Exceptional

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2020)

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The racial undertone was established from the start, and of course played a large part of the story. But these ladies were not only fighting being discriminated because of their race, but equally their gender. And these women were exceptional. Unfortunately, as this movie shows, a woman must be *exceptional* in order to attain the same respect and recognition as her male counterparts. They had to outperform the men, in order to be seen as equal. And I cheered at every single victory. Sadly, it takes a white male of power and standing to instigate change - we see Katherine in particular proving her worth and Al realising he was able to remove some of the obstacles in her way, and you're really given the impression that many under him are not of the same opinion. In our current climate where issues of racism and sexism are threatening to resurface and progress to be reversed, this film highlights exactly how hard it was to achieve the progress in the first place.
Overall, a fantastic story which highlights the contribution of black women to NASA and the space race, who are utterly overlooked in every film about this era of NASA that I'm aware of. Women are not just secondary characters in history, not should they be in films.