Review of Hidden Figures (2016)
Seen in 2017.
A 1961–1962 section of Project Mercury, focusing in particular on computers from the all-black West Area of a segregated installation at Langley Research Center. In reality, the segregated NACA was dissolved in 1958 and NASA was not segregated.
History is distorted à la The Last Samurai (2003) to bring the story in line with traditional Hollywood dramaturgy. One of these distortions is Costner’s boss character personally ending bathroom segregation with a crowbar, an unfortunate white saviour narrative. Ironically, the method of representing the feminist and antiracist struggle mainly through three individuals minimizes the collective nature of the struggle, while at the same time, the scenes of teamwork at NACA/NASA, mixed in with contemporary footage, are the best scenes: A fine complement to The Right Stuff (1983), in which the pilots lose some of their power. I was even reminded of the gloriously lilting momentum of Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987).