Hidden Figures (2016) (sort of a movie review)

Almost ten years after its initial release, here are my thoughts on the movie “Hidden Figures”. Beware: I rant–about racism, sexism, and the problem with white saviors. If you want the tl;dr: it’s a good movie, deserves the accolades, and the criticism, it got back then. If you have two hours and want to remember a more optimistic time, this is a good movie to watch. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ “Hidden Figures” is based (very loosely, according to Wikipedia and the sources it cites) on the non-fiction book of the same name, by Margot Lee Shetterly. The book highlights the stories of five women–four of them Black–who played key rôles in the success of the U.S. space program over the U.S.R.R. during the Space Race from the 1930s to the 1960s. The movie focuses only on Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan, over a period of just three years, while taking various liberties with both the facts and their timeline. The trailer will give you a very close idea of what you’d get, should you…