By Kendall Alexander
@SteezieKBreezie
Last week, 20th Century Fox released the trailer for the new biopic Hidden Figures, the story of three incredible black women who defied all odds and challenged the status quo to get one man into space. The film is scheduled to be released in January 13, 2017, but until then, we’ll be seeing teasers, posters, and promotional campaigns for the film.
Hidden Figures is based on the book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly. The story focuses on Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three phenomenal black women with exquisite minds that changed the way NASA operates and helped launch John Glenn into orbit. Taking place in the tumultuous 50s and 60s, these women not only had to prove themselves to be remarkable mathematicians, but exceptional black women who weren’t working at NASA to clean up after anyone (although the trailer suggests they cleaned up America’s quest in the Space Race.)
The cast includes Kevin Costner who worked alongside Octavia Spencer in the disappointing flick Black and White, Jim Parsons of “Big Bang Theory” fame, Aldis Hodge who’s coming off of the biopic smash hit Straight Outta Compton, Kirsten Dunst, Mahershala Ali who played Henson’s love interest in 2008’s The Strange Case of Benjamin Button, and Glen Powell. Music aficionado Pharrell Williams channels his inner Curtis Mayfield to give the soundtrack an oldie but goodie feel.
As anticipation builds over the course of five months, let’s hope this film does this triplet team justice and tells their story as accurately as possible given the two-hour time constraint. The next couple of months is setting up to be quite exciting for Black cinema, so get your tickets early, you don’t want to miss out on these fly girls!
Leave a Comment