“It’s not because we wear skirts. It’s because we wear glasses.“
– Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson in Hidden Figures)
Other than movies, a few topics have always fascinated me: space exploration, archeology, and history to name a few. It’s even better when I get to watch these subjects portrayed on film, whether it be a period piece, a biographical film, or just a regular documentary about the people who contributed so much to these fields. So, after watching Theodore Melfi’s film adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly’s novel, “Hidden Figures” and director Simon Stone’s newly released film The Dig, I couldn’t help but be excited about both films.
As a Black woman, Hidden Figures hit me the hardest. I loved watching NASA space shuttle launches back when I was a kid and the program was still around. Like many Black people who saw the movie, I never heard of Katherine Goble Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), and Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) or their work during the Space Race era before seeing the movie. That realization cut deep, knowing I probably would’ve worked harder at math or at least given engineering a chance had I known about their accomplishments in that field. Nonetheless, the film became a fuel of inspiration among many Black girls and women who love STEM and plan on pursuing it. Based on John Preston’s novel, Simon Stone’s The Dig is a much quieter, softer film about a self-taught archeologist named Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) who discovered an Anglo-Saxon ship on Edith Pretty’s (Carey Mulligan) Sutton Hoo property in Suffolk, England. Call me nostalgic, but archeology is an appealing study of history. You can get your hands dirty (literally) by uncovering old treasures of the past, which help us understand our present and make a brighter future. Despite each film having its fair share of historical inaccuracies, I noticed both adaptations of Hidden Figures and The Dig stand out as underdog narratives.
It’s common to find underdog narratives in mostly comedies and sports movies like Harold Lloyd’s silent film school comedy The Freshman, John G. Avildesen’s iconic boxing story, Rocky, or even dramatic films like Stephen Chobsky’s film adaptation of his novel, The Perks of Being A Wallflower. These movies contain a protagonist who no one expects to win or succeed in any area of life. Despite these expectations, they go through a series of challenges to obtain career success or validation from those around them. However, The Dig and Hidden Figures give new life to the underdog narratives by focusing more on issues surrounding gender and race. Not only do these films show a more realistic portrayal of the tedious and often misunderstood work that goes behind archeology and space industries, but they also highlight the oppressive struggles of women, especially women of color. Going beyond the thrill of watching the underdog succeed, these stories also emphasize the need to give recognition when it’s due.
Both movies illustrate how women are underestimated in their abilities at work, especially in male-dominated fields, and nonetheless overcome obstacles to prove that they are just as capable as their male peers. In Hidden Figures, Melfi does not shy away from showing the brutal racial discrimination and gender stereotyping that plagued African Americans in 1960s America, which subsequently affects our three protagonists as they navigate through their roles at Langley Research Center in Virginia. He gives the audience glimpses of how their racist white peers unjustly undermine these three Black women. Through these struggles, Goble, Jackson, and Vaughn show that they are just as capable as their white peers in the space business.
Katherine Goble is assigned to work at the center’s Space Task Group (STG). Known for solving complex math calculations, she becomes the first Black woman to join the group. Her white male coworkers constantly undervalue her, specifically Paul Stafford, the STG lead engineer. From purposely redacting equations to demanding she remove her name from reports, Stafford is an example of how deep racism and sexism played a role in 1960s America to ensure Black women never moved ahead. But Goble continues to do her job right, despite working under these tense conditions. Not only does she have to work under immense pressure to double-check every team member’s math, but she also has to walk forty-five minutes across campus just to use the ladies’ room for Black women (these were referred to as “colored” bathrooms at the time). Due to Henson’s incredible performance, we can feel the depth of frustration Goble is dealing with when she expresses her grievances to her STG director, Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), and the entire team. Despite having to deal with segregation on campus, it is remarkable that Goble overcomes it all. She doesn’t let racism stop her from doing her job — ensuring that all the calculations are correct in time for John Glenn’s orbital launch on the Friendship 7. In the end, Goble is one underdog who proves she is worthy of respect. Her race, or womanhood, has nothing to do with her being able to complete the assignment.
