I would imagine there are folks who react to films like this with a certain amount of ambivalence.
A few black folks for instance. For example, I had a black friend named Gregory when I was a member of DSOC. And I can just imagine his own reaction here. Yes, it is gratifying that a film was made highlighting the extraordinary achievement of these three women. Three black women. Three black women that I suspect only a tiny number of us are aware had existed.
But he was always flustered by the manner in which he imagined the motivation behind such films: liberal attempts to show the world that black folks actually did exist “back then” to accomplish these feats. As though, in his words, “to prove that black people really are the equal of white people”.
As, from a similar frame of mind, he hated “Black History Month”.
Here is the “unbelievably true story” of three women – three black women – and the role that they played as mathematicians/computers/engineers at NASA in the early days of the “space race”. Unbelievable [apparently] because they were both black and women.
Still, the reaction of most of us [black and white] will probably be one of amazement. Me, I never would have imagined that something like this had actually happened “back then”. No way. Whatever that says about me.
- Back when NASA still had the “colored computers” and the “white computers”. When they still had “white restrooms” and “colored restrooms”.
IMDb
When Taraji P. Henson signed on for the lead role, she met with the real-life Katherine Johnson, who was 98 years old, to discuss the character she was about to portray. Henson learned that Johnson had graduated from high school at age 14 and from college at age 18, and was still as lucid as anyone years younger. After the film was screened for Johnson, she expressed her genuine approval of Henson’s portrayal, but wondered why anybody would want to make a film about her life.
IMDb trivia: imdb.com/title/tt4846340/tri … =ttqu_sa_1
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures
trailer: youtu.be/RK8xHq6dfAo
HIDDEN FIGURES [2016]
Written in part and directed by Theodore Melfi
[b]Katherine [as a sixth grader]: If the product of two terms is zero, then common sense says at least one of the two terms has to be zero to start with! So, if you move all the terms over to one side, you can put the quadratics into a form that can be factored, Allowing that side of the equation to equal zero. Once you’ve done that, it’s pretty straight forward from there…
…
Ms. Sumner: In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen a mind like the one your daughter has.
…
Katherine: Were just on our way to work. At Langley. NASA, sir. We do a great deal of the calculating getting our rockets into space.
Cop: All three?
Katherine: Yes, sir. Yes, officer.
Cop: NASA! That’s somethin’! Had no idea they hired…
Katherine: There’re quite a few women, working in the Space Program.[/b]
One suspects it’s not women he had in mind.
[b]Al: I need a mathematician.
Ruth: Ill put in another request, sir.
Al: Another request. Jesus Christ! We dont have a single person, in this entire building, that can handle analytic geometry?
Ruth: Thats what I’ve been told.
Al: Well, tell me something else, Ruth. Like we’re going to find such a person before the Russians plant a flag on the damn moon.
…
Karl [to Mary]: No shoe is worth your life.
…
Karl: Mary, a person with an engineer’s mind should be an engineer. You can’t be a computer the rest of your life.
Mary: Mr. Zielinski, I’m a negro woman. I’m not gonna entertain the impossible.
Karl: And I’m a Polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi prison camp. Now I’m standing beneath a spaceship that’s going to carry an astronaut to the stars. I think we can say we are living the impossible. Let me ask you, if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?
Mary: I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one.
…
Vivian: They’ve never had a colored in the Space Task Group before, Katherine. Don’t embarrass me.
…
Al: Do you think you can find me the Frenet frame for this data, using the GramSchmidt…
Katherine: With orthogonalization algorithm. Yes, sir. I prefer it over Euclidean coordinates.
…
Al: What I’m asking you to do…what I’m asking everyone one in that room, all my… geniuses, is to look beyond the numbers. To look around them. Through them. For answers to questions we don’t even know to ask. Math that doesn’t yet exist. Because without it, we’re not going anywhere. I mean, we’re staying on the ground.
…
Levi: A female engineer?
Mary: A female engineer.
Levi: We’re Negro, baby. Ain’t no such thing. Understand it.
Mary: It’s not like that there, Levi.
Levi: You can’t apply for freedom. Freedom is never granted to the oppressed. It’s got to be demanded. Taken.
Mary: Stop quoting your slogans at me. There’s more than one way to achieve something.
…
Mary: We go from being our father’s daughters, to our husband’s wives to our babies’ mothers…
…
Colonel Johnson: They let women handle that sort of…
[he sees Katherine looking offended]
Colonel Johnson: That’s not what I mean.
Katherine: What do you mean?
Colonel Johnson: I’m just surprised at something so taxing.
Katherine: Oh Mr. Johnson, if I were you, I’d quit talking right now.
Colonel Johnson: I don’t mean no disrespect.
