In an iconic quote from Hidden Figures, Al Harrison states, “Here at NASA, we all pee the same color.” While this quote is ridiculous and hilarious all at the same time, the quote also addresses the topic of racism and segregation that colored people face in the workplace. As Hidden Figures showcases throughout the movie, the struggle of African-American women and men for the fight for equal rights permeated throughout everyday life, in politics, and even at their jobs during the 1960’s. To convey this struggle and other controversial topics, Hidden Figures uses a plethora of scenes, pieces of footage, and more to create a feeling of engagement and tension that viewers feel and see. Therefore, Hidden Figures showcases controversial topics during …show more content…
As Dorothy gives out positions and weekly assignments, she assigns Katherine to the main task force due to her skill level in analytical geometry, and she assigns Mary to an engineering group to work on the heatshield for the capsule that NASA plans to launch. Carefully, Katherine works her way through sexism, racism, and doubt in her new workplace while she attempts to prove herself and still successfully calculate the “go-no go” for John Glenn’s orbit and return home. However, Mary faces a much different situation as she clashes brashly through the office at NASA and, with the support of her peers, petitions the court to attend an all-white high school to begin to earn a degree in engineering. After Mary, Katherine, and Dorothy work themselves through all the obstacles thrown at them in their new positions, they eventually make their place in the office and successfully launch John Glenn into …show more content…
The camera angles and shots show the viewer the intensity of the tension and emotion of the scene. For example, when Mary petitions the court the camera goes from a mid-shot to a close up as the court gives her the right to attend night classes at the local high school, this camera shot shows Mary’s face of triumph and emphasized the great victory she won and the exhilaration that she felt. Using another camera angle, the directors use a tilt to shift from the view of John Glenn to the view of earth from space dramatizing and creating a sense of importance, awe, and beauty of space, which a human had never seen before. Music at key moments gives the viewer insight into the internal feelings of the characters. As Katherine runs to go to the bathroom, the song “Runnin” by Pharrell Williams plays, Katherine faces greater obstacles to working in the office; thus, the song shows viewers an internal view of frustration and persistence. After Katherine’s hard work creates a space for her in the office, Al Harrison dismisses her; however, before she leaves, the office gives her a pearl necklace for her engagement, sad music plays while they give her the necklace and shows viewers Katherine’s internal feelings of despair and sadness. Lastly, the use of real camera footage and recordings gives viewers a more realistic view
A soundtrack is a key role in any movie and subsequently positions viewers to emotionally react, provoking a deeper thought of what is transpiring in the scene, targeting the mood portrayed. Good morning, I’d like to thank you for having me here today, being given the opportunity to provide an Australian musical composition, which is best effective in the selected scene. Sung by the outstanding Australian artist, Sia Furler’s, Breathe Me is a worldwide selling single that alludes to many themes explored in the film, Jasper Jones, such as relationships, and identity. The scene that best fits this song and connects with the viewers on an emotional level, is of Laura running to the woods, where she ultimately ends her life. While the musical composition was originally penned about a drug addiction, the lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, linking impeccably to those in Jasper Jones. I will discuss this through the poetic devices of repetition and symbolism, which I feel are the most powerful in conveying the themes.
In the article “In Living Color Race and American Culture” Michael Omi expresses his attention on racism and how stereotypes have affected the way we
... Not only does this provide an example of the ambient racism in this story, but it also relates to the previous statement of how the filmmakers exaggerated the sexual energy of black people.
Upon first screening Secret Daughter, I couldn’t help but consider the ways in which our society, in all of its affluence has changed very little since the 1960’s with its civil rights movement. Yes, people of color can vote, eat in whatever establishment they choose, and use public transportation without fear of being thrown off; however, there is still a deep seated mistrust between those of color and those who are white. Even as our nation has grown more affluent, we still find ourselves embroiled in race wars. How can this be? Will we ever be able to move past the color of a person’s skin in order to see the beauty of humanity that lies within each of us? When we first meet June, she has traveled
music to analyse—in fact, the music runs almost constantly throughout the film without very little
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
Understanding the race and ethnicity issues in a multicultural society is vitally important nowadays as the society is undergoing changes. Some people believe that science fiction has no correlation with modern plights of the society. However, the scholarly research refutes these beliefs. In this essay I will explore the cinematic representation of racial injustice and xenophobia in the modern science fiction film “District 9” to demonstrate that Neil Blomkamf, the film director, investigates racial relations on the example of aliens and humans to reflect such social maladies as racism and apartheid, which until now have not yet been rooted out. I will refer to three scholarly sources on cinematic representation of racial injustice in “District 9” film. These articles assess a depiction of racial relations and racial injustice in science fiction films. The works include Professor Adilufu Nama’s book “Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film," Julian Schurhorz’s article “Mockumenting South Africa? Race and segregation in District 9” and Julia’s Kristeva’ research “Forgiving the Sci-Fi Alien: District 9 as a Postcolonial Apologia”.
