As we walked into the theater, I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed because we were there about 5 minutes before the time the movie was set to begin. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the get-there- 20-minutes-ahead type but I am usually picky about my seat.
Walking in and seeing that the theater was packed was kind of surprising. Other than a couple of scattered seats here and there, only the dreadful neck straining rows at the front were available. Luckily, we still managed to get seats to the side, some rows up. I’m always intrigued to see the attendance at a movie and how diverse the crowd is in regards to sex, age and especially race. I usually get to see movies that I’m interested in no later than two weeks after they’ve been released so I get a good sample of the viewing crowd. I was surprised to see how many non-black people went to see N.W.A’s Straight Out of Compton and yet they still couldn’t get an Oscar nomination, #OscarsSoWhite. Two weeks prior, I had watched Denzel Washington’s masterpiece, Fences. Though I was in in Ontario where the diversity is higher, there still weren’t as many blacks I had hoped to see in the theater. There’s nothing wrong with anyone watching any kind of movie, you’re free to watch whatever you want. I just wished that we would be more supportive of the art and works produced by our race.
This time, I was there to watch Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe slay it in Hidden Figures. I must say I am ashamed to admit the fact that I did not know about the 3 extraordinary women they were portraying in this film until previews started rolling out late last year. You see, before it became a major motion picture, this fine historical event was accounted for by Author Margot Lee Shetterly in her novel called Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Margot took the responsibility upon herself to help the world know about three women –Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan – who had a large impact on Astronaut John Glen’s flight as the first American to orbit the Earth. Of course, these women were known by a few but when it comes to things like the first American in space, we tend to focus more on the Astronaut than the people who got him there.
As I watched the movie I cried, laughed, kissed my teeth and sometimes made the saltiest comments under my breath. I’m not stranger to racism and the history and lives of Black Americans especially during the Jim Crow Era but I just can’t help but always feel pissed when I watch such. I remember hearing the loud gasps from the theatre audience when they saw labels like colored drinking fountains and bathrooms and colored seats in a class room. But the one that got them the most was when the white men got a separate percolator for Katherine and labeled it as colored so that she wouldn’t pour coffee for herself, into her own mug, from their massive coffee dispenser. That’s the one that took the audience by surprise while I just went “tsk, tsk” and sighed. Of course, my favourite scenes were ones with Janelle Monáe’s strength and sass, Taraji’s resilience and Octavia’s leadership; representing the fine attributes of Mary, Katherine and Dorothy respectively.
I give this movie five stars for many reasons. The first reason was because it made me cry; not that I don’t usually cry for good movies but the tears I shed that night were special. The feeling in my heart was not anger or sadness but more of joy, determination and pride, especially as a black woman. I felt like because of what these women did, I could honestly do anything. I saw them as heroes who defied all the barriers created in their work and for their race especially as Mary Jackson was the first Black Female Engineer at NASA. I saw these women as powerful. They gave me a whole new sense of self and ability to go beyond any so-called limit defined by man. This movie also gets 5 stars because of its ability to tell a story. I don’t like films that don’t give enough background information on the characters as you embark on a journey with them. Seeing as Katherine was the main character, there was focus on her childhood and her growth which showed us how she got to where she is. By the way, Mrs. Johnson is still alive and well today at 98. Finally, the film did an impeccable job of discussing racism and the fight and struggle against segregation during the Jim Crow Era in such subtle but continuous ways that got your attention and caused an outpour of empathy from a non-black audience. Though I believe in being as raw and as honest about the history of the Black Man, in films like this, a softer but still effective approach is necessary and they did just that. Thank you to the amazing actors, the writer or the novel and the writer of the script, the producers and director and everyone else who was involved in the conception and production of this beautiful story. Most importantly, thank you to the women who lived it.
Images credit: Foxmovies
