Real Story! IQ200+ Girl Only Uses Math To Save Humanity!

Hi, Mystery Recapped here. Today, I'm going to explain a history drama movie called Hidden Figures. Spoilers ahead. Watch out and take care. The movie opens in 1926 as a young black girl named Catherine Johnson is waiting outside the office of West Virginia Collegiate Institute. She is a math prodigy and spends her time by visualizing the shapes of various colored glasses on the office's window. Her parents, meanwhile, are inside talking about Catherine's future with the dean. The school is well aware of the little girl's talents and wants to grant her a full scholarship. On top of that, they want her to skip multiple grades because she is intellectually very advanced. We then get a glimpse of her extraordinary capabilities as she easily solves algebra equations well above her age group. The scene shifts to 1961, a time in history where the United States is at multiple cultural crossroads. Segregation between colored and white citizens is very much alive while the U.S. is also in a space race with Russia. Meanwhile, in Virginia, an adult Catherine is stuck on the side of the road with her two co-workers that she carpools with, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson. Their car is broken down and Dorothy is currently working to restart the engine. They get slightly nervous as a police car soon arrives and a cop rudely asks for their identification. But when they explain that they work at the Langley Research Center for NASA, the cop changes his tune. He is surprised that black women are being hired these days but points out that the Americans have to beat the Russians in the space race at any cost. He then asks if they are friends with the astronauts, to which Mary answers that they are, but it's clear from the others' expressions that they, being black women, are kept separate from the rest of the staff. Seconds later, Dorothy manages to get the car up and running and the police officer provides them an escort to the NASA Field Center. The three women find this ironic since a group of black people speeding to follow a police car is not a regular sight in the U.S. In the meantime, at Langley, the Space Task Group, or STG, a working group of NASA engineers, has a meeting. This group is tasked with managing America's first human spaceflight program. They talk about how to beat Russia, which has just become the first nation to have an artificial satellite in space. They are worried that the Soviets, having unchecked access to space, could allow them to spy on America. The director of STG, Al Harrison, is under a lot of pressure to get their He is continuously reminded by government officials that they can't justify the cost of a space program that doesn't put anyone in space. After the tense meeting, Harrison demands his secretary find him a computer that is well-versed in analytic geometry. This is the early 60s, where the word computer actually referred to a human performing mathematical calculations, and Riz was just how a cracker would pronounce the name of a cracker when their mouth was full Elsewhere, Dorothy gives out assignments to a group of 20 women. All of them work in the West Wing Computing Division, which handles the mathematical calculations required at the Langley Center. Mary, who also works as a computer, actually wants to be an engineer. To her surprise, she is assigned to the Space Capsule Heat Shield Team under NASA's chief aeronautical engineer. Suddenly, West Wing Supervisor Vivian Jackson comes in and tells Dorothy that the STG needs a new computer. The latter immediately suggests Catherine, who is exceptionally good with mathematics. Shortly afterwards, the supervisor escorts Catherine to the STG, and along the way, she points out the various rules that must be followed. It is standard for women to wear long skirts and no jewelry, except maybe pearls. Vivian also reveals that the STG has never had a colored person in its ranks. Catherine then enters her new department, which is exclusively made up of white men doing complex mathematical equations. She is immediately mistaken for a janitor, and the men act rudely towards her. Meanwhile, in the engineering department, Mary carries her papers through the closed-off area where a space shuttle is going to be tested. The heel of her shoe suddenly gets caught in an air vent, and she can't pry it loose. The countdown to testing soon begins, so she abandons it and joins the male engineers behind some safety glass. However, the test goes horribly wrong, and the outer layer of the space shuttle explodes. This means that the U.S. spaceship is not strong enough to withstand the heat during launch and landing. Later, the chief aeronautical engineer examines the shuttle and asks Mary for her opinion on what went wrong. She is able to deduce that the heat shield flew off the shingles and explains how it could be corrected. Impressed by her theory, the chief encourages her to leave the computing job for a vacant position in the engineering department. Mary is fully aware of her capabilities, but points out that such posts are usually off-limits for colored people. Back at the computing department, Dorothy is tired of handling the duties above her pay grade. She asks Vivian if she can be officially promoted since she has already been doing the work of a supervisor for the past eight months, but the supervisor flat-out refuses, and Dorothy