Film Review: Hidden Figures Makes Me Love History For A Change
When you look back at human history , it is written according to human violence. War after war is listed, and it can be depressing. You wonder if there was ever a time when we all got along for a higher goal. Hidden Figures succeeds as a film because it shows the secret moments in history when we left behind the socially constructed labels that divided humanity to work together and reach the moon.
Did I crying Hidden Figures? Yes. Yet, I did not always cry because, undoubtedly, the film approaches the struggles of being black, a woman, and very smart, which can feel like a burden when the world treat you so stupidly. Many times Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) are made less when they are so much more, which is why you walk away from the film cheering them on. They are sweet, bright, and living in a world eager to explore the universe without having fully realized the potential that lies in its own time and space. These three women worked in a segregated office in NASA assuring that astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) could safely make an entire orbit around the earth. It is a weird thing to be working for others and their dream when you are treated like you do not have any, yet the film does well to assure that this grim aspect does not overpower these women’s grand hearts.
Henson, Spencer, and Monáe, who I reviewed in Moonlight, are spectacular in this film. They are so warm with their love and intelligence for the script and characters; elevating these same qualities throughout the film. You never stop feeling, even in their most pained moments, that these women wanted to be apart of history, not for fame, money, or glory, but out of humanity. Here they were working for NASA, and having their minds and hearts used for it biggest mission ever, but treated as if the world wanted everything from them except them. Yet, the film ends with hope and lesson that if we work together, we may find that we like each other beyond skin, gender, and even intellect. We will find that what bonds humanity is the goodness of its spirit, which is a layered experience: not a labeled one.
I would highly recommend Hidden Figures to feel good, and learn more about our history, not simply as a country, but as humanity. I wonder, if we had more true stories like this film, would humanity, as a species, be more open to being compassionate. Hidden Figures soars because it is empowering to see history not according to the violence we enact towards each other, but the peace and love that is moved when we come together. I truly wish human history documented itself more according to its triumphs like this fantastic film. Hidden Figures Is Out In Theatres.
