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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Figures | 4/6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:09:38.196175+00:00 | kb-cron |
His frustration is also a perfect example of how, when it comes to open dialogue about depictions of people of color on screen, it behooves white people (especially those who position themselves as 'allies') to listen [...] the inclusion of the bathroom scene doesn't make Melfi a bad filmmaker, or a bad person, or a racist. But his suggestion that a feel-good scene like that was needed for the marketability and overall appeal of the film speaks to the fact that Hollywood at large still has a long way to go in telling Black stories, no matter how many strides have been made. The fictional characters Vivian Mitchell and Paul Stafford are composites of several team members and reflect common social views and attitudes of the time. Karl Zielinski is based on Mary Jackson's mentor, Kazimierz "Kaz" Czarnecki. John Glenn, who was about a decade older than depicted at the time of launch, did ask specifically for Goble Johnson to verify the IBM calculations, although she had several days before the launch date to complete the process. Author Margot Lee Shetterly has agreed that there are differences between her book and the movie, but found that to be understandable:
For better or for worse, there is history, there is the book and then there's the movie. Timelines had to be conflated and [there were] composite characters, and for most people [who have seen the movie] have already taken that as the literal fact. [...] You might get the indication in the movie that these were the only people doing those jobs, when in reality we know they worked in teams, and those teams had other teams. There were sections, branches, divisions, and they all went up to a director. There were so many people required to make this happen. [...] It would be great for people to understand that there were so many more people. Even though Katherine Goble Johnson, in this role, was a hero, there were so many others that were required to do other kinds of tests and checks to make [Glenn's] mission come to fruition. But I understand you can't make a movie with 300 characters. It is simply not possible. John Glenn's flight was not terminated early as stated in the movie's closing subtitles. The MA-6 mission was planned for three orbits and landed at the expected time. The press kit published before launch states that "The Mercury Operations Director may elect a one, two or three orbit mission." The post-mission report also shows that retrofire was scheduled to occur on the third orbit. Scott Carpenter's subsequent flight in May was also scheduled and flew for three orbits, and Wally Schirra's planned six-orbit flight in October required extensive modifications to the Mercury capsule's life-support system to allow him to fly a nine-hour mission. The phrase "go for at least seven orbits" that is in the mission transcript refers to the fact that the Atlas booster had placed Glenn's capsule into an orbit that would be stable for at least seven orbits, not that he had permission to stay up that long. The Mercury Control Center was located at Cape Canaveral in Florida, not at the Langley Research Center in Virginia. The orbit plots displayed in the front of the room incorrectly show a six-orbit mission, which did not happen until Wally Schirra's MA-8 mission in October 1962. The movie also incorrectly shows NASA flight controllers monitoring live telemetry from the Soviet Vostok launch, which the Soviet Union would not have been sharing with NASA in 1961. Katherine Goble Johnson's Technical Note D-233, co-written with T.H. Skopinski, can be found on the NASA Technical Reports Server. The movie depicts the IBM 7090 as the first computer at Langley, but there were actually earlier computers there, and Dorothy Vaughan had previously been programming for the IBM 704 in FORTRAN.
The movie refers to an IBM 7090 (first released in 1959), but the console shown is for an IBM 7094 (released in 1962). Some historians and critics also discussed the film's historical accuracy. Although the film was widely praised for bringing attention to Black women mathematics at NASA, some historians and critics noted that the movie simplified parts of the historical record. For example, the film combines multiple real people into certain supporting characters and dramatizes events such as Katherine Johnson running across NASA's campus to use a segregated bathroom. Johnson later explained that she often used integrated bathrooms at NASA, so the scene was added mainly to highlight segregation during that time period. However, the movie still helped increase public awareness of Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson and inspired renewed discussion about the role of women in minorities in STEM fields.
== Release ==
The film began a limited release on December 25, 2016, before a wide release on January 6, 2017.