Hollywood and originality, - Hidden Figures (2017) Discussion

[–] cousinsKLG 8 years ago

I'd hardly say a true story about black female engineers/mathematicians working for NASA in the 60's is run of the mill. I get that the hardships of their experiences as being black has been covered elsewhere but there's more to this than the "usual." Many of the films starring black women struggling against Jim Crow/racism are works of fiction. I'd say the true ones are long over due.

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[–] gcrawfo1 8 years ago

So with all of the comic book adaptations, remakes, sequels, generic action and comedy movies around you chose to make a point about the originality of a based on real life story about black people overcoming prejudice.

Racist much?

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[–] Ms_Lady 8 years ago

It's not even about that. NACA (which would later become NASA) actively sought out women mathmeticians.

It's really about black women in STEM fields, helping to launch the space program set in the 60's.

I've never seen any movie like that before and neither has OP.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

Of course I have, The Butler, Men of Honor, A Time to Kill, Malcom X, every sports bio pic of a black guy, etc., etc. They are all basically the same movie with a different backdrop. If you think this is about STEM, I've got a bridge to sell you.

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[–] cousinsKLG 8 years ago

ajhatz - Please let us know how many of those films you mentioned were about and starring all black female casts. You completely ignored my comment because you have nothing legitimate to counter it.
Movies about the fight for civil rights are clearly still needed because of comments/people like you.
So because a handful of movies you mentioned, which are about black men in completely different situations were made...you feel the subject has been thoroughly covered? A bridge to sell? Do go on. Speaking of going A Bridge Too Far with gleeful, willful ignorance, how many WWII films have we had? Perhaps one would've sufficed? We get it, war is bad. Why do we need TRUE stories to be told about the Pacifict Theater, the ETO AND the Holocaust? I'm pretty sure Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor summed up everyone's experience in WWII and literally no other true experiences are worth telling.
There are plentiful stories from the era of this movie that haven't been told and NEED to be told. I don't care if the topic bores you. A true story is not about originality. It's about getting it out there as historical document (if it's done well) and making sure lessons are drilled into empty skulls like yours so that we don't repeat the same mistakes. Some people want to learn about experiences that don't match their own. Some people want to hear stories they've never heard. You are welcome to not see this movie and welcome to live not knowing about the contribution these women made to our society and the world. But, I want to know.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

Needs to be told? How many times should Hollywood tell the same story over and over and over again? This movie is no different then the all the others, all they do is give you a new setting and some different characters. The basic premise is the same, blacks (in this case black women) faced racism and bigotry. No *beep*

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[–] fannadix-kayla 8 years ago

Same story? Ooh, point me to other the movie about black women in STEM during this time period. I would genuinely love to see it.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

The story is no more about STEM or math then Good Will Hunting.

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[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lisasmithandme 8 years ago

How is this movie fictional?

Katherine Johnson is a real person, you know.

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (born August 26, 1918) is an African-American physicist, space scientist, and mathematician who contributed to the United States' aeronautics and space programs with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. Known for accuracy in computerized celestial navigation, she calculated the trajectories for Project Mercury and the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson

I doubt you, as a white male, has achieved more than this black lady. Talk about overblown ego. I ask you, what have you contributed to society?

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[–] Deadpool1381 8 years ago

I know she was a real person, but so was Abraham Lincoln. Does that mean that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter should be labeled a true story? It's fiction because they took someone with a basic, assembly line type job and have rewritten her as a keystone to the entire space program.

It's ridiculous. You can't make a story about a person who was easily replaceable and elevate her importance because you want to have this bs narrative about how important blacks are. She was only there because NASA wanted more black women. So basically, affirmative action is the culprit once again. Are there any successful black stories where that isn't the cause?

By the way, how do you know I'm white? How do you know I'm a man? Careful, your racism is showing.

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[–] Ms_Lady 8 years ago

You'll just have to deal with the fact that these women have a movie which will likely make money and garner praise and celebration for their achievements, while all you can do is post on imdb about it.

Enjoy your salt!

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[–] gcrawfo1 8 years ago

Your bigotry is quite clear. The only 2 common things the movies mentioned have is they feature some black people with prejudice as a theme.

How many times does a white male super hero need to save the world? How many times does a white cop have to stop the criminal? How many times does the attractive white male and female have to overcome their initial dislike for each other to fall in love in a slightly amusing manner?

But you seriously think that people of colour overcoming prejudice to make a living and contribute is the story that we need less of today? Particularly when racial tensions have been some of the worst in the US in recent history.

Wake up to yourself. You clearly won't see this film, but criticising Hollywood for telling this worthwhile story and not other movies is clear prejudice. I challenge you to name a movie with widespread release this year with an original story/themes.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

Worthwhile? To who? To blacks so they can feel more aggrieved or to whites like you so you can feel more white guilt?

