Hidden Figures 🎥 2016 Movie Info

Plot Summary

Katherine Goble works at the West Area of Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in 1958 through 1961, alongside her colleagues Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, as lowly “computers”, performing mathematical calculations without being told what they are for. All of them are African-American women; the unit is segregated by race and sex. White supervisor Vivian Mitchell assigns Katherine to assist Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, given her skills in analytic geometry. She becomes the first Black woman on the team; head engineer Paul Stafford is especially dismissive. Mary is assigned to the space capsule heat shield team, where she immediately identifies a design flaw.

Encouraged by her team leader, Karl Zielinski, a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor, Mary applies for a NASA engineer position. She is told by Mitchell that, regardless of her degree in mathematics and physical science, the position requires additional courses. Mary files a petition for permission to attend all-white Hampton High School, despite her husband’s opposition. Pleading her case in court, she wins over the local judge by appealing to his sense of history, allowing her to attend night classes. Katherine meets African-American National Guard Lt. Col. Jim Johnson, who voices skepticism about women’s mathematical abilities. He later apologizes and begins to spend time with Katherine and her three daughters.

The Mercury 7 astronauts visit Langley, and astronaut John Glenn goes out of his way to greet the West Area women. Katherine impresses Harrison by solving a complex mathematical equation from redacted documents, as the Soviet Union’s successful launch of Yuri Gagarin increases pressure to send American astronauts into space. Harrison confronts Katherine about her “breaks,” unaware that she is forced to walk half a mile to use the nearest restroom designated for “colored” people. She angrily explains the discrimination she faces at work, which leads Harrison to destroy the “colored” restroom signs and abolish restroom segregation.

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