The pearl is created because of something else, and in 1961 Hampton, Virginia the pearl represents the woman, and the mollusk is the man, shaping and protecting the pearl. To fit in, one must be more white.Īlso, the pearl comes from a living organism, it’s created within the soft tissue of a mollusk.
#KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA CUTOUTS SKIN#
Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary are being asked to give up their skin color to assimilate into work place. Next, a pearl is a metaphor for something rare or valuable, but in this instance it also means white. First of all, as Katherine points out, they are expensive, and with husbands and children at home, who has the money to spend on a string of pearls for work? It seems much easier just to not wear a necklace at all. So fighting for the right to wear her own jewelry must seem a little foolish, especially when you take into consideration that they are fighting for claim on the final frontier. Not to mention the blatant racism and sexism she faces from her all white all male employees over a cup of coffee that she has to make herself even though the boys have coffee made for them. This leaves the black women scratching their heads and saying ummmmmmm?Īs Katherine points out, in a beautifully written and performed monologue, NASA does not pay the black women nearly enough to be able to afford pearls and they are so busy fighting on every other front who has the time to argue? She’s so busy running from her new building to her old building to pee, since it’s the only colored bathroom, and furiously trying to keep up with the ever changing data, the pearls seem a moot point. As “Vivian Mitchell” (Kirsten Dunst) explains, skirts must hit the knee and no jewelry is permitted… the exception being, of course, a single string of pearls. We see, throughout the film, various earrings and necklaces all of which are big statement pieces, but pearls are particularly important as the story continues.
They defy the odds in terms of what a black woman is capable of, and turn heads all along the way.īut back to the pearls. They are smartly dressed and proud of the bright color in their outfits, in their makeup and the color of their skin. Mary wants to be an engineer with NASA, and goes to court to defend her right to study at an all white school in order to get the remaining credits required.Īll three of these women are fabulous, incredibly intelligent, and never afraid to point out when sexism and racism affect their abilities in the workplace. She provides the girls she oversees with the knowledge to provide them with job security and is a support system for both Katherine and Mary. Dorothy is a supervisor in every sense of the word except in title and pay. Most costumes consist of two pieces, a dress and matching sweater or blazer, and they aren’t afraid of a bold matte lip color.īefore Katherine is given the assignment with the Space Task Force, she works alongside her best friends, “Dorothy Vaughan” (Octavia Spencer) and “Mary Jackson” (Janelle Monáe). The black women wear many colors and they aren’t afraid of patterns and bold accessories. Henson) learns when she is finally appointed as a member of the Space Task Force “computer” in the US-Russian race to space. Their dresses are one piece, and they only are allowed one accessory: one string of pearls, which “Katherine G. The white women wear all neutral colors in shades of blues, grey, and black.
Right off the bat we see that the black women in this film dress very differently from the white women. From fabulous performances by everyone in this great cast to the great story being told, and its important message, the film rocks, but let’s take a look behind the important jewelry that plays a major role in the film: pearls. The film highlights the work that women of color have done for NASA, and how they have been nearly erased from history despite their importance. Hidden Figures, written by Allison Shroeder and Theodore Melfi based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly and directed by Theodore Melfi, has been receiving a lot of press.
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