We’re back with another movie review from Audre Myers, who is tossing in reviews of her favorite flicks whenever the mood strikes (or whenever I e-mail her asking her to contribute something).
She offers up her review of the 2016 film Hidden Figures, about three black women “computers” working for NASA. It was a darling of the critics for its frank depiction of segregation.
Unfortunately, some its iconic scenes—like the lady having to walk half-a-mile to use a segregated bathroom—are Hollywood hogwash. The segregated facilities were abolished in 1958—three years before the films setting—and while there were segregated restrooms in one part of NASA’s facilities prior to that year, they were unlabeled. Katherine Johnson, one of the titular “hidden figures,” unwittingly used the whites only bathroom for years, and ignored the one complaint that was ever issued without any further escalation.
These inaccuracies—perhaps dramatic artistic license?—don’t mean segregation wasn’t real—it certainly was—but it seems that NASA was not exactly the hotbed of segregationist sentiment that the film depicts. That makes sense—an organization reaching for the stars probably isn’t all that concerned about such earthbound issues as skin pigmentation. Besides, there are plenty of alien species we can discriminate against in the distant future.
With that, here is Audre Myers’s review of 2016’s Hidden Figures:
The Portly Politico 