Hidden Figures Breaks Barriers of RACE and GENDER
Hidden Figures Breaks Barriers of RACE and GENDER
Hidden Figures Breaks Barriers of RACE and GENDER
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Image courtesy of huffingtonpost.com empty and frustrated, which is why I was so excited to see cinematic achievements, “Hidden Figures” drew men,
nderrepresented; deigned to play waitresses, “Hidden Figures” repeatedly appear on the lists of award women, and children out of the woodworks to watch
maids, mistresses, wild party girls, and domestic nominees for 2017. previously unknown stories about strong and powerful
housewives. Despite the progress seen in recent “Hidden Figures” did an outstanding job of portraying women who were singled out, but managed to prevail in
years concerning the portrayal of women in film women realistically with intricate character development spite of the odds stacked against them. With a feel-good
and the involvement of women in the film industry, Holly- and an incredible representation of the historical wrongs and inspirational ending that left me walking out of the
wood continues to miss the mark on sharing the spotlight committed against women, especially in the context of movie theater with high hopes for the future of women in
between both men and women. ignoring female contribution to the fields of math and fighting to close the gender pay gap and promoting female
The underrepresentation of women in film is obvi- science. Watching Taraji P. Henson play the character of workers in male-dominated fields, “Hidden Figures” was
ous based on results of the Bechdel test, which numer- Katherine Johnson with equal parts grace, passion, and the perfect film to represent the power of women across
ous of the 2017 Academy Award nominated films failed. intelligence allowed me to better understand the reasons the span of numerous generations.
The Bechdel Test has three requirements: the movie must behind the decisions that Johnson made while working
have at least two named female characters; the female within segregated NASA in the 1960s.
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