Katherine: I will have you know, I was the first negro female student at West Virginia university graduate school. On any given day, I analyze the binomial levels air displacement, friction and velocity. And compute over ten thousand calculations by cosine, square root and lately analytic geometry. By hand. There are twenty, bright, highly capable negro women in the west computing group, and we’re proud to be doing our part for the country. So yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson. And it’s not because we wear skirts. It’s because we wear glasses. Have a good day.
…
Vivian: You need somethin else?
Dorothy: Yes, ma’am. I was wondering if you knew what they’re building in the Tech Wing.
Vivian: It’s called an IBM. A mainframe computer. Apparently, it can do our calculations in a fraction-a the time.
…
Al: How did you know the Redstone couldn’t support orbital flight?! That’s classified information It’s top secret.
Katherine: Well, it’s no secret why the Redstone tests keep failing, for sub-orbital flight, but it can’t handle the weight of the capsule, and push it into space. Numbers don’t lie.
Al: And you figured out all that with this? Half the data is redacted!
Katherine: Whats there tells the story if you read between the lines. The distance from launch to orbit, we know. Then mass we know. The Mercury Capsule weight, we know. And the speeds are there…in the data.
Al: You did the math.
Katherine: Yes, sir. I looked beyond.
…
Vivian: NASA doesnt commission females for the Engineer Training Program.
Mary: That position is available to any qualified applicant.
Vivian: Right. Except you don’t have the educational requirements.
Mary: I have a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. It’s the same degree as most engineers around here.
Vivian: Well, we now require advanced extension courses through the University of Virginia. It’s in the Employee Handbook. An addendum. Case you haven’t read it.
Mary: Every time we have a chance to get ahead, youll move the finish line.
…
Librarian: We don’t want any trouble in here.
Dorothy: Oh! I’m not here for any trouble, Ma’am.
Librarian: What are you here for?
Dorothy: A book.
Librarian: You have books in the colored section.
Dorothy: It doesn’t have what I’m looking for.
Librarian: Well, that’s just the way it is.
…
Dorothy [to the “colored computers”]: The IBM 7090 Data Processing System. It has a capability of solving of over 24,000 multiplications per second!
Woman: Holy Moses, that’s lightning fast! They’ll never get it to work.
Dorothy: It’ll run eventually. And when it does we have to know how to program it… Unless youd rather be out of a job?
…
Paul: Now, the Atlas Rocket…that can push us into orbit. It goes up and delivers the capsule into an elliptical orbit. Earth’s gravity keeps pulling it, but it’s going so fast that it keeps missing the Earth. That’s how it stays in orbit. Now, Getting it back down…that’s the math we don’t know. Yes, Katherine?
Katherine: So, the capsule will spin around the Earth forever, because there’s nothing to slow it down?
Paul: That’s right. Slowing it down at precisely the right moment, by precisely the right amount. That is the task.
Katherine: So, it needs to move from an elliptical orbit to a parabolic orbit?
Paul: Yes. Thats the Go/No Go. Now, this point is a pin head. We bring him in too soon he burns up on reentry. We bring him too late, and he’s pushed out of Earth’s gravity.
Katherine: Any changes in mass, weight, speed, time, distance, friction…or a puff of wind would alter the Go/No Go. And we start our calculations…over?
Paul: Yes. So, we need to be able to choose this re-entry point. This Go/No Go. This has to be exact.
…
Al: So where the hell do you go everyday?
Katherine: To the bathroom, sir.
Al: The bathroom! To the damn bathroom! For 40 minutes a day!? What do you do in there!? We are T-minus zero here. I put a lot of faith in you.
Katherine: There are no colored bathrooms in this building, or any building outside the West Campus, which is half a mile away. Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself! And I can’t use one of the handy bikes. Picture that, Mr. Harrisson. My uniform, skirt below the knees and my heels. And simple necklace pearls. Well, I don’t own pearls. Lord knows you don’t pay the colored enough to afford pearls! And I work like a dog day and night, living on coffee from a pot none of you want to touch! So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day.
…
Al [after knocking down the Colored Ladies Room sign]: There you have it! No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms. Just plain old toilets. Go wherever you damn well please. Preferably closer to your desk. At NASA we all pee the same color!
…
Judge: Hampton High School is a white school, Mrs. Jackson.
Mary: Yes, your Honor. I’m aware of that.
Judge: Virginia is still a segregated state. Regardless of what the Federal Government says, or regardless of what the Supreme Court says our law is the law.
…
Mary: I plan on being an engineer at NASA, but I can’t do that without taking them classes at that all-white high school, and I can’t change the color of my skin. So I have no choice, but to be the first, which I can’t do without you, sir. Your honor, out of all the cases you gon hear today, which one is gon matter hundred years from now? Which one is gon make you the first?
Judge: Only the night classes, Mrs. Jackson.
