Katherine: the mathematics expert

Some pupils from all the year groups at GEMS went to see an inspirational film on Thursday 9^th February called ‘Hidden Figures’.  It is a film about three African-American women named: Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who worked at NASA during the launch of John Glenn into orbit.  They were in fact three of the greatest brains behind the operation.  They are played by: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe and the acting is fantastic.

The main point of the film is to not give up on your dreams. Most characters in this film are reluctant, in the beginning, to let the three women help on such a crucial project.  They are blocked by many obstacles, primarily related to gender and racial prejudice, but they always find a way to get over that obstacle and get where they need to be.  Katherine helps with all the important maths, Dorothy works with one of the main machines in secret with people she was previously supervised by and Mary helps with the engineering though, because of race issues, she doesn’t have the correct qualifications.  The story is spread out over the years when they are working for NASA and also includes their personal lives.

The film is based on the three main characters’ real stories, which – in my opinion – makes it even more inspiring. Its main message is to never give up on hope and to persevere until you achieve your goals in life. I feel like this film could help a lot of people who are stuck in a situation where they don’t know what to do or where to go because of the position they currently find themselves in.

Bethany, 7AD

The three NASA experts and the actresses who played them