Hidden figures | The untold true story about Katherine G. Johnson

[Spaceception]

I really want to see this movie, what about you guys?

 

[pxi]

Hadn't heard of her till now, looking at her wikipedia entry she looks like an interesting figure.  I'll be watching this at some stage for sure.

[ZentroCatson]

I'm definitely interested in this movie! I really hope it'll come to swiss cinemas, otherwise I won't be able to watch it. Actually, I didn't understand half of the english in the trailer  American english spoken in the USA is almost another language!

[benzman]

I normally only watch about two movies a year, but I will make sure I watch this one!

 

[CAKE99]

I plan on watching it, also the person the movie is about has the same birthday as me  Which is today

[Andem]

55 minutes ago, CAKE99 said:

I plan on watching it, also the person the movie is about has the same birthday as me  Which is today

Happy Birthday!

[tg626]

Since this is the only thread I saw about the movie, I'll reply to it:

Saw it, and loved it really.  Like Apollo 13 it's NOT a documentary, but they did a reasonable job on the technical end and it is a truly interesting story about a very dynamic time.  I had known of the flesh and blood computer used in the Manhattan Project, but I really didn't think they were still in use by the time the space race kicked off.  Interestingly, that too - the dawn of electronic computers - is also touched upon in this film.

Anyone else see it?  What did you think?

[Nikolai]

I liked that a lot of the math they showed were genuine orbital mechanics.

And I liked that this highlighted a lot of technical expertise that generally goes ignored in relating how the United States got people into space.

As pointed out, it's not a documentary.  I don't think Al Harrison, for example, was a real person, even though he takes up a lot of screen time.  And I don't think the decision to keep Glenn's retro-pack attached was made exactly as it was shown in the film.  But it's still inspiring.

[LordFerret]

It is a 'feel good' docudrama, a story with elements of truth woven into it. I'm not bashing it; But; The three central female figures were but part of a team, but emphasis portrayed in the movie is misleading to that fact. There is a very deep backstory to this, but I'm going to leave it to you to do the homework. An interesting movie, just keep it in the back of your head that 'this is Hollywood'.

[regex]

I saw a preview of this in the theaters and immediately checked it out, looks pretty good. I'm sure it's been fluffed up for Hollywood but it's based in a book you can read afterwards (or before).

What is important to me, though, is raising awareness of the people behind our greatest achievements and how they went about their jobs. A lot of people see something like this and are compelled to dig deeper.

Edited January 11, 2017 by regex

[munlander1]

6 hours ago, Nikolai said:

 I don't think Al Harrison, for example, was a real person, even though he takes up a lot of screen time. 

He is. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Harrison_(psychologist)

[LordFerret]

54 minutes ago, munlander1 said:

He is. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Harrison_(psychologist)

While he was a real person, and he did do some work for NASA, he was not a part of the team in question.

Quote

Is Kevin Costner's character based on a real person?

Not exactly. In researching the Hidden Figures true story, we learned that Kevin Costner's character, Al Harrison, is based on three different directors at NASA Langley during Katherine Johnson's time at the research facility. The movie's director, Theodore Melfi, was unable to secure the rights to the guy he wanted, so he decided to make Costner's Al Harrison a composite character. -Today Show

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/hidden-figures/

 

[munlander1]

I stand partially corrected.