Steve Reviews Hidden Figures

Approximately one year ago, the nominations for Oscars were announced, and when there were no black actors or actresses nominated, the whole world cared more about oppression than it had since the sixties (or so it seemed). The demand was high for films with roles for black actors, and as luck would have it, there is a ton of diversity up for grabs this year. (More on why it isn't luck in a minute).

Hidden Figures is a film about three black women who worked for NASA in the early 1960s. There were, in fact, a whole bunch of black women who worked at NASA at the time, but because segregation was still a thing, most of them were seldom talked about, hardly praised, and never seen in a white person's bathroom. In fact, almost all the black employees were relegated to a separate wing of the NASA campus until someone needed a new secretary or something. Despite all this ridiculous treating of black women as second-class citizens, many of them were actually some of the smarter minds. There was an entire team of women that were known as "computers," because they helped do the math and check the books. "Computer" has quite a different connotation sixty years later.

Three of the women who worked at NASA in 1961 would go on to help change the world. This was a time in America when President Kennedy would do whatever it takes to beat those dirty Russians to outer space. Unfortunately, they were first, but we were bound to be better. John Glenn was going up by hook or crook, and NASA needed all the help it could get.

Dorothy, played by Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, would help to kickstart the IBM computer (machine) that made math that much faster. Mary, played by Janelle Monae, would assist the engineering team on the capsule that Glenn rode in. And Katherine, played by Taraji P. Henson, would find herself the first black woman in an all-white room of geniuses that knew math better than anyone else. Katherine's boss in the film, and a head honcho at NASA, is played wonderfully by Kevin Costner - who looks just as at-home in 1961 as he does in 1969 avenging the death of JFK.

The film is quite wonderful. It is strange to think that the America I know and love could be so divided on race, yet so joined together in the space program. We all know how the story turns out, and despite the spoilers of American history books, when things go wrong in the film, my heart beat a little faster. And when things turned out all right in the end, a tear of happiness welled up in my eyes because I was so proud of this country and it's advancements in both space technology and racial colorblindness.

Look for a Best Picture nomination, as well as nominations for Octavia Spencer and Taraji P Henson, both of whom were outstanding. Henson has shown over the last few years that she is a force to be reckoned with, and I see her holding a statue sooner than later.

So here is where I have a problem with how the history books of the next generation will read. The clamoring for diversity among Academy members began in January of 2016. There was an outcry for more roles to be cast for black actors, and a campaign to have more black actors recognized by their peers. Hidden Figures was a novel, whose film rights were sold in 2014. My point is that in many cases, it takes longer that one year to make a film, and had the black community just waited a bit, they would see that these roles were already happening.

Even more frustrating for me is that Hidden Figures is not being regarded as a great film because it's great (and it really is great). It's getting attention for it's racial content in a Hollywood that would rather pat itself on the back than recognize excellence for excellence's sake. This story did not come up in 2016. This story came up in 1961, when three brilliant mathematicians proved that skin color wasn't a requirement to excel at your profession. Why did it take over fifty years for the world to hear this story? And how can Hollywood (in particular those of color) not be completely ashamed that despite skin color not being a requirement to excel at your profession, it remains the focal point.

-Steve
1.17.2017