#obliviously this is some sort of very important very objective very necessary lesson on words mattering | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

madelinepreston · 8 years ago

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I would first like to start off by stating that I identify as a white, able-bodied, cisgendered, heterosexual female. I am aware of my privilege, but am not ignorant to the disempowered groups around me. For the purpose of this analysis, I am to aligning myself with black women and the struggles they face as seen in the Oscar nominated film Hidden Figures - after all, solidarity for women and all that jazz. But seriously, the media has long wrongly or underrepresented women and the power they have, so it is incredibly refreshing to see strong black women being portrayed in this film. From a plot perspective, I was hooked from the very first scene – 3 strong, independent women on their way to work, fixing their own car at the side of the road. I buckled in for an empowering film that I was sure to love whilst yelling “go get em’ girl” at the screen *cue boyfriend eye roll*. If you haven’t gotten off the couch to a movie theatre near you to see the film, Peter Debruge couldn’t have said it any better:

While an all-male team of engineers performed the calculations for potential space travel, women mathematicians checked their work, playing a vital role at a moment when the United States was neck-and-neck with the Soviets in the space race. As brash, bright, and broad as Hollywood studio movies come, "Hidden Figures" tells the story of three of these unsung heroes, all of them African-American, who fought a doubly steep uphill battle --as crusaders for both feminism and civil rights in segregated Virginia--to help put an American into orbit.

The movie is fascinatingly based on real people (Katherine Goble, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughn) and events, which were actually created from the non-fiction book of the same name (Melfi and Schroeder). Not only did I love this movie for the refreshingly kick-ass women (both the actresses and their characters), but I also loved the “on-the-nose” dialogue. A perfect example of this is when Kevin Costner’s character learns that Katherine is consistently never around because she is running to “the coloured bathroom” on the opposite side of the campus. This already had my blood boiling, cause when a girls gotta go, she’s gotta go. The light-hearted “Running” theme song by Pharrell Williams did not uplift my mood one iota. It honestly was adding insult to injury, I feel, and was making light of a situation which is steeped in systematic, blatant, intolerable racism! The scene continues with Katherine returning from one of her bathroom breaks and Costner’s character consequently cut down the ‘coloured bathroom’ sign and yells, “Here at NASA, we all pee the same colour!” (Debruge 182) – I’m glad someone finally did. The inhumanity of it all had me feeling uneasy and a bit disgusted. However, this film brought forth two extremely necessary topics of the 1960’s which we still struggle with today – women and the racial ‘other.’

What I mean to say here is similar to Stuart Hall’s argument that explains: “we know what black means, not because there is some essence of ‘blackness’ but because we can contrast it with its opposite – ‘white’ (26). The same can even be said about masculine and feminine, especially within this movie. We see opposing ‘black’ versus ‘white’ and ‘masculine’ versus ‘feminine’, but as we know today there are so many things in between. Even the word ‘versus’ really translates as ‘against’ – setting the ‘bad’ versus ‘good’ in these examples. So basically, the world is doomed to repeat itself if we don’t make necessary changes – not to be dramatic or anything. I also just have to add that it’s all fine and well that she can pee in the other bathroom again, but once again it is a man stepping in to “save the day”. I am happy about the positive message, but I really can’t help but think about the way this once again reinforces these stereotypes and systems of oppression, but I digress…

As Hall describes reminiscing of the past:

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries popular representations of daily life under slavery, ownership and servitude are shown as so ‘natural’ that they require no comment. It was part of the natural order of things that white men should sit and slaves should stand; that white women rode and slave men ran after them shading them from the Louisiana sun with an umbrella…” (37)

This can be seen all too well within Hidden Figures. For example, when Dorothy Vaughn is looking for a certain book, the librarian insists she has “books in the coloured section” trying to rush her out. Dorothy stands her ground and the librarian replies with an indignant, “that’s just the way it is” and escorts her out by security. This situation is one of the most infuriating parts of the movie for me because as an English major I advocate for the promotion of early and for all, literacy. The only thing that brought me some sort of faith in people again was the way in which Dorothy uses this as a way to teach her kids: “Separate and equal are two different things. Just cause’ it’s the way doesn’t make it right. Understand? You act right, you are right…” (Hidden Figures). I couldn’t believe that a woman that was just kicked out of a library for being black, turned it into a lesson learned for her children and a calm attitude to move forward. Dorothy still provides her children with a lesson while sitting at the back of the bus on seats labelled “For Coloured Patrons Only.” However, Dorothy handles her anger in a dignified manner – more than I could say for myself if it were me *cue Mean Girls clip of Cady Heron tackling Regina George*. This is exactly what Sara Ahmed describes in her article “Feminist Killjoys”:

[…] The anger of feminists of colour is attributed. So you might be angry about how racism and sexism diminish life choices for women of colour. Your anger is a judgement that something is wrong. But in being heard as angry, your speech is read as motivated by anger. Your anger is read as unattributed, as if you are against x. You become angry at the injustice of being heard as motivated by anger, which makes it harder to separate yourself from the object of your anger. You become entangled with what you are angry about because you are angry about how they have entangled you in your anger. In becoming angry about that entanglement, you confirm their commitment to your anger as the truth “behind” your speech, which is what blocks your anger, stops it from getting through. You are blocked by not getting through. (98)

In this case, Dorothy doesn’t give in to the ‘angry black woman’ stereotype Ahmed talks about, knowing its adverse effects – now that’s some will power. Although, on the flip side why can’t a woman express her emotions (in this case anger) in the way she sees fit?! After all, Dorothy is clearly being mistreated. Men can beat women, each other, really anything they want to a pulp but God forbid a woman show anything besides grace and dignity? – Gimmie a break. The double standards continue.

Anyway, what is most important to acknowledge here is that this segregation and racism extends even into the more modernized environments; it’s not something just seen back in the day, it’s happening now! An example is Katherine Goble’s work environment in the film. Through stereotyping, the “‘binding’ or bonding together of all of Us who are ‘normal’ into one ‘imagined community’; and it sends into symbolic exile all of Them – ‘the Others’ – who are in some way different…” (Hall 50). This acknowledgement is the foundation for the movie. When Katherine moves to a new team, she is greeted with a man handing her the trash bin stating: “This wasn’t emptied last night” (Hidden Figures) – this is exactly what I am talking about. OF COURSE the black woman was most likely a custodian and not one of the greatest minds of her time. Why else would she be here? – I’d tell him exactly where I’d like him to put that trash can…This stereotyping is what Hall refers to as “classifying people according to norm and constructs the excluded ‘other’” (51).

Speaking of all this stereotyping and unequal relations, can we also talk about the power of white society? Hell yes we can. And we should. It was an extremely hard pill to swallow watching the only female co-worker Katherine had, explain: “I don’t know where your bathrooms are” (Hidden Figures). What struck me was the way that female relationships did not even supersede the racial divide within the movie. For example, in the way Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) treats the black women: “As a woman, Vivian can empathize with Katherine's workplace challenges; and yet, as a white woman, she doesn't get it at all, oblivious to her subconscious role in keeping Katherine down” (Debruge). Whatever happened to a little female solidarity? This is what is referred to as “white feminism versus feminism” (UWIRE). Although the women have a common goal, characters like Vivian are only interested in the white woman’s plight as a separate issue. How can we win a fight for women, when all women aren’t united? When Vivian finds that Mary has applied for the engineer training program she storms in: “NASA doesn’t commission females for the engineer training program,” […] “We now require advanced extension courses through the University of Virginia.” This is an all-white school, making it impossible for Mary to attend – think maybe they did this on purpose? Mary is clearly disappointed: “Every time we have a chance to get ahead, they move the finish line” with which Vivian retorts “Ya’ll should be thankful you have jobs at all” (Hidden Figures). I could not believe that she had the guts to even say something like that to another person, let alone a fellow woman. What is crazy to me is that the women don’t share in their fight for equality. The white women still treat the black women like slaves, even though they themselves feel the oppression of the white patriarchal society – talk about a flaw in logic. UWIRE Text provides one of those ‘I couldn’t have said it better myself’ moments:

We see that the black women in the film stick together and uplift one another. Together, they try to ensure the one another's success. Yet, the white women -- who already held higher positions than their female counterparts -- were only trying to achieve personal gain. They struggled with the fact that the men dominated the workplace. Although they didn't work against black women, they certainly didn't work in favor of them […] Just remember, this is an inclusive movement. You cannot call yourself a feminist if you're not fighting for the advancement of all women -- of all backgrounds. White feminism is not feminism.

Again, for anyone who didn’t get that– white feminism. is. not. feminism.