…
Katherine: I’d like to get a jump on John Glenn’s trajectory.
Al: This isn’t about plugging in numbers, this is about inventing the math. I think we talked about that, right? It doesn’t exist.
Katherine: I can do it, sir.
Paul: Do you know any idea how exacting these calculations have to be?
Katherine: It’s like shooting a sawed-off shotgun from a thousand feet, and getting that one beebee through a hole so tiny, you can’t even see it. I’m an excellent shot, sir.
…
Katherine: Sir, if I could attend briefings I could stay current.
Paul: Katherine, we’ve been through this. It’s not possible. There’s no protocol for women attending.
Katherine: There’s no protocol for a man circling the Earth either, sir.
Paul: OK, but that’s just the way things are.
…
Al [handing her a stick of chalk]: Katherine. Have a go at it?
Katherine [at the blackboard]: The Go point for re-entry is 2,990 miles from where we want Colonel Glenn to land. If we assume that’s the Bahamas. At 17,544 miles per hour… upon reentry…370… at a descent angle of 46.56 degrees distance. So, that puts the landing zone at 25.0667 North, 77.3333 West. Which is here! Right here. Give or take 20 square miles.
John Glenn: I like her numbers.
Katherine: Thank you.
Jim: That of course is assuming the capsule hits the reentry point exactly. How do we insure that?
Al: That’s the math we don’t have yet, gentlemen. We’re working on it.
…
Dorothy: What about after now?
Vivian: After the Glenn launch, NASAs dissolving the Computing Groups.
Dorothy: I’m not accepting reassignment. Unless, I bring my ladies with me.
Vivian: Excuse me?
Dorothy: We’re going to need a lot of manpower to program that beast. I can’t do it alone. My girls are ready. They can do the work.
[later]
Dorothy [to the colored computers]: Ladies! We’ve been reassigned. Leave your calculators. You won’t need them where were going.
…
Night School Professor: Well, the curriculum is not designed for teaching a woman.
Mary: I imagine it’s the same as teaching a man.
…
Katherine: The problem is when the capsule moves from an elliptical orbit to a parabolic orbit. There’s no mathematical formula for that. As we can calculate launch, landing but without this conversion, the capsule stays in orbit, we can’t bring it home.
Al: Maybe we’re thinking about this all wrong.
Katherine: How’s that?
Al: Maybe it’s not new math at all.
Katherine: It could be old math. Something that looks at the problem numerically, and not theoretically Math is always dependable.
Al: For you it is.
Katherine [after staring at the chalkboard]: Eulers Method.
Paul: Eulers Method? But that’s ancient.
Katherine: But it works. It works numerically.
…
Vivian: You know Dorothy, despite what you may think, I have nothing against y’all.
Dorothy: I know. And I know you probably believe that.
…
Al: The thing is, the Cape is now insisting on doing all the backups down there. On site.
Katherine: I see.
Al: So, we won’t be running backups here. And truth be told, we can’t keep up with that IBM anyhow. Long story short, we no longer need a computer in this department. Progress is a double edged sword. Let’s have you report back to the West Group for now. I’ll see if we can find another assignment.
…
Al [on the phone with John Glenn]: The IBM has been spot on up to this point, John, but well run it again, to see what it comes up with. I’ll be back with you.
John: When I fly, I fly the machine. Right now, it seems like this machine is flying me.
Al: Were on the same page, John. The guys are working on it.
John: Let’s get the girl to check the numbers.
Al: The girl?
John: Yes, sir.
Al: You mean Katherine?
John: Yes, sir. The smart one. If she says they’re good, I’m ready to go.
…
Al [on the phone with Glenn]: We can confirm the Go/No Go point for re-entry is 16.11984 degrees latitude minus 165.2356 degrees longitude. The launch window is a go. The landing coordinates match.
John: That’s very good news, Al. It’s a little hard to trust something you can’t look in the eyes.
Al: That’s right, Colonel. Katherine did manage to calculate a few decimal points further than that hunk of metal.
John: Well, I’ll take every digit ya got. Be sure to thank her for me.
…
Al: So, er, do you think we’ll get to the moon?
Katherine: We’re already there, sir.
…
Title card: Mary Jackson became NASA’s – and America’s – first female African-American aeronautical engineer. In 1979, she was appointed Langley’s Woman’s Program Manager, where she fought to advance women of all colors.
Dorothy Vaughan became NASA’s first African-American supervisor. As a FORTRAN specialist, on the frontier of electronic computing, she was regarded as one of the most brilliant minds at NASA.
Katherine Johnson went on perform calculations for the Apollo II mission to the moon and Space Shuttle. In 2016, NASA dedicated the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Building in honor of her groundbreaking work in space travel. At the age of 97, Katherine was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and celebrated her 56th anniversary with Jim Johnson.[/b]