What film/documentary did I watch?:
On my flight home from Las Vegas during my school’s annual Februrary break, I chose to watch Hidden Figures. I had watched it once before when I was younger, and I remembered it being a good movie, so I decided to watch it again! The movie, which is in a biographical setting, follows mathematicians/engineers Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughn. They were worked at NASA in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, and the movie largely focuses on their fight for equality and equal opportunity in employment at NASA.
What did I learn? How did I feel while watching the documentary?
First of all, this documentary (if you want to call it that, it’s kind of a mixture of the two categories) follows a topic that is relatively obscure unless you have watched the movie, which is pretty cool to me – it’s good to draw attention on little-known topics. That’s what I learned most: just how much these little-known women influenced the Space Race during the 50s and 60s. The movie is kind of an “emotional roller coaster”. At the beginning, you see Katherine’s colleagues all degrading her because of the color of her skin, which was, of course, saddening. However, towards the end, you begin to see the triumphs of equality, which cause happiness for the changes that are being made.
What impact does this film have on me going forward?
RESILIENCE – that’s how I can best describe it. One of the main lessons of the movie is that success, equality, and opportunity comes with persistance and resilience, even after hard times happen. This lesson really does resonate with me in a special kind of way. I think it’s important that we all stand up for what’s right, especially in hard times where we see that something is ethically or physically wrong with how people are thinking.
What other civic topics am I interested in after watching this film?
I am more interested in looking into the contributions that discriminated-against groups made to our country’s major successes. I think it’s very interesting and moving to see and learn more about.
Artifact:
I do not have an artifact for this entry as I watched the movie on an airplane; however, you have my word that I DID watch the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Comments are closed