on, the head of the head of the Space

Task Group, Mr. Harrison who is a white man, showed compassion by breaking the diversity

between white and black people in NASA, saying that there is only one color in NASA.

Racial discrimination is not the only kind of discrimination in the film. There was also

Gender discrimination. Gender discrimination was manifested in many scenes of the film, but

it can be greatly understood in the scene wherein Katherine and Jim Johnson was having their

conversation, wherein Jim accidentally insulted Katherine by questioning her ability as an

employee of NASA, just because she is a woman. Given the fact that Katherine and Jim came

from a similar race, they are both black which is considered an inferior race at their time, Jim

still managed to discriminate Katherine, though it’s not really his intention. This scene shows

how lowly a woman was in the eyes of man. It can be understood that, there are still those

lower among the lowly. If the blacks are considered lowly over the white, then the black

woman are considered the lower among the lowly.

However, what made me feel great admiration in the movie was how the three friends

overcame all of these obstacles. When America is already losing the Space race, Katherine,

Mary, and Dorothy was a big help for the NASA to cope up with the achievements of Soviet

Union in sending a man to the space. Despite of the discrimination that they have

experienced, the three have proven, not only to America, but to the whole world, that they are

not just black American, and that they are not just a woman. They have proven that they got

something to be proud of. Katherine Goble Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan

are the three African-American women who served as the brains in launching a man to the

space which is one of the greatest achievement in history.

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There is a must to break the diversity between humans. It is equality that the movie

wanted us to learn. People who are considered lowly just because of their race, nationality, or

whatever it may be, cannot elevate themselves, because the problem lies in the eyes of the

people themselves. In reality, there’s no person who’s lower nor higher than the others.

People themselves are the one who set the paradigm of who’s on the top or at the bottom.

Together, people can make a change. Together, people can make a world without

discrimination, because in the end, we are all the same human beings.

The films main protagonists are of course the three mathematician women, Katherine

Gobels, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan, while the main protagonists are those people

who discriminated them, and those people who did not believe in their abilities just because

they are balck women. Vivian Mitchell and Paul Stafford belong to those antagonists.

Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy are friends who worked for NASA. All of them have

experienced abuse and discrimination to their coworkers in there, just like for example,

Vivian Mitchell who is a strict supervisor of the computing group. Vivian Mitchell always

challenges the black women in the computing group, especially Dorothy, who acts as the

head of the Nigerian women in there. Dorothy believes that she’s not getting promotion

because of the doings of Vivian Mitchell who supervised them. Another one is Paul Stafford

who always discriminate Katherine right in their work place.

It can also be considered that the main antagonist in the film is the society. It is

because, the whole society during those times judge people according to the race on which

they came from. During those years in the movie, there is what they call as racial segregation,

wherein people are separated in their daily lives according to what race they came from.

Example of this is the restroom, wherein black and white’s restroom are separated. Even

schools are segregated back then. There are schools that are exclusive only for white, and

there are schools that are exclusive only for black Americans. It can be remembered that

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segregated schools was once a problem to Mary Jackson on getting his promotion. She needs

additional lectures to get his promotion as an engineer in NASA however, there’s no school

who accepts black in there. Schools nearby are only exclusive for white Americans. This

racial discrimination is undoubtedly a racial discrimination, however, their society accepts it

that time, so the society can be considered as, antagonist. In the end, even if the society was

harsh on their race and ethnicity, the three black women had contributed a lot on one of

America’s greatest achievement of all time. This made them earn the respect of many white

American’s.

The political dimensions that can be identified in the movie are the black and white

Americans. Black and white Americans are segregated back then. The two don’t have equal

rights and privileges. The scene in the movie wherein the black people are rallying in the

street demanding for equal rights between the black and white is an evidence of inequality

that is happening in their society. White enjoys more privileges than the black ones. Another

scene that proves this is the scene wherein Katherine Gobels have limited access to the Space

Task Group despite of her great contribution. However, in the end, Mr. Harrison granted

Katherine the Identification card which allows her to have more access and to move more

freely around the Space Task Group.

Among the characters in hidden figures, whom I admired the most are the three

mathematicians. I feel admiration towards them because they have managed to excel in a

harsh environment where they are seen to be inferior over others. Katherine, Mary, and

Dorothy proved that they got something in them. Not just a simple thing, but a thing that have

greatly contributed to America’s greatest achievement. The three mathematicians remained

strong despite of all the discrimination that they have experienced; I hated lot of characters in

the film, but the characters I hated the most was Vivian Mitchell, who served as the

supervisor of the computing group, and Paul Stafford, who is a co-employee of Katherine in

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the Space Task Group. Among all the characters who showed discrimination to the Nigerian

who’s working in NASA, Vivian and Paul are the characters who discriminated them the

most; I loved the Character of Mr. Al Harrison who showed sympathy to the Nigerian woman

in NASA. Mr. Harrison portrays a strict head of the Space Task Group, but a man with heart.

Mr. Harrison broke the diversity between white and black in NASA, by saying, “here at

NASA, we all have the same color”; In the film, I pitied the black Americans and also those

who discriminates them. I pity black Americans because back then, they are like a trash who

are being segregated from the white Americans. They experience discrimination everywhere

in their own country. On the other hand, I pity those who discriminates them because they do

not know who they are discriminating. I pity them because they discriminate the blacks, but

in the end, they owe big to them, for the women who made America cope up with Soviet

Union in the Space Race came from the black race.

There is an unfair treatment and discrimination in the film in terms of sexual

orientation, race, ethnicity, and nationality. First is the sexual orientation. Though Katherine

and Jim ended up in marriage, their first meeting was not that pleasant. It is because

Katherine got insulted by Jim unintentionally when he questioned the ability of Katherine

being a woman working in NASA. However, empowerment of women is also present in the

movie, and it can be seen in the character of Katherine who has able to raise her three

daughters as a single mom. Race, ethnicity, and nationality was also addressed clearly in a

negative manner; black being inferion over white Americans. However, the discrimination on

the black Americans, especially to the women, was replaced with respect, when America had

successfully sent a man into space, and brought him back to earth safely, with the great

contribution of the three black Woman, Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy.

The triumph of the United States in their Space Program is a great achievement that

will forever be remembered, so as the people who made it happen, especially the three black

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American women who served as the brain behind it. The three black American woman did

not only become successful in contributing greatly for the Space Project, but also became

successful in earning America’s respect for their race.