Speaking of white patriarchal society, what is everyone’s problem with these 3 African-American women within NASA? Well, one of the main aspects we see is what Katie Milestone and Anneke Meyer describe as contempt for women exhibiting “the new femininity that gives girls the licence to engage in practices and display attitudes previously reserved for men” (119) – and thank God for that. The privileges other women have fought to provide me things such as; a life that revolves around more than marriage and babies – hallelujah. My University diploma (soon to be) and my one bedroom apartment can attest to that. In my opinion, Milestone and Meyer’s argument can easily be seen in the relationship between Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) and Katherine Goble. Paul clearly feels threatened that Katherine is told to check his math (can men be any more insecure?), and the reports that Katherine creates can’t even have her own name on them? Let alone the fact that Paul has no problem telling her: “Computers don’t author reports.” Not to mention when Katherine wants to attend the briefings in order to accurately do her job, Paul declares: “There is no protocol for a woman in there” (Hidden Figures) – Guess you better get one then eh, Paul? Milestone and Meyer’s refer to this on page 120 of their article explaining: “From a feminist point of view the intense critique of women do not conform to behaviours prescribed as appropriate by emphasized femininity, then they will be symbolically punished.” This interaction between Paul and Katherine surrounds the idea that “men are associated with the public domain and the world of work, women are associated with the private space and the domestic” (Milestone and Meyer 124). And, at the heart of this feminist struggle lies the plight of women to get educated and out to work into good jobs (125). Not only is this discrimination dripping off Paul, but the team for which Katherine works, is all men. The only exception is one other female who seems to be doing administrative work – not math or ‘man’s work.’ What a shock that was for me. I currently work in an office surrounded with both strong and leadership oriented women – I was so not impressed with the egos and maltreatment from the men.

One of the most laughable aspects for me is the character of Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). Mostly because he is portrayed as ‘one of the good guys’ and an ‘advocate’ for the women within NASA. However, our prince charming is seriously flawed *cue Shrek montage*. Al is supposed to be one of the only ones ‘on our side,’ but even he struggles with some of the encounters regarding both colour, and women. For example, even when Al is providing a motivational speech and states: “I suggest you call your wives, and tell them how it’s gunna be.” So many things are wrong with this statement for me. I have become so much more aware of social taboos. Like, 1. Why is it “call your wives” – this leaves no room for any other sexual orientation (I know it’s the 1960’s, but someone was definitely secretly cringing inside here); 2. Why is it mid-day and your wives are home – this reinforces the gender stereotype of the woman at home in the domestic space and not within the work force *eye roll*; 3. He says: “tell them how it’s gunna be” – let me tell you, if any man ever thought they could ‘tell me’ what to do, they would have another thing coming. Not to mention after all of this, Al was fully aware that Katherine and her other female co-worker were in the room – like, what’s a woman gotta do to get a little respect? He excluded her, maybe not on purpose, but by instinct. The tragedy of it all is that the film captures one tragic main element: “the reality that no matter the amount of intelligence a black woman may have, she'll always have to work considerably harder than the average white man” (UWIRE). The even sadder part is that this is still all too true today. Women are still making less money than their male counterparts and have far less opportunity for advancement and recognition. And you can be sure that black women have to fight even harder.

One of the refreshing aspects for me was to not only see a movie with 3 strong female leads being nominated for an Oscar, but that all three of the women are black. Andi Zeisler provides an intriguing new outlook on this aspect of film: “Perhaps parts created for women of colour would be not only more plentiful but also less stereotypical. Perhaps the juiciest roles for women – would be something other than […] ‘hookers, victims, and doormats’” (143). Although Zeisler sees less promise back in 2008, we have made huge leaps today. Maybe that’s why this film is so important. It changes people’s perspectives and attitudes.

The last thing that is notable to mention about Hidden Figures is that is a celebratory story. The movie is first and foremost about “a group of extraordinary women into an account of how they overcame race and gender barriers, while helping to win the space race” (Kumar). The most important aspect is that the movie “celebrates the skills, achievements and tenacity of women like Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson as they helped launch rockets and humans into space” (Kumar). Can I get a hell ya? CNN Wire touches on this perfectly:

A clever title with multiple meanings, "Hidden Figures" captures the enthusiasm that surrounded putting men in space, but tempers it with the injustices faced by those who assisted them back on Earth. That includes the brilliantly capable Katherine being told by her immediate supervisor ("The Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons) that "computers," the rather amusing job title back then for those working in the math department, don't put their names on reports.

I think the fact that it celebrates women, and most importantly women of all colours, is what makes me the proudest. Privileged as I may be in modern society, we (women) still have large steps to climb when it comes to inequality. Manjit Kumar has it right for all of us: “There's an easy moral here: that Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" will only loom larger in our imaginations once we appreciate all the people - men and women - who got him there."

Hidden Figures makes me feel proud to be a woman and to face our inequality head on. My voice will be heard. I will continue to take a stand – will you?

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