Hidden Figures Response Essay

Historically, Negro women have always had the shadows of their enslaved ancestors on their back. They have also had always been deprived of respect from their non-coloured peers. Despite being seen on the bottom of the food chain, Negro woman manages to find the strength to fight back and show their resistance to the oppression.The films, Hidden Figures directed by Theodore Melfi and The Help directed by Tate Taylor, express the different forms of resistance that woman have shown to their so called ‘superior’ peers.

Resistance is the fight for rights. It’s the act defiance to gain respect from society. It’s the way most people would believe is the right way to attain peace but is it? Resistance comes in many forms from protesting to rioting
By this, I mean that through resistance, society can see that a different race or culture deserve much more than to be oppressed and kept small. This can be seen in Hidden Figures. Katherine has started working in a building which has never had any coloured woman in it and therefore doesn’t have any coloured bathroom. In order for her to go to the bathroom, she goes to the West Wing, which is half a mile away from her current block and takes a lot of time to get there and back. Katherine establishes the thought that fighting for her rights to be equal will change the views of her fellow peers. The voice of her resistance is shown through the dialogue “So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day” This emphasises the point that Katherine has finished stating her point about how she feels working in the office. She calmly asks for herself to be excused but in a sassy tone which hints that she is showing a lot attitude which is reflecting back on the amount of respect and equality she was receiving. Her posture during this scene shows superiority as she stands on top of a room full of white men with her wet hair, directly talking to everyone in the room as she argues about the problem at hand. In my opinion, I believe that the context in her dialogue proved correct by the way she was respected in the office, it made me wonder whether institutional racism and sexism are truly horrible as demonstrated
The whole film is based on resistance because the black maids help a white woman. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a journalist and is willing to raise the voice of black maids. Black women are all telling her stories of horrible events that have happened to them, indicating that the fight between the black maids and the white owners has started. Eugenia starts writing the book, substituting the names of the maids and owners. I can see that struggle for equality has led black women to fight for their civil rights on their own just so they can prove to the world that they are more than just maids. Resistance in society can start small, just by 3 people as shown at the start of the film, but over time it can grow to a whole community which brings resistance along with an air of chance. This is exactly what happened in The Help when Minny, the African-American maid worked for the Footes who had encouraged her to move out with her children from her abusive husband. The fact that people have to fight for their rights just so they can be treated fairly is dismal. The film postulates that one small step from one person will turn into a big step for one group. This helps society see the truth about certain groups and the value they have to the greater