The movie Hidden Figures is a truly inspiring story for people of all ages. It is directed by Theodore Melfi and was at the top of the box office for two weeks.

Hidden Figures was released on Dec. 25 and was a big hit. It is an untold true story, that took place in the 1960s, about three African American women, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson, who were mathematicians and engineers. They were the minds behind creating one of the most amazing launches in NASA history, which was the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

“Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes,” www.imdb.com stated.

The movie made people feel so many emotions. The actors were great at showing what life was really like for Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson. It seemed like people were watching the actual event live.

Sophomore Hanna Sween said, “For me as a white women it made me sort of check my privilege even in our society today. It is a great movie for gaining a new perspective on white privilege. It can also be a privilege check for men and white men in particular because you see the extremely distinct disparity between how the African American women are treated verses how the white men are treated and how the white men treat the African American women in a professional environment. It is truly an amazing movie.”

This movie truly shows how tough if was for people of color to live up to their potential. This movie shows how these women were discriminated and still able to do so much great and not give up. They fought so hard and it really paid off.

Sween added, “My favorite part was when Taraji P. Henderson’s character is in a room full of old white men and when they can’t solve the problem of where they are going to land the ship back on earth. She shows them all and solves it on the chalk board right in front of them leaving them all speechless, it is an amazing scene.”

A lot of people were not aware that these women were the brains behind one of the greatest NASA launches in history. The movie was great at educating this event and showing the social challenges they had when working for NASA. It shows that back then African American women had to be 10 times smarter to get to the same level of work that should be provided for all color and sex.

Junior Chris Burbach said, “I think this movie will make most people view our history of the space race through a different lens and hopefully will cause a better understanding of systematic discrimination.”

“Hidden Figures is that rare crowd pleaser that isn’t based on sports. People will cheer for these women while feeling guilty for the oversight of our past. Hidden Figures is an effective reminder of the glory that is possible, and how far we could go, when Americans speak as ‘we’ instead of ‘me,'” www.forbes.com stated.

Sween said, “This movie is a total emotional rollercoaster. At the beginning I was angry about racism and then I was excited because they were getting the jobs that they deserved and then I was sad because things kind of go down hill and then happy and then finally at the end, proud. It totally wrecked me, to be honest I was sobbing with some of my friends in the movie theater.”

Overall this movie made an inspiring impact on a lot of people, which it was meant to do. Hopefully it will inspire women, men and people of color that we are all the same and should be treated the same. It is not unusual to be smart if you are not a white male and we should all be provided the same opportunities.