Inspiring Lives Magazine Spring 2017: Issue 4 | Page 53

MOVIE REVIEW
HIDDEN FIGURES
By Nicole Narvaez Manns
fountains were still in place, these three brilliant minds
worked together to calculate the figures needed to
ultimately get our U.S. astronauts into space. Johnson,
in particular, became a key player in providing the
calculations needed to change the game at NASA. The
movie opened showing how gifted Johnson was with
numbers as a child and how she progressed to be one of
the most brilliant minds of our time. She was not only
an amazing mathematician but a beloved wife, mother,
and daughter, as well.
Mary Jackson’s story was equally compelling as the
movie highlighted her drive to become the first black
female engineer at NASA. Watching her present her
case to the powers that be and diligently focus on her
goal touched me in more ways than one, as a woman
who strives to defy the odds myself. She was the feisty
go-getter who addressed injustice in a time when it was
safer to be quiet.
D
epending on which study or article you read, a
woman either can or can’t have it all.
No matter what, there is no denying being
a female in the current world is stressful. Managing a
job, family, and other passions and interests can leave
anyone a mess, wondering how to gain more hours in
the day. It can make one wonder “How do others do it?”
I was born in 1971, just 10 short years from when the
eye-opening feature Hidden Figures was set. This movie,
starring Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated actresses,
showcased three African American women working as
mathematicians for NASA in the segregated 1960s.
Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Mary Jackson
(Janelle Monáe), and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer)
were friends who shared their personal lives, as well
as triumphs and disappointments, as black women
working not only in a male-dominated, but also largely
white environment at NASA, in Hampton, Va. While
“colored only” bus sections, lunch counters, and water
SPRING 2017
INSPIRING LIVES
53