Hollywood’s diversity problem is well-known; however, the extent might be surprising to most Americans. According to a 2014 report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media, found that females comprised only 30% of all speaking characters among the top grossing films of 2013. (Lauzen, 2014) However, minority women faired far worse than their Caucasian counterparts. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the numbers even female characters from other world’s were as better represented in film than some minority women; the numbers are as follow for women: Caucasian (73%), African American (14%), Latina (5%), Asian and other world tied (3%). (Lauzen, 2014) If the lack of representation were not enough consider a 2009 study which found that when minority groups are portrayed on television the portrayal tends to be negative. (Alexandrin, 2009) A study by Busselle and Crandall (2009) found that the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed, often as unemployed criminals, tends to have an influence on the way the public perceives African-American’s lack of economic success. Furthermore, the news media does an equally poor job in the ways that African-American’s are presented; according to the same study while 27% of Americans were considered “poor” in 1996 the images of America’s “poor” being presented by news media was heavily Black (63%). (Busselle & Crandall, 2002) Today, this can be seen in the way that African-American victims of police brutality are depicted in the media. Even when African-Americans are murdered at the hands of police for minor and non-violent offenses (e.g. Mike Brown, Eric Gardner, and Tamir Rice) they are often portrayed as thugs, criminals, and vandals. What’s more, seve...
The film Hidden Figures Is a historically accurate story about three african american women working for the NASA. The movie was based off of the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race”. The three women,Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, were considered “human computers” due to their vast knowledge. The “human computers” group was made up of mostly women who worked for NASA to see that our astronauts made their trip to space safely.
Often racial injustice goes unnoticed. Television tries to influence the mind of their viewers that blacks and whites get along by putting them on the screen to act as if interracial relationships has been accepted or existent. “At the movies these days, questions about racial injustice have been amicably resolved (Harper,1995). Demott stresses that the entertainment industry put forth much effort to persuade their audience that African Americans and Caucasians are interacting and forming friendships with one another that is ideal enough for them to die for one another. In the text, Demott states “A moment later he charges the black with being a racist--with not liking whites as much as the white man likes blacks--and the two talk frankly about their racial prejudices. Near the end of the film, the men have grown so close that each volunteer to die for the other” (Harper,1995). Film after film exposes a deeper connection amongst different races. In the text, Demott states “Day after day the nation 's corporate ministries of culture churn out images of racial harmony” (Harper, 1995). Time and time again movies and television shows bring forth characters to prove to the world that racial injustice has passed on and justice is now received. Though on-screen moments are noticed by many people in the world it does not mean that a writer/ director has done their
For example, when Timo’s cousin got shot in the street, the music intensified and time went in slow motion. Also, when they were in the playoffs and the other team shot, the music would get louder and louder. The composition of the soundtrack is important to set the mood of the scene. Lighting also affects the mood of any scene in any movie. In this movie, it showed both high-key lighting and low-key lighting. It shows how happy they were in the morning, and at night it showed the dangers of the streets. The camera shots show what is important or has any relevance in each scene. Which also contrasts the type of camera angles they shoot in. I think in movies, camera shots are the most important to show the viewer what they are in for, like foreshadowing. When Remy got shot, the scene leading up to this had shown the gun is Timo’s pocket. And the gang that shot him had shown that they were not happy with Remy. All of the shots composed in this scene showed that someone was going to get shot. According to Coach Carter- Trailer.
The film shows that determination will succeed in the face of prejudice. A computer for the space program, Mary Jackson could not achieve her dream of working at NASA as an engineer because NASA requires her to take extra classes at a local white high school; nevertheless, Mary went to the courts and succeeds. When Paul Stafford, a mathematician at NASA, coauthored papers with Katherine Goble, he refused to put her name on the paper; even though, Katherine contributed a large majority of the work until the end of the movie when they properly worked together after Katherine proved herself. Containing characters filled with hatred and dislike towards others, Hidden Figures shows that kindness from one person can change another's life. Slightly resigned, Mary immediately rejects the idea of applying to the engineer program saying “I am a negro women, I am not going to entertain the impossible,” but after an inspirational story, along with help from her boss, Mary, went down in history as the first african american female engineer in the history of NASA.
... movie. During the chase scenes dramatic and heart pumping music makes the audience feel as if they were involved in the actual chase.
The article, “White” by Richard Dyer explores both sides of the black and white paradigm in mainstream films –while addressing racial inequalities. Dyer talks about the “…property of whiteness to be everything and nothing [and that this] is the source of its representational power…the way whiteness disappears behind and is subsumed into other identities…”(Dyer 825). Also, according to Dyer “…stereotypes are seldom found in a pure form and this is part of the process by which they are naturalized…”(Dyer 826). Through the application of binarism to the film, The Green Mile, this essay will critically analyze the identities of black and white people. For instance, specific examples of the films mis-en-scene will serve as evidence to show the visible binarism and racial symbolism that exist in this
The importance of music in movies is highly regarded for manipulating the viewer’s emotions and helping them immerse into the story. Music is one of the prime elements in cinema. Without it a movie would feel dull and unexciting. There are three elements in a movie: one is acting, the second is picture, and the third one is music. It is a holy trinity; if incomplete, there would be a lack of sensation and excitement. Both acting and picture can stand independently from one another, but music is the one that makes the movie memorable.