Accidental doomsday?
Documentary explores the safety problems with U.S. nuclear stockpile
“Math class is tough!” — Famously controversial comment uttered by Teen Talk Barbie, 1992.
Raise a glass of holiday cheer to “Hidden Figures,” the “Rocky” of math movies.
You might just find yourself applauding during certain moments of dramatic triumph in Theodore Melfi’s unabashedly sentimental and wonderfully inspirational film, and yes, some of those moments feature people working out high-level math problems.
Not just any people, but some key figures — and yes, some hidden figures — in NASA’s heroic effort to win the space race against the Russians in the 1960s.
Based on the nonfiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” shines a deserving spotlight on three black female mathematicians working for NASA in the computer division at the Langley Research Center.
Octavia Spencer is Dorothy Vaughan, who does the work of a group supervisor but is thwarted in her efforts to get the title, the pay and the recognition of a supervisor. Her smug and condescending boss (Kirsten Dunst) clearly believes an African-American woman shouldn’t be elevated to equal status.
Janelle Monae is Mary Jackson, an aerospace engineer who literally has to take her case to court so she’ll be allowed to take night classes to pursue an advanced degree. Spencer and Monae deliver beautiful, strong, immensely effective, nomination-worthy supporting performances.
And Taraji P. Henson’s Katherine Johnson is at the front and center of the story, as the lone African-American woman working in the vital Space