Feminist Film Blog 2

Hidden Figures was taken place at White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia in 1926. The movie is based on three African American women who are highly intelligent and are starting their jobs working for Nasa. During this time, it was unheard of for an African American woman to work for Nasa which was made up mostly of white middle-aged men. In the book Feminist Film Studies by Janet McCabe, she states “Hazel Carby for example identifies that black women fit somewhat awkwardly into the traditional Marxist feminist paradigm based on a strict gender divide under patriarchy” (67). This is displayed in the movie because viewers can certainly see the divide between African American women and the rest of society. The beginning of the movie shows the women on their way to work and they run into a problem with their car. A white male cop pulls up to them and questions them as to how a Black woman works at Nasa. Not only this, but he also questions their abilities to fix their car. The women prove him wrong and fix their car in seconds, and he seems shocked. Not only was this officer racist but he was sexist towards the women. In Feminist Film Studies, it states “[The] category of women is usually used to refer to white women, while the category of Blacks often really means ‘Black men’. What is lost in the process is the situation of the Black woman” (McCabe 67). This quote speaks measures about how Black women were and still are oppressed in society. Not only do Black women encounter racism in their lives but sexism as well. When the women arrive at Nasa, they instantly are put down by others. The Nasa workers do not care at all how they talk to the women and they act like they are better than them. They first question Dorothy and put down her idea of becoming a supervisor because she is a Black woman. Soon after, Katherine asks in her department if she can use the bathroom and one of the workers responds with “I don’t know where your bathroom is” referring to a Black woman’s bathroom. Although the women are being insulted, they continue to work hard and do their best. Mary gets offered a position to become an engineer at Nasa, which is the beginning of the women’s achievements. On a day off, the women attend church with their families and friends and are recognized for their beginnings at Nasa. Although everyone seems proud, they still question the women and how they will live up to Nasa’s standards. Little do they know, these women will be remembered forever at Nasa. The three women begin to stand up for themselves at Nasa when in the beginning they just let everyone walk all over them. For example, when Katherine goes to the Colored bathroom that is 40 minutes away, she comes back and her boss is furious with her and asks where she went in front of everyone. She finally stands up for herself and tells him that she does not have equal rights at Nasa and it is unfair. Her boss listens to her and hears her, and tears down the Colored bathroom sign which is a huge step for Nasa. This is the beginning of equality and a real chance for women. Although some of the men still put down the women by congratulating only the men for sending a man to space when really Katherine did most of the work for this to happen and when the men at Nasa would not let her come into the Pentagon meeting because she was a woman, but she proves all of them wrong by solving a problem that they never could. Mary, a dreamer, is able to achieve her dreams and attend an all-white male school to become an Engineer, and although she faces backlash when the educator tells her that the course was designed for men, she continues to stay and she grows to be confident. Dorothy became Nasa’s first African American supervisor and was known as one of the most brilliant people at Nasa. Katherine educated the women and men in her department and she solved calculations so intricate that she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a building at Nasa was named after her. These women were and still are inspirations for everyone and they never gave up.