Mary Jackson has the eyes and mind of an engineer, but, like Goble, she has to face the system head-on to get ahead. Her mentor, Karl Zielinski (Olek Krupa), encourages her to become a NASA engineer. However, Jackson is told by Mrs. Mitchell she must attend night classes at Hampton High School, an all-white school, even though she already has bachelor’s degrees in math and physical science. She must apply for a petition and appeal before a court judge to explain why a Black woman like her should be allowed to attend. Jackson doesn’t believe she can be a NASA engineer. It’s not because she doesn’t think she has what it takes to be one, but instead because she doesn’t think America’s racial justice system will let her in. And rightfully so. Jackson is the more outspoken one of the trio. She has no shame in calling out the system that makes her Blackness and femininity be seen as inferior compared to her white counterparts, saying, “I would have already been” an engineer if she was a white male. Though the odds of getting into an all-white school are low, she decides to file a petition to the state court anyway. By researching the judge’s career history, Jackson persuades him to become the first judge to allow a Black woman to attend an all-white school in Virginia, saying, “I can’t change the color of my skin. So I have no choice but to be the first. Which I can’t do without you, sir. […] Which one is gonna matter 100 years from now? Which one is gonna make you the first?” Jackson overcomes a bold challenge by getting the judge, a man known for being the first in various career achievements, to see her as an equal. Her boldness, bravery, and determination to give herself a chance make Jackson a unique kind of underdog.
Lastly, Dorothy Vaughn is sort of the motherly figure out of the trio. Though she is a mother of two boys, she also lends her nurturing and leadership qualities to her work at Langley. Vaughn leads the all-Black women staff in the West Area of the agency. Her boss, Mrs. Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst), disrespects her to the point she refuses to give her the rightful title of “supervisor.” Like most underdog narratives, there has to be a moment where the character takes on a challenge to prove themselves. Vaughn is no exception. Unlike Jackson, Vaughn doesn’t complain about how racist America is. Instead, Vaughn focuses on finding a way to act in a manner where she can win without conflict. In the middle of a racial justice protest, Vaughn and her children visit a local library. After being scolded by the white librarian, Vaughn steals a book about Fortran, an IBM computer programming manual, that she found in the whites-only section to learn the software. On the bus ride home, she tells her sons, “you act right, you are right. That’s for certain!” Her actions are an example of civil disobedience, something she had to do to make sure her and her team remained employed. She couldn’t find the manual in the “colored” section of the library, which speaks to the stereotype that Black people are unintelligent. Had she not taken that book, she never would have gotten the IBM machines to work, proving her skills to her higher-ups, including Mrs. Mitchell. Her tenacity to confirm those in power wrong gains her the respect that she deserves. All in all, Hidden Figures works as an underdog narrative. It illustrates how these three women, who knew they had what it takes to excel in NASA, overcame the ruthless racial and sexist undertones in their environment.
Though sexism is not as prevalent in Simon Stone’s The Dig, it still explores how women are underestimated in their career fields. We see this specifically through Mrs. Peggy Piggot (Lily James). She is just as much of an underdog as Basil Brown, except her own unique set of challenges have to do with her womanhood. In the film, Stone depicts Piggot as a young woman fresh out of university with some archeological experience, ready to help Edith Pretty, Basil Brown, and his team on this excavation at Sutter Hoo. However, her excitement’s cut short when Charles Phillips, an archeologist from Cambridge, takes over Brown’s excavation site. He only wants her involved because her petite frame and weight won’t damage the digging area, disregarding Piggot’s competence as an archeologist.
Nonetheless, her tenacity doesn’t let his comments get to her. Ironically, she falls through a small hole at the digging site, where she discovers several treasures. She is the one who proves that the artifacts found along with the ship are Anglo-Saxon. Though the real-life Peggy Piggott was a more experienced archeologist, the character’s portrayal in the film is still important to note. Despite her credentials and a keen eye for historical detail, the powerful men surrounding Piggot do not expect much from her. Even her husband Stuart (Ben Chaplin), an archeologist himself, doesn’t value her individuality. Still, if it weren’t for her, the site probably would’ve never been deemed significant by Charles Philips in the first place. Today, any woman can relate to Piggott, just as many Black women can relate to the three NASA African American mathematicians and engineers as they brush with racism, microaggressions, and harmful stereotypes on the job.
Stone and Melfi’s films are different from average underdog stories in that they emphasize not giving recognition when it’s due, whether it’s because of race, class, or lack of education. In the case of Hidden Figures, there’s no question that systemic racism and whitewashing of Black stories in the United States played a significant role in ensuring generations of Black people never hear of Vaugh, Jackson, and Johnson’s work at NASA. In the movie, Johnson types up the cover page of the landing go/no-go analysis of the Friendship 7 launch report, including her life-saving calculations, but only giving Paul Stafford credit. He believed that because she’s a Black woman, she shouldn’t be seen nor heard. Though Stafford does agree to share co-authorship with Johnson at the end of the film, his earlier attempts to not give credit to her speak volumes about white supremacy in America that is still prevalent today.
