If you have a daughter of school age, who's very good in the maths and sciences, I strongly, strongly, strongly suggest that you bring her to the theater this weekend and watch the movie Hidden Figures, with the hope that she gets inspired by what these real women achieved for space research.
Unfortunately, movies about African-Americans do not usually play well here in the Philippines, especially if the subject is serious, but this movie is such a feel good movie, I'm sure you and your daughter(s) will leave the theater with happy tears in your eyes and possibly an eye on the prize - whatever your daughter may want to achieve in her own life.
I'm a big fan of Taraji Henson since her star turn in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I would always see her as Brad Pitt's mother because of her terrific acting in that movie. Too bad the Oscar Best Actress race is so crowded this year that she was not even singled out for her crowd-pleasing performance here.
I'm sure every working actress in Hollywood has to wonder what they have to do just to get into the four other slots in an Oscar Best Actress race, especially if Meryl Streep has a movie out! Because Meryl again has been nominated for the 20th time!
Octavia Spencer does get a nomination for Oscar Best Supporting Actress and you will see why she deserves it. She nimbly balances diplomacy with firm determination to advance her agendas, to ensure that African-American women at NASA don't get blindsided.
The revelation in the movie for me though is Janelle Monae, who I know more as a singer! She looks like the young version of Alicia Keys and she should be so lucky to get this role since both Octavia and Taraji are an Oscar winner and Oscar nominees as well.
She holds her own though among the three characters and does her best to tell the story of her genius character.
She holds her own though among the three characters and does her best to tell the story of her genius character.
Whenever I teach about women and education, I have to go back to Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie and her pioneering efforts in radiation - to show today's girls what women had to go through just to get an education.
Now I have another fodder in my cannon - and it's a good thing it's black women this time - just to show to my girl students - that genius does not have a race.
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