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[–] Ms_Lady 8 years ago

Salty and guilty. Woe is you.

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[–] activista 7 years ago

@ajhatz

Just fck off.troll. You're just a damn racist who came here to say more dumb racist s*** about black folks. STFU and move the hell on,please. "Professional agitators"? So, according to you, black people in Ferguson didn't have any problems with a racist police force that continuely targeted black motorists more than white motorists and harrassed them more----this was proven by the Dept. of Justice, who investigated it. And what the hell does Ferguson even have to do with this film? That was almost three years ago---that has NOTHING to do with this film---which is not even ABOUT Ferguson, you fckg idiot! That's how I can tell you're just another fckg stupid-a** racist----you throw all these separate issues with black people that have nothing to do with one another together, for no other reason than you being too damn lazy to realize that they are separate issues. Keep showing your a**, and we'll keep ignoring the hell out of you. This is a movie about some major positive contributions these black women made---something you should be championing, but,no you're just a hateful, racist troll a**hole. Go fck off and crawl back under your fckg rock somewhere, you worthless POS. You must have nothing but a sad and pathetic life to come here and slam black folks all of the time, no matter what. Well,guess what? It's STILL coming the fck out, and you can't do s*** about it! You're never gonna see it anyway

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[–] Chimera-5 8 years ago

Your social justice keyboard jockeying is beyond the realms of evident. I simply hope to whatever God is that you don't think these antics will get you laid, if that's your endgame!

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[–] activista 7 years ago

@ajhatz

There has never been a film about black women contributing to the early days of the space race, so don't even try it. That sure as hell dosen't make it the same as every other film about civil rights---half of which you probably haven't even seen. And Hollywood has NEVER told this story before, so as usual, you idiot racist trolls b****ing about this film don't know what the hell you're talking about. Just own up to the fact that you just hate the film because its about black people. You act as if all films about black folks are the same---that just shows how you haven't seen a full range of black films. And to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this was an indie film and not a Hollywood film---you don't even know for sure whether it is or not. Basically, you just lazily grouped a number of black films all together as the same simply because they deal with racism. Well, the thing is, black people had to deal with racism because it was a damn fact of life they couldn't avoid, no matter what the hell they did. So ANY film that deals with black people during that era can't avoid dealing with that topic either.

I guess you're going to say MOONLIGHT, a new indie drama about a young black gay man's coming of age, is like every other black film out there simply because it's about a black man? No,it isn't.

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[–] Chimera-5 8 years ago

Oh shut up with the clichè and tired "Omggg, rathist!" cop out; he/she is simply stated an opinion, that's it, that's all. No hatred or perceived inferiority toward another race was in their statement at all, you try-hard keyboard warrior!

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[–] megaruda 8 years ago

I actually have never heard about a movie with this topic ever before, I am glad new stories are starting to see the day of light.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

You've never heard of a movie about racism and sexism before?

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[–] gcrawfo1 8 years ago

You're clearly right and incredibly clever. We should never tell any stories that involve racism or sexism. We make our society worse by raising ignorant people's attention to such things.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

How about one on Ferguson? They could make a movie on the inside workings of professional agitators that used a shooting to line their pockets, got blacks to riot and loot and demonize cops.
Think that movie will ever be made? You know, in the name of improving society.

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[–] gcrawfo1 8 years ago

If its an accurate, fair and balanced movie, I have no issue with it.

You've still not responded to my basic point though. There's been a few films with a similar premise to this, not enough by any margin to saturate the issue. Why complain about this over the masses of remakes, comic books adaptations and sequels that Hollywood regurgitates with abundant frequency.

I call you a racist simply because I can't think of a single other reason why you would solely identify this movie as unoriginal, I'm happy to be proven wrong by a logical and reasonable argument.

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[–] ajhatz 8 years ago

I've responded over and over. This film is about racism and sexism, not math.

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[–] ccr1633 8 years ago

I've responded over and over. This film is about racism and sexism, not math.

And not about the space program either...

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[–] Ms_Lady 8 years ago

None of those movies you mentioned were about black women working at the Space Program.

Just because a movie has particular elements in it, doesn't mean that it's about those elements. You might as well say the Nightmare on Elm St movies were about ghostly girls in a nightmare singing a creepy nursery rhyme and playing jump rope.

Racism and sexism are certainly issues the characters would deal with, because it's unrealistic for black women in that time and field to not have.

However, that does not mean it's the subject of the film, anymore than Marvel movies are about trying to lift Thor's hammer.

Those subjects loom large for you, because they personally bother you when they are brought up (possibly because you feel implicated).

