The true story of hidden figures and the women who crunched the numbers for nasa while telling the story of three unknown space heroes, hidden figures also reveals a greater truth about nasa. Today, nasa strives to make sure their legacy of inclusion and excellence lives on. The character of mary jackson in hidden figures from. Hidden figures cast, info, trivia famous birthdays. Hidden figures tells the story of a group of dedicated female. Hidden figures is a 2016 american biographical drama film directed by theodore melfi and written by melfi and allison schroeder. Mar 10, 2017 inside science the oscarnominated movie hidden figures brought significant attention to the accomplishments of katherine johnson, mary jackson and dorothy vaughan three africanamerican women who worked for nasa during the space race. The story of the women who calculated flight trajectories that helped john. Hidden figures is engaging, entertaining and enlightening but the screenplays fast and loose approach to historical fact risks blunting some of the movies eyeopening, emotional force. What are the historical inaccuracies in the movie hidden. It is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by margot lee shetterly. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. Dec 18, 2016 in preparation for the 2017 release of 20th century foxs new motionlength film hidden figures, here are five awesome facts i learned from my interview with the author of the bestselling novel, hidden figures.
I am not in the movie, but i am in the book, she told a george washington university lehman. Hidden figures takes liberties with real life facts. Real life john glenn in his spacesuit movie john glenn 2. The real story of hidden figures and nasas women computers. February 16, 2017 i saw hidden figures in a suburban theater surrounded by baby boomers, and many were openly weeping by the movie s end. Revealing the inspirational untold story of female africanamerican mathematicians working at nasa during the 1960s, the film hidden figures is based on a book by margot lee shetterly. That might seem like a classic moviemagic scene that fictionalized a.
I might have felt more secure in that decision, and certainly would have had better ideas on how to handle some of the thorny racial situations into which i found myself. The book itself takes place from the 1930s through the 1960s when women were still viewed as inferior to men. The true story of hidden figures history smithsonian. The book and movie hidden figures celebrate the contributions of africanamerican human computers who performed mathematical equations and calculations in the early days of the u. Discussing hidden figures with students arbitrarilyclose. As seen in the movie hidden figures, nasa has a longstanding cultural commitment to excellence that is largely driven by data, including data about our people.
He was created to represent certain racist and sexist attitudes that existed during the 1950s. May, 2017 hidden figures, the movie, is set in the langley memorial aeronautical laboratory in hampton va. To my surprise, this was also shetterlys first time seeing the final version of the film. Women who helped win the space race, that was the source of the movie. The book and movie hidden figures celebrate the contributions of africanamerican human computers who performed mathematical equations and. Chapter 15 quotes the morning of october 5 was the official dawn of the space age, the public debut of mans competition to break free of the bonds of terrestrial gravity and travel, along with all.
It is loosely based on the nonfiction book of the same name by margot lee shetterly about black female mathematicians who worked at the national aeronautics and space administration nasa during the space race. I am not in the movie, but i am in the book, she told a george washington university lehman auditorium audience packed. Monroe native christine darden was one of hidden figures. The movie follows the story of three women involved in the race to propel mankind into space this competition is now closed. Instead, hidden figures is a straightforward, satisfying tale of triumph, and its full of warmth and crowdpleasing scenes that its excellent cast lends spirit and verve to. Henson, janelle monae, and octavia spencer, tells the. The character of dorothy vaughan in hidden figures from. Hidden figures is the incredible untold story of katherine johnson taraji p. Dec 27, 2016 hidden figures depicts the same nasa history as shown in the right stuff, but with a different focus. The breakout film hidden figures made waves recently for shining a light on the untilnow largely unsung work of black female mathematicians during the space race. The three stars are all fantastic, with henson clearly enjoying playing genius, widowed mother katherine. Meet nasa pioneer katherine johnson before her movie comes out newsy duration.
There is a scene in the new feature film hidden figures. The space task group watches a newsreel about russias launch of sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of hidden figures by margot lee shetterly. Hidden figures is not just a story of empowerment for women and people of color, but to a lesser extent for mathematicians. Yesterday, i gave students a printed copy of this article. Create marketing content that resonates with prezi video. Hidden figures is a 2016 american biographical drama film directed by theodore melfi and. February 16, 2017 i saw hidden figures in a suburban theater surrounded by baby boomers, and many were openly weeping by the movies end. For those unfamiliar, kevin costners character, al harrison, tears down a colored girls bathroom sign in a dramatic scene. Watching hidden figures i thought about how i would have felt had i seen this movie 30 years ago, when i made the decision to study math and computer science. Dec 12, 2016 hidden figures is an upcoming 2016 biographical comedydrama film directed by theodore melfi from a screenplay cowritten with allison schroeder. In factchecking the hidden figures movie, we learned that white collar statistician paul stafford, portrayed by jim parsons, is a fictional character.
Based on the nonfiction book by margot lee shetterly, hidden figures is the true story of three africanamerican women who worked for nasa in the 1950s and 60s. Hidden figures, the inspiring new film about the africanamerican women. Henson, dorothy vaughan octavia spencer and mary jackson janelle monaebrilliant africanamerican women. Sep 28, 2017 hidden figures deleted scene mary confronts levi in the barn duration. Hidden figures is the incredible untold story of katherine g. Hidden figures tells the true story of the historymaking triumphs of three female african american nasa mathematicians. Movies like hidden figures if you like hidden figures you are looking for inspirational, exciting and sincere movies about with nasa, mathematics, racism, discrimination, space program, racial segregation and african american woman themes of biography, drama and history genre shot in. Their individual success stories were shaped in part by the shifting economic, social and political landscape in the u.
