By Michael J. Fitzgerald, FLT
columnist
The Academy-Award nominated film
“Hidden Figures” combines a dizzying array of historical, cultural, scientific
and emotional truths, all of which indicate this movie will be a classic.
On its simplest level, “Hidden
Figures” is the tale of three black women working for NASA at the dawn of the
space age.
They were human computers, manually
doing mathematical computations in the years immediately following the former
Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik satellite, an event that touched off
the national panic that prompted the famous Space Race between the two nations.
Envision a world filled with pencils,
slide rules, electric adding machines (with paper-tape printouts) and
chalk-covered blackboards.
America also was in the grip of a
racial segregation that seems so surreal in 2017 viewers audibly gasp at some
scenes in the movie.
Equal gasps are elicited by scenes of
the three black women interacting with NASA engineers in an entirely white-male
environment, just as the first IBM computer is being delivered.
The black women computers in the film
did their computations in shabby office space a half-mile from the main
engineering hub. The sheer volume of aeronautical calculations for the space
program required NASA to hire women of color for their math skills. It was the
desperation of a new science and a new industry that opened jobs and
opportunities to people who otherwise would not have been hired.
But it’s obvious early on that these
women had a lot more to offer than NASA was asking or considered them capable
of, even as the agency watched helplessly as the Soviets beat the U.S. into
space, launching Yuri Gagarin to be the first man in space.
That’s one of the easier-to-spot
“hidden” elements from the film title — talent hidden in plain sight,
camouflaged by racial and gender bias.
It was unfathomable for men in that
era to think women of color could be as smart (or demonstrably smarter) than
Ivy League-trained engineers. NASA couldn’t see beyond skirts or skin color,
despite the women’s demonstrated skills at doing longhand computations.
These women were double-checking the
math of the white male engineers, rooting out the engineers’ errors.
The film’s central message — one that
should resonate in the Finger Lakes and everywhere else — is about opening eyes and minds to
recognize talent and leadership. Around much of Seneca Lake, talent, leadership
ability and ideas are often discounted — not on the basis of race but on
politics.
The error is the same.
Good suggestions are far too often
dumped on the idea trash heap because they come from someone associated with
the wrong political party or philosophy.
At the south end of Seneca Lake
geography factors in, too.
The opinions of anyone residing
outside of Schuyler County’s narrow boundaries — particularly if that person
comes from Ithaca — are rejected, often fiercely disparaged by residents and
members of the county legislature.
Male-dominated town boards, city
councils and legislatures still frequently discount views of female members,
even though it’s 2017.
“Hidden Figures” should probably be
required viewing for all these groups.
There’s a faint echo of the 1982
Steven Spielberg film “E.T.” in “Hidden Figures.” In “E.T.” a handful of mostly
pre-teenagers outwit their parents, the federal government, and anyone else in
authority to save a cuddly, earth-stranded alien from the government’s
clutches.
The message? A band of plucky, clever
kids can outwit adults anytime.
“Hidden Figures” delivers clever
mathematical and social outwitting, too.
But these events are true, detailed
in a 2016 non-fiction book written by Margot Lee Shetterly.
The women in “Hidden Figures” didn’t
have to outwit NASA, they just had to convince the agency to see what was right
in front it.
Them.
A timely reminder for all of us.
Fitzgerald worked
for six newspapers as a writer and editor as well as a correspondent for
several news services. He splits his time between Valois, NY and Pt. Richmond,
Calif. You can email him at Michael.Fitzgeraldfltcolumnist@gmail.com and
visit his website at michaeljfitzgerald.blogspot.com.
Nice post, Michael. It's an irony, though, that a film dedicated to uncovering the hidden also did some hiding of its own when it comes to the true heroism of these characters it highlights. You know the dramatic scene in which Kevin Costner goes over to the building that houses the black computers and smashes the "Colored Only" sign over the bathroom? The real heroine of the tale says that it didn't happen that way. She saw the only ladies' room in the new building she was working in was Whites Only, but since it was the only place for her to go, she just started using it. No explanation, no permission, no apology. She certainly didn't need to be rescued from her dilemma by Kevin Costner! I guess we do, as you say, still have a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteAbigail... Good point! I saw an excellent video presentation about the film - a panel discussion of the actors, writers, etc... from a White House conference and showing of the movie. In that conversation one of the people said the Costner character was a composite of several NASA manager (for the purpose of the film). I'm guessing that scene of sign smashing was to illustrate dramatically that he had an awakening... Films take lots of shortcuts sometimes.
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