Next time, instead of attempting a faulty argument trying to convince people that an element in the film is the subject of the film, just be honest and courageous about your point of view and say "I hate movies that deal with racism and sexism, because those subjects make me uncomfortable."

Easy.

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[–] ccr1633 8 years ago

Ms_Lady wrote:

Next time, instead of attempting a faulty argument trying to convince people that an element in the film is the subject of the film, just be honest and courageous about your point of view and say...

Hey Ms_Lady, next time just be honest and say what you really mean, instead of dancing around your pomposity and bigotry?

Here, let me help you out by fixing your post.

Translation: "Next time, instead of attempting to make an honest argument trying to convince people that an element in the film is the subject of the film, just be honest and courageous about your point of view and admit that I know you better than you know yourself, and I am in a better position to speak for you. Especially if you're a racist honkey, as all white people are..."

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[–] megaruda 8 years ago

Well if you are obsessed with being right as opposed to logical argumentation go for it, but it will get you nowhere, your fallacy is kind of a insult to human intelligence, I can only assume you have a mental disability, in which case is impressive you are able to type in a computer so congratulations, sincerely, if not just remember if you ever learn or read enough.
Self-esteem >Ego

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[–] JohnSilence 8 years ago

The simple fact is, there are only so many stories to tell. The reason I watch so few films (and read so little fiction) these days, is that everything's been done, all the stories have been told - again and again and again.

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[–] activista 7 years ago

@John Silence

So what? That's a lame as hell excuse to not ever want to read and or watch movies ever again. yeah, the same stories get told and retold by each successive generation, but not always in the same exact way, and usually it's done in a new surprising and refreshing way, and in a different way from culture to culture, and from time to time. If everyone felt the way you did, no one would ever write another book, make another film/TV show, or tell a story in anyway ever again. Your life must be so boring thinking that way.

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[–] omoxus 8 years ago

If I'm correct. A film about the contribution of women in this erea has never been done before. Save that criticism for Young Adult and comicbook films.

I am the Alpha and the Omoxus. The Omoxus and the Omega

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[–] movieghoul 8 years ago

The only film I can recall that covers breaking the sound barrier and the early days of NASA was The RIght Stuff, which concentrated on the pilots and astronauts. THis film is about the nerds in the backroom who made their heroics possible.

And there simply weren't enough white male engineers with the talent to get the job done, they needed women and blacks. And they all had to work and pull together to win the space race, in a cross gender and race fashion which didn't occur very much at the time of this story. A team effort, with no affirmative action. How could anyone object to that regardless of their politics?

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[–] omoxus 8 years ago

A team effort, with no affirmative action. How could anyone object to that regardless of their politics?

Only the primitive and insecure racists. As much as they complain about blacks crying victim, you'd think this would be welcomed.

I am the Alpha and the Omoxus The Omoxus and the Omega

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[–] ccr1633 8 years ago

movieghoul wrote:

A team effort, with no affirmative action. How could anyone object to that regardless of their politics?

Who exactly is objecting to that? You seem to be objecting to nonexistent criticisms.

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[–] activista 7 years ago

@moveghoul

There was a deliberate effort to get more black people and women into the space program after World War II. That was an early form of affirmative action, they just didn't call it that then. Even when they hired black and white women, they still had them segregated from each other---they still had separate bathrooms and offices. It wasn't until 1958 that the segregation was gotten rid of. Scroll down and read up on that here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson

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[–] miaangel345 7 years ago

I don't recall there ever being a filn about Katherine Johnson before but I could be wrong. I do think this movie does feature a lot of conventional tropes typical to films of this nature ('The Help', 'The Butler'), at least some are prevalent in the trailer. Some of the jokes seem "Tyler Perry-ish" but that doesn't take away from the main story that is NASA relied very heavily on Women and Women of Color to be Mathematicians since the country was at war with Vietnam which took Men away from these jobs. This is a unique story with 3 main Black women as the leads, this is a rarity in Hollywood films and certainly isn't "run of the mill".

All you need is love!
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Come follow me: http://twitter.com/miaisawesome

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[–] CelluloidAdmirer 7 years ago

I do think this movie does feature a lot of conventional tropes typical to films of this nature ('The Help', 'The Butler'), at least some are prevalent in the trailer. Some of the jokes seem "Tyler Perry-ish"

This is what's worrying some people here and these are reasonable concerns but for some reason, others will accuse those with legit worries of being racists.

but that doesn't take away from the main story that is NASA relied very heavily on Women and Women of Color to be Mathematicians since the country was at war with Vietnam which took Men away from these jobs.

No one's doubting that and myself and others here commend these women and have high respect them for their contributions and their efforts despite the odds.
We're afraid that the studio will take their efforts and works and screw it up royally.
We're just asking that their story be told the right way. They more than deserve that.

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