is forced to remain diplomatic about the decision. On the other hand, things are also going tough for Catherine on her first day. She is given a lot of calculations to cross-check by STG head engineer Paul Stafford. He behaves curtly with her and says he needs them checked by the end of the day. On top of this, Stafford has also blacked out a lot of information, as if Catherine couldn't be trusted with it. She is now forced to work with whatever little data that is available to her. As the day goes on, Catherine needs to use the restroom, but she is fully aware that there are no colored people bathrooms in the Langley Center. She is thus forced to leave the building and run half a mile to the West Area Computer Division. She also brings her work with her and continues to proofread it while she pees. However, the subtle reminders of racism don't end there. When Catherine goes to pour herself a cup of coffee from the office's common pot, the other colleagues are unnerved and they think she is supposed to drink from a separate pot. From astronauts to coffee pots, the douchebaggery is everywhere. That weekend, the three friends, Catherine, Dorothy, and Martha, go to a local church where the pastor introduces them as inspirations for the black community. A handsome army colonel, Jim Johnson, who is also attending the prayer service, catches Catherine's eye. Later at the barbecue, he approaches her and the two have a sweet conversation. Jim is a tall, swanky man who seems to respect her struggle as a mathematician, as well as a single mother. The following day at Langley, the NASA employees are gathered out on the launch site. They are there to meet John Glenn, who will be piloting the Friendship 7, which would make him the first American to orbit the Earth. He is discouraged from greeting the black women, who are segregated from the white employees, but he comes over anyway and warmly shakes hands with every employee. That afternoon, Stafford hands Catherine yet another series of files that need to be cross-examined. Just like the last time, he has blacked out several key pieces of data. Catherine realizes that she cannot complete her job with some of the data that is hidden. Hence, she puts the files' pages in the light and manages to see the information required. As everyone else is busy with their own work, Catherine steps forward to the STG's common blackboard. She uses the information from the files given to her and brilliantly solves a problem that had been plaguing the department for quite a while now. Later, when she makes the half-a-mile trip to go to the colored bathroom, Harrison notices the solution on the blackboard. The scene shifts to a few moments later as Catherine is being questioned by Stafford and Harrison. The director seems to be impressed that she managed to work the problem, even with the limited information. Eventually, Harrison assigns her to work on the trajectory of Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program of the United States. On the other hand, Dorothy learns that NASA is in the process of installing the IBM 7090, a second-generation electronic computer that threatens to replace humans. She is determined to stay ahead of the curve and make herself irreplaceable. So, that weekend, she takes her children to the library and finds a book on FORTRAN programming language. A white woman spots her and complains she's in the wrong section. Dorothy replies that they didn't have the book she wanted in the colored section, but her reasoning falls on deaf ears and she is kicked out of the library. However, she reveals to her sons that she had already hidden the book under her coat. Dorothy justifies that she's a taxpayer and the library is government-owned, so she should be free to take the book. Days later, NASA is hit with another breaking piece of news. The Soviets have successfully launched Vostok 1, making Yuri Gagarin the first man to orbit Earth. This increases pressure on the STG to deliver results for their own space capsule, Project Mercury. One rainy day, Catherine sprints the long distance to use the colored women's room back at the West Wing. Harrison, who is now under increasing pressure to produce results, notices her vacant desk. He confronts Catherine when she returns and asks why she's gone for so long every day. Enraged, a soaking wet Catherine launches into a huge rant about how she has to use the colored women's room half a mile away from Langley. She has to face other acts of racism too. Her colleagues refuse to drink coffee from the same pot as her and she doesn't even make enough money to buy a simple set of pearls. Upon hearing all of this, Harrison sympathizes with her and heads to the West Wing. He knocks down the colored women's bathroom sign with a sledgehammer. Harrison then announces that from now on, there will be no segregation of bathrooms at Langley. In the meantime, Mary is inspired by the chief aeronautical engineer's words and plans to apply for the vacant role of an engineer in the heat shield department. But for that, she needs additional courses on top of her mathematics and physics degrees. These courses are only available at Hampton High School, an all-white school. Mary, unwilling to let go of her dreams, goes to the state court and gets permission to attend night classes at the high school. She later goes to class and the white students are taken aback, but it does not bother her. On the other