The Dig, however, heavily emphasizes how Basil Brown’s lack of higher education is used against him. When Charles Phillips arrives on the Sutton Hoo excavation site, he immediately moves Brown to the side. Brown is only there as a necessity. In Philips’ eyes, he is incapable of managing such a massive dig due to his poor education. Despite him knowing he won’t get credit for this work because of the nation’s prioritizing hierarchy, Brown still refuses to stop working on his discovery because, deep down, he knows the job is too important. However, that doesn’t mean the man doesn’t feel some sense of defeat from the establishment. Brown’s wife, May (Monica Dolan), reminds him of why the work is vital, saying, “You always told me your work isn’t about the past or even the present. It’s for the future. So that the next generation can know where they came from.”
Because of the film, Basil Brown is seen as an underdog through and through. His struggle to gain respect in his field can resonate with many people today, especially among those who are self-taught or don’t have a college degree. Brown was a middle-aged man who taught himself archeology and astronomy. Sadly, his recognition for his discovery at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England, was relatively sparse in the beginning. The first account of his work was published a year after in the Journal of Antiquity written by Charles Philips, but Brown’s name was omitted when the artifacts went on display at the British Museum in the 1950s. In the end, Brown’s name did get included at the museum some thirty years later. With the release of The Dig, his contributions to archeology are more widely known than ever before.
Lastly, The Dig and Hidden Figures stand out in that they introduce audiences to fields of study that are otherwise overlooked or misconstrued by the public at large by painting a more realistic picture of the work that goes on behind archeology and human spaceflight, respectively. While topics like these are over-sensationalized in Hollywood, The Dig and Hidden Figures give hardcore enthusiasts and professionals in these fields stories they can genuinely feel represented. Or at least, understood. In The Dig, Simon Stone takes his camera and brings it to the ground, using wide-angle and close-up shots as it slowly follows these characters as they get their hands dirty at Sutton Hoo. Mike Eley’s sweeping pastoral and grounded cinematography further magnifies the hard work of an archeologist. Through Ralph Fiennes and Carry Mulligan’s equally terrific performances, we can sense Basil Brown and Edith Pretty’s tiredness and determination as they continue to dig up this Anglo-Saxon ship, rain or shine. Scenes of Brown and his team working until sundown, protecting the burial site at night to make sure it doesn’t get destroyed, show how archeology connects humans, nature, time, and place. Archeology is nothing that Hollywood movies like Indiana Jones or As Above So Below make it out to be. The Dig captures how beautifully slow archeology truly is, shedding away all the misconceptions about this field and allowing it to be seen for what it is all about. A dig can last for months or years due to intense research and conservation. By the end of the film, you get a better idea of how real-life archeologists work and how vital their work is to help us understand the past.
In regards to Hidden Figures, Theodore Melfi zeros in on the no-nonsense, calm, and focused atmosphere of NASA. Despite living in a segregated and racially unjust world, Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Goble Johnson, and Mary Jackson still took their work seriously because they understood NASA requires dedication and accuracy for every mission they are part of. Al Harrison tells Johnson about how important it is to get the math right in this field. He says that without the math figured out, “we’re not going anywhere. We’re staying on the ground. We’re not flying into space. We’re not circling the earth. And we’re certainly not touching the moon.” Harrison’s words further implicate how vital Johnson’s role in the STG is, which only encourages her to keep going, even though many people expected her to fail. The moment Harrison gives her access to Mission Control, Johnson solidifies her position at NASA, but Melfi also uses this moment to show how NASA has no room for error. His words similarly echo that of Gene Krantz, former NASA flight director who, after the Apollo 1 accident that killed all three astronauts, spoke of how NASA’s Mission Control must be perfect. He said, “Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect.” Unlike movies like Armageddon, where disasters in space are the central focus, Hidden Figures strays away from that by showing viewers a realistic glimpse of what goes on at NASA that human spaceflight enthusiasts can appreciate and for professionals in the field to have a sense of appreciation for the work they do.
Overall, The Dig and Hidden Figures are not the usual underdog narratives we usually see in movies. In other words, they don’t follow stories that surround young, caucasian men in sports or schools trying to gain acceptance from the popular kids or win the girl at the end. Instead, they focus on underrepresented groups of people who have always had stories to tell. They speak out to the more underrepresented type of underdog who knows what they bring to the table, like women of color or people who are self-taught in their dream careers. In the end, they inspire the ones who love history and science, regardless of race or gender, to keep pursuing what they love despite the challenges.