Henson, octavia spencer, janelle monae, kevin costner. The american dream and the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race, margot lee shetterly. In the ensuing discussion, leaders worry that the soviets access to space could allow them to spy on america. The book and movie hidden figures celebrate the contributions of.
The film rights to this movie were bought while margot lee shetterly was still working on the book, hidden figures. Hidden figures, the movie, is set in the langley memorial aeronautical laboratory in hampton va. Sep 08, 2016 the true story of hidden figures, the forgotten women who helped win the space race a new book and movie document the accomplishments of nasas black human computers whose work was. In preparation for the 2017 release of 20th century foxs new motionlength film hidden figures, here are five awesome facts i learned from my interview with the author of the bestselling novel, hidden figures. One of nasas human computers, katherine johnson performed the complex calculations that enabled humans to successfully achieve space. This movie shows the struggle of feminists in 1960s and also exposes how feminism has changed for the worse. Jan 12, 2017 hidden figures is the true story of three africanamerican mathematicians and the key role they played at nasa. Her story is depicted in the 2016 movie hidden figures. Inside science math plays a starring role in the movie hidden figures, which is nominated for three oscars, including best picture, at this weekends academy awards. Americas disappearing potential for unity by gary thompson, movie critic, posted. The math behind hidden figures why stem is important and.
The first african americans to work at nasa were women. Superb performances across the board and a fascinating story alone make hidden figures a solid, an accomplished and deftly executed movie. Nasa engineer christine darden is often asked which movie star played her in the motion picture hidden figures, the film about african american women who worked as human computers during the era of the space race. Henson, dorothy vaughan octavia spencer and mary jackson janelle monaebrilliant africanamerican women working at nasa, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history.
Christine darden is one of nasas hidden figures gw. The story of a team of female africanamerican mathematicians who served a vital role in nasa during the early years of the u. Dec 19, 2016 i first met the author of hidden figures, margot lee shetterly a native of hampton virginia at a screening of the movie hosted by the ms. In the film, he thwarts every effort katherine taraji p. Hidden figures depicts the same nasa history as shown in the right stuff, but with a different focus. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Hidden figures is engaging, entertaining and enlightening but the. Foundation for women, lenny letter and, essence magazine.
There is a scene in the new feature film hidden figures where octavia spencer. You didnt see her in the movie hidden figures, which focuses on the pioneering work of three africanamerican women. The true story of hidden figures history smithsonian magazine. Hidden figures movie vs the true story of katherine johnson, nasa. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48. The hidden figures quotes below are all either spoken by mary jackson or refer to mary jackson. They served as human computers, doing complex mathematics and engineering tasks to help launch the manned spaceflight program particularly, sending astronaut john glenn glen powell into. Henson, dorothy vaughan octavia spencer and mary jackson. Hidden figures movie vs the true story of katherine.
Johnson, won the mtv movie award for best hero and the naacp image award for outstanding actress in a motion picture. Hidden figures the book gives some of that history, but i would also recommend reading reconstruction by eric foner and the warmth of other suns by isabel wilkerson to expand the view back to end of the civil war. Few people read nonfiction books, so seeing hidden figures is the minimum. Hidden figures 2017 rotten tomatoes movie trailers.
We just finished watching hidden figures in all my classes and today was devoted solely to discussing the movie. Hidden figures the movie, scheduled for general release on january, 2017, has assembled an allstar cast to bring the story of katherine johnson, dorothy vaughan and mary jackson three african american women working as mathematicians at nasa to life. Exploring the math in hidden figures inside science. The true story of hidden figures, the forgotten women who helped win the space race a new book and movie document the accomplishments of nasas black human computers whose work was. The movie follows the story of three women involved in the race to propel humankind into space. In a world of hollywood blockbusters filled with explosions and fancy cgi, its really pretty cool to see a movie like hidden figures perform so well despite the story being dependent on a subject most americans hate. The story of the africanamerican women who helped win the space race, that was the source of the movie. Katherine johnson also mentions how she never ran back and forth between buildings the way the movie portrayed. Feb 03, 2017 the true story of hidden figures and the women who crunched the numbers for nasa while telling the story of three unknown space heroes, hidden figures also reveals a greater truth about nasa. The hidden figures quotes below are all either spoken by dorothy vaughan or refer to dorothy vaughan.
Hidden figures takes liberties with real life facts the. Nasa honors hidden figures icon katherine johnson with new. Inside science the oscarnominated movie hidden figures brought significant attention to the accomplishments of katherine johnson, mary jackson and dorothy vaughan three africanamerican women who worked for nasa during the space race. Hidden figures is an upcoming 2016 biographical comedydrama film directed by theodore melfi from a screenplay cowritten with allison schroeder. John glenn wasnt that young when he went into space.
On march 1, 2016, kevin costner was cast in the film to play the fictional head of. Facts about the women highlighted in hidden figures. But hidden figures remains a crowdpleaser because the main characters, while faced with insidious daytoday discrimination segregated bathrooms, offices, libraries, schools, dont endure the kind of horrific violence depicted in selma. The man in charge demands that al harrison kevin costner get them up there because they cant justify the cost of a space. Set in 1960s hampton, virginia, the three women use their mathematical skills to help. Three things you can learn from the film hidden figures. Five reasons why katherine johnson, subject of hidden. The american dream and the untold story of the black women who helped win the space race is a 2016 book writen by margot lee shetterly.
The character of christine mann darden in hidden figures. Hidden figures, a movie about three africanamerican women pioneers at nasa, was slated for worldwide release friday. Their individual success stories were shaped in part by the shifting economic, social and political. These incredible women were among nasas human computers, handcalculating the flight trajectories of some of the u.