Have you ever asked yourself why there is racism in the world?  There are answers to that question, but they involve a whole lot of history into which I will not be getting at this time.  Instead, I will point this review in a couple other directions.  First, is there racism in the animal kingdom?  Does a squirrel look at a chicken and say I am better than you because you are not a squirrel?  I would further point out to you that anything we think we know about the so-called “races” has been invented by somebody at some point in time.  I promise that is as historical as I will get, at least with this paragraph.  I am talking today about the film Hidden Figures (2016), so I cannot entirely get around the subject.  Yet, the film underscores my thesis.  If an African American were incapable of the complex mathematics required to send a person into space and bring them back safely, then there would practically be no National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  In the twentieth century (and today, sadly), prejudicial so-called thinking would say that such a person, and a woman to boot, could not make such calculations, yet this movie and reality prove otherwise.

Young Katherine Goble (Lidya Jewett) is one of those Hidden Figures that shall prove the absurdity of racism, and we see her talents come to the fore as a child.  Simply put, she is a prodigy and her talents are recognized at an early age.  As such, it is not surprising that as a grownup (Taraji P. Henson) in 1961, her and two co-workers and friends are carpooling to their jobs at NASA.  The others are equally talented, though gifted in other ways.  The younger, Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), has aspirations of being an engineer, and Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer), their boss in all but name, also has a knack for mechanics.  Between the three of them, the blown starter on their car is no problem.  The only trouble is from a police officer, but he softens when he learns of their employer and escorts them the rest of the way to NASA’s Langley headquarters.  Upon their arrival, Katherine and Mary get new assignments.  The former is to be a new “computer” (basically a mathematician) in Al Harrison’s (Kevin Costner) Space Task Group (STG) office, whose job it is to make sure all the calculations for their missions are correct.  Mary is to work with Karl Zielinski (Olek Krupa), an engineer attempting to make sure the capsule housing the astronauts does not burn up on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.  While each feel like promotions of sorts, particularly in Dorothy’s eyes, Katherine and Mary experience clear boundaries from the start.  Then again, Dorothy has her own issues.  Her supervisor, Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst), treats the African American women laboring in the building with that polite white haughtiness that reinforces racial hierarchy without being overtly rude about it.  The main contention between Dorothy and Vivian is the former’s lack of a manager’s title despite being in that type of position.  Each of our three women have a response to their treatment, and I will give some time to each of them.  For Dorothy, instead of acting indignant (which is brave in and of itself), she learns how to operate the new International Business Machines (IBM) electronic computer being installed, a device that even its so-called experts cannot get to function properly.  After stealing a book from the local library (which she does because the tome in question came from the “white section”) on computer programming, and spending some time after hours tinkering with the machine, she comes to operate it better than anyone in the building.  She then teaches it to the rest of her African American staff.  With NASA sending men into orbit in order to compete with the Soviet Union’s cosmonauts, Dorothy’s exploits speed up the calculations in time for John Glenn’s (Glenn Powell) to become the first American to orbit the Earth.  Of course, that would not have happened without Katherine.  Despite the misgivings of other STG staff, primarily head engineer Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), she gradually becomes more integral to Al’s group.  Paul’s primary complaint is that this woman, after demonstrating her talent to Al, is asked to correct everyone else’s math, including Paul’s.  At many junctures, he tries to sabotage her numbers, and even take credit for her calculations.  It is Al who continues to be her defender, such as when he insists on taking out the segregated bathrooms instead of having her travel a mile roundtrip to use the facilities and miss time at her desk.  Another example is when he has her come into the classified briefings for John’s upcoming launch so she can have the most up-to-date information to do her math.  Finally, on the actual date of that launch, John requests that she make the last-minute calculations, and Al insists she stay for the blast off.  Then, with Mary, she finds that her path to joining the engineering staff is blocked not only by the color of her skin, but by NASA’s new educational requirements.  In order to take the necessary courses, she must petition her local Virginia court to allow her to attend classes with white students.  It all culminates with John’s planned orbits.  While circling the globe, an emergency light comes on indicating a malfunction with the heat shield.  We see Mary watching on television, coming up with the solution that Al almost simultaneously relays to the control room.  That order is encouraged by Katherine in the moment.  And, having pulled over to look to the skies in anticipation of the event, we see Vivian as excited as every other American that the mission worked.

Yes, it is fair to say at that time that Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary are Hidden Figures at NASA, but in the end, they are Americans like anyone else.  The same concept can be applied to all of us in the eyes of God.  We are His children, which is yet another reason why racism is so utterly stupid.  Please forgive me for using such language because I am sensitive to being called that myself.  At the same time, as history and this movie repeatedly demonstrate, to denigrate a group of people based on their color or creed is absolutely without basis.  I find that as I get older and grow in my Faith, I am more deeply moved by such stories.  Indeed, while watching this film, I felt myself moved to tears in scenes that might not have called for waterworks.  Part of this is my knowledge of these events, even if the movie does take quite a few liberties with the historical record.  At the same time, I know the attitudes of some white people on display existed, and are still around to this day, sadly.  Because the immorality of the situation is so blindingly obvious, it upsets me to see it happening.  What is one to do?  It is a question I discussed today with my spiritual director regarding the parallel issues of our own day.  I went on with my spiritual director about how I feel God has blessed me with talents to be able to do something positive for society, and I feel The Legionnaire is a small contribution to that end.  At the same time, he emphasized to me the importance of prayer.  It is the most effectual thing anyone can do in any situation, especially if you give yourself over to it.  I am also pleased to say that it is a part of our three heroines lived experiences.  They each go to church (regrettably not Catholic, though), pray with their children, and thank God for their blessings.  In many respects, that is all we need to do in the eyes of God.

Still, it does not matter whose eyes you use to watch Hidden Figures, there are some puzzling historical inaccuracies in it.  I do not wish to get into them, but they are also not the point of the film.  As stated, racism was prevalent in 1961, and the film does a pretty good job of conveying those challenges in its own way.  Thus, this one gets my recommendation.