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In 'Hidden Figures' 3 African American Women Help NASA Win 60s Space Race
Hidden Figures is the Hollywood version of the true story of three black women who in 1962 helped NASA launch pioneer astronaut John Glenn into orbit.
Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson broke the gender1 and race ceiling working as NASA mathematicians3, computer experts and engineers during the Jim Crow era in the United States.
In the early 1960s, the space race between the US and the Soviet5 Union is in full force. Trailing the Soviets6, NASA prepares for the first manned orbital mission. Hidden Figures looks at America's space program within the framework of American segregation7.
Kevin Costner, who interprets Al Harrison, a composite of NASA managers, represents an equal opportunity boss, a scientist, whose only focus is getting a man into Earth orbit and beating the Russians to the moon. At a time when computers were only people with very high IQs and calculating skills, Harrison is looking for a mathematical genius within NASA to help his department compute4 the orbit trajectory8 for Glenn's flight.
The human computer scouting9 extends to the agency’s segregated10 West Area computing11 unit, where Dorothy Vaughn, the unit's acting12 manager, is trying in vain to convince her white supervisors13 to offer her the managerial position full time. She is also very aware of how skills and knowledge can make her and her unit of African American women indispensable to the agency.
Not only does Vaughn train herself and her team to learn the computer language of NASA's recently-installed IBM machines, she also recommends one of the women in her unit, mathematician2 Katherine Johnson, for the position of human computer Harrison is seeking.
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer interprets Dorothy Vaughn. During the film's premiere, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., Spencer spoke14 to VOA about the significance of this untold15 story.
She said that the film "will hopefully compel us to continue to look for these diamonds and educate our children." Spencer, who has already garnered16 award nominations17 for her role, added“ there were ceilings broken at NASA but the fact that the world didn’t know who they are lets us know that we still have work yet to do.”
Taraji Henson interprets mathematician Katherine Johnson, the central figure in the story.
A mother of three and a modest genius, Johnson had one goal in mind: solve the problem. Her unfaltering computations keep John Glenn safe as he orbits the earth. But even as she computes18 high math she is experiencing racism19 and sexism at the office. Her white male counterparts mistake her for the cleaning lady.
When they reluctantly have to agree that she will be working among them, they install a small coffee pot with a label "colored" for her to use. And when she needs to go to the restroom, she has to walk across the entire NASA campus to the agency's segregated West Area computing unit. That changes when Harrison discovers the reason for her long absences, and furiously storms to the segregated western unit with a hammer, and tears down the "Colored" sign from the bathroom, declaring that "at NASA, we all pee the same color."
Kevin Costner spoke to VOA about the power of that scene.
"We all feel that the walls had to come down and it can be a metaphor20 moment and it can be an actual moment. The idea of taking a strip of paper off a coffee pot that segregated a (black) woman from drinking out from the same pot of coffee as (white) men did; It's important for all of us to break those walls down, to drop the barriers and I have a lot of pride for being able to do that in a movie.“
Janelle Monae interprets Mary Jackson, a feisty mother of two and the first African American woman to become an engineer.
During the premiere, Monae had this message for young girls, especially minority girls, today. "You can be mathematicians, scientists, engineers, you can be in technology, you can change the world. Genius has no color, gender. Brilliance21 has no color, gender and as long as you continue just do the work, you end up on top, always. “
Hidden Figures has received praise and award nominations for its ensemble22 cast. Its uplifting message reached all the way to the International Space Station, where U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, the female record holder23 for most time in space, sent this message via satellite during the film's premiere.
“It is my hope that the Mars generation, the vibrant24 innovative25 work force of our future, finds inspiration as I have in these pioneering women. Enjoy the film and thank you from all of us 250 miles above the earth on board the International Space Station.”
Whitson, who took a weightless bow after her message, expressed the enthusiasm of many viewers who felt uplifted by the message of the film, but at the same time were bewildered that they had never heard of this story before.
After the screening, one woman commented, "This one is for the books and we were never taught anything about it at school."
The untold story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and the other African American women who helped NASA win the space race is finally coming to light thanks to author Margot Lee Shetterly. Her father, a NASA research scientist, passed the story down to her and she decided26 to record it.
We would be remiss27 if we did not mention Pharrell Williams' infectious score, which has also received award nominations. Hidden Figures is expected to be one of the most popular films of the season.
1 gender | |
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性 | |
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2 mathematician | |
n.数学家 | |
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3 mathematicians | |
数学家( mathematician的名词复数 ) | |
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4 compute | |
v./n.计算,估计 | |
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5 Soviet | |
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃 | |
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6 soviets | |
苏维埃(Soviet的复数形式) | |
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7 segregation | |
n.隔离,种族隔离 | |
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8 trajectory | |
n.弹道,轨道 | |
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9 scouting | |
守候活动,童子军的活动 | |
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10 segregated | |
分开的; 被隔离的 | |
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11 computing | |
n.计算 | |
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12 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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13 supervisors | |
n.监督者,管理者( supervisor的名词复数 ) | |
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14 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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15 untold | |
adj.数不清的,无数的 | |
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16 garnered | |
v.收集并(通常)贮藏(某物),取得,获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 nominations | |
n.提名,任命( nomination的名词复数 ) | |
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18 computes | |
v.计算,估算( compute的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19 racism | |
n.民族主义;种族歧视(意识) | |
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20 metaphor | |
n.隐喻,暗喻 | |
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21 brilliance | |
n.光辉,辉煌,壮丽,(卓越的)才华,才智 | |
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22 ensemble | |
n.合奏(唱)组;全套服装;整体,总效果 | |
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23 holder | |
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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24 vibrant | |
adj.震颤的,响亮的,充满活力的,精力充沛的,(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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25 innovative | |
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的 | |
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26 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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27 remiss | |
adj.不小心的,马虎 | |
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