The power of cinema is incredible, but it is certainly overlooked. A key element to a successful film is its ability to raise awareness, awaken interest in social issues but more importantly change the way viewers perceive important topics. Often, we find ourselves ‘in the story’, helping characters make decisions – rooting for them when they make the right decision and cringing when they don’t. We get emotionally involved, we identify, and like Taraji P. Henson’s character in Theodore Melfi’s ‘Hidden Figures’, we want to get up on the screen, be in the story and sympathize with her character. While there are other numerous memorable films, it can be argued that, Theodore Melfi, Hollywood’s richest and most renowned director, constructed ‘Hidden Figures’ with the intent of positioning the audience to accept his invited reading.
Melfi expertly positions the viewers through a multitude of film-making techniques, exploring various characters, as well as incorporating the use of cinematography, symbolism and discerning shot choices. Through Mefli’s skillful manipulation of these techniques, ‘Hidden Figures’ vividly explores a vast chronicle of well-known historical events. In this paper, scenes from the film will be analyzed to evaluate the methods Melfi uses to position the audience to explore the individual struggles faced by the main characters and ultimately invite us to feel warmly towards them.
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The film, set in 1960’s Hampton, Virginia during NASA’s first mission, centers around three intelligent African-American Mathematicians: Katherine Johnson, whose calculations of orbital mechanics played a crucial role to the success of the US space program, joined by other integral characters such as Dorothy Vaughan, a computer programmer, Mary Jackson, an aerospace engineer and a few other characters based on actual people at the time. Much of the film gives a personal insight into the true story of Katherine’s personal journey as the only black woman apart of the NASA team. Melfi’s characterization of Katherine, as a strong-minded individual who overcomes any challenge thrown at her, is one that the audience can easily identify with by the presence of Paul Stafford, a white engineer who has absolutely no interest in giving up his white male privileges. The following sections will more closely examine some of the effective mastery the director has used to tell the story through the perspective of each character.
The discourses in the film acts as a driving force for social change, it educates the viewers about the demeaning behavior towards black women in the 1900’s however, racism and sexism is still a contemptuous issue that regularly plagues society today. Particularly, segregation is introduced throughout the film and it is clearly evident that white people rebut the notion that white privilege augments their lives. This is suggested in the beginning when the policeman states “rare to see a colored female worker for NASA”.
Many of us can agree that the ‘bathroom scene’ is a key scene that cleverly uses a range of film techniques to show how the white male workers came to find sympathy for black women and eventually value the importance of each individual life. The sequence opens with Katherine entering the office while the other employees look at her with disappointment and she is finally questioned by the fictional head of the space task, Al Harrison. The first key shot Is in the perspective of the boss, as he looks down on Katherine during the conversation.
The high angle shot isolates Katherine from the frame, clearly suggesting that Al is a person of high authority and attempts to appear of higher status. The status and importance of the scene is also portrayed between each character. By allowing the audience to see Katherine standing in the center while the other white male employees just look at her, makes it visible for the audience to recognize the social division between Katherine and the others. The use of bright moonlight allows the viewer to clearly see every face and expression, enhancing the viewer’s ability to sympathize against her character.
The high perspective shot initially draws attention to Katherine’s rich and elegant green dress and juxtaposes towards the rest of the colleagues who are simply dressed in stark white button-down shirts. Melfi effectively utilizes salience through color to narrow the audience’ view to just Katherine’s outfit without having to crop in on the shot. In doing so, Melfi successfully makes Katherine’s powerful color stand out amongst all these men who are all just the same. This technique expands our view on Katherine as it has been constructed so that we can be reminded of her uniqueness and importance.
The separation of races was still being upheld in the USA state of Virginia in 1961. The bathroom scene is a prime example to illustrate the symbol of oppression and segregation during the time, highlighting the absurdity of the situation as she has to run half a mile just to go to the toilet. Melfi’s purpose for this scene was successfully applied as he positions the viewer to feel negatively towards the disrespect from the white people and invites us to emphasize with the everyday challenges that were faced by the African American.
Another captivating and moving scene from ‘Hidden Figures’ take place when Katherine is given the opportunity to solve the geometric space equation for the NASA project at an all-male only meeting. A close-up shot is evident in this scene when Al Harrison passes the chalk to Katherine. The aim of this shot was to promote equal rights as he is handing her equal control and proving that she is just as good as anyone else - as well as symbolizing leadership and power. The camera angles slow down when he gives her the chalk, highlighting that it is important. This originally relates back to the opening scene where the camera zooms in on the teacher’s hand as he passes Katherine the chalk to solve the problem at a younger age, then turns around and explains it to her teenaged classmates implying that this is only the beginning of a new journey. The skill of linking separate scenes together with central concepts is an ability that young filmmakers, such as ourselves, can learn to adopt to leave viewers in thought, even after the credits have rolled.
Melfi effectively uses a variety of film techniques to build tension such as non-diegetic sound effects to provoke an emotional response from the audience as they finally witness Katherine, an African American woman getting the respect and honor she deserves. This scene highlights her struggle and juxtaposes and contrasts with the music, allowing the audience to witness the spectacle.
So, can films really change the audience’s mind? Can films be the driving force for social change? Beyond the technology and beyond the technique, it is clear to see that, Melfi provides the window through which we, as an audience, can witness and believe the power of cinema. The film ‘Hidden Figures’ is not only entertaining, it also has the potential to change the world as well as guide us through a journey that can ultimately be useful for our future filmmaking. Although of course, none of this would be possible without Melfis’ phenomenal choice of setting, characterization, cinematography and symbolism.
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