hand, Dorothy sneaks into the data processing center and studies the IBM machine they've set up. She is slowly learning and also teaching the Fortran computing language to the black women at the West Wing. Back at the STG, Catherine voices to Harrison that she wants to be included in meetings that discuss Project Mercury's re-entry point. Some of the men protest, but Harrison agrees to let her sit in, stating that they all work together or not at all. Following this, Catherine attends her first meeting with John Glenn and his crew. She hears of the latest problem, that they have to get the calculations perfect so they know exactly when John's shuttle needs to return into Earth's atmosphere. Catherine is asked to go to the board and work on the problem right in front of everyone. She quickly comes up with the exact coordinates that their shuttle needs to enter safely, impressing everyone, especially John. Elsewhere, Dorothy, who is now proficient in Fortran, is promoted to the post of Programming Department Supervisor. She arranges for all 20 of the black women she had been working with to come along and join the staff. After the success with the re-entry point, Catherine begins to work on another problem. The whole STG, including Stafford, has now warmed up to her and treats her as an integral part of the team. They collectively work to find out how the Project Mercury space shuttle can be safely landed once it is inside the Earth's atmosphere. The problem is that the shuttle will be traveling in an elliptical pathway in Earth's orbit and abruptly shift to a parabolic pathway during descent to the surface. While everyone else is in deep thought, Catherine suddenly comes up with an equation that calculates how the space shuttle can be brought down safely. That night, she returns home after a long day, only to find Jim Johnson waiting for her. The two have been building a great chemistry for the past few weeks, and Jim decides to make things official. He gathers everyone at the dinner table and proposes to Catherine. The latter gets emotional, but eventually agrees to marry him. Unfortunately, back at work, things start to go down after the recent streak of success. The STG is making final arrangements for Project Mercury's launch, but Harrison regretfully tells Catherine that she's been reassigned to the West Wing. Everyone has come to love her, and they gift her pearls as a send-off gift. They never did pay her enough to afford them, but giving her a single set as she's unjustly fired is pretty good, right? The day of Project Mercury's launch arrives, and the whole world tunes in to watch John Glenn take off to Earth's orbit. However, the STG runs into a last-minute problem. The IBM's calculations for John's flight are not in line with the data from the previous day. No one knows which coordinates to set for the launch and landing, putting the astronaut's life at risk. But then, John suddenly remembers Catherine as the smart girl from the entry point meeting. He requests that she now confirm the IBM data by hand. Harrison quickly brings her back from the West Wing, and she works on the equation. Eventually, she not only verifies that the data from the IBM is correct, but also increases on its accuracy by two decimal points. Moments later, 50 million people watch the liftoff on television, while Catherine and Harrison watch from the control center. The launch goes perfectly, and Project Mercury safely reaches Earth's orbit. Ten hours later, after successfully revolving around Earth, it is now time for John to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Everything goes according to plan initially, but John soon notices a problem with the shuttle. The heat shield is not locked in position, and is only held into place by the straps of the retro package. He also complains that the temperature is getting too hot. Fortunately, Mary, who is watching the event on TV, rushes to a payphone and calls NASA. She screams to let the control center know that John should keep the retro pack in place during re-entry, and retract the periscope manually. This information is relayed, and ultimately proves to be correct. As the event is being covered non-stop by the news, the entire nation is nervous about John's re-entry. He loses altitude, and uses the fly-by-wire mode, experiencing peak re-entry heating. But then, he regains stability, and the space shuttle safely lands near the Bahamas. The re-entry point, as well as the landing point during this mission, matched exactly with Catherine's calculation. After this event, the activity at NASA dies down. Dorothy learns that all the computers are going to be laid off, now that electronic ones are available. But she is retained in the research center's analysis and computation division. Mary, on the other hand, gets her degree, and becomes an engineer. In the postscript, we learn about all three of the women's accomplishments at NASA. Catherine calculated the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the moon, and on Apollo 13 as well. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. In 2016, the Langley Research Center in Virginia that she worked at was renamed the Catherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. On top of that, she has remained married to Jim Johnson to this day. Subscribe for more videos like this, turn on notifications, and leave a like to help the channel out. Thank you for watching.