One of the better, if not best, films of 2016/2017 is the "Hidden Figures." What a treasure and a joy this film is! It is not only a film with many emotions ranging from laughter to love to anger, but it is also one of appreciation and education.
It is not very often that a film's director can find the perfect balance of entertaining the audience while at the same time educating or getting a life message across to them without seeming to be overly 'preachy.' What a powerful film this is - for women, African Americans (men as well, but in this case especially the women) and people of all races and sexes.
First, the performers in the cast are phenomenal, especially the main characters portrayed by Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae. Unbelievable acting -- and you could feel their appreciation for each other radiating off of the screen. Watching what these women had to go through and the challenges and adversity they faced during that time period was hard to watch and made me angry to think that people - because of the color of their skin - had to (and in many cases still do) endure such hardship and racism. But here is what I love about the movie.
While it does not shy away from those hard facts, because history should be learned from (both the good and bad), it did not focus entirely on that. The women portrayed in this film were just that - women who were very smart and worked very hard to get ahead in life. They were women who were wives, mothers, daughters and more but were extremely talented and smart and were proud to be Americans.
I am so glad I saw this film, especially on Martin Luther King, Jr. day as this film only reinforced the fact that we should learn to love ALL of our fellow people regardless of race, sex, religion or anything else for that matter. Definitely a wonderful film for all to see!
- John Z.
Related:
The Best Films of 2016
2016 - The Year of the Documentary
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