'Hidden Figures' Celebrates Unsung African-American Heroines
Watch Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janella Monáe defy stereotypes to a soundtrack by Pharrell Williams.
Katherine Johnson, the “human computer” behind the first moon landing will finally be honored with a film biopic. Hidden Figures revolves around Johnson (Taraji P. Henderson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), the key black female scientists who launched astronaut John Glenn into orbit in 1962. The trailer demonstrates how the three women defied stereotypes and social stigmas. Each played a vital role in the Space Race of the ’50s and ’60s, a time when women – let alone women of color — were barred from NASA meetings altogether. Furthermore, the film’s soundtrack is scored by Pharrell Williams. Directed by Theodore Melfi and written by both Melfi and Allison Schroeder, the movie hits theaters on January 13 of next year.
