Theme of Prejudice in Hidden Figures and To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example

📌Category: Books, Entertainment, Movies, To Kill a Mockingbird
📌Words: 930
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 03 April 2022

Prejudice and hatred towards all people in society has been a controversial issue for a vast majority of time. Prejudice and bigotry are driven by dislike of difference within society which is often perceived as a divisive issue. This is portrayed clearly towards the contemporary audience as hatred against women and African Americans, and still occurs today. Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, and To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, both project prejudice and animosity towards characters within the novel and in the film, focusing on race, as well as gender. With the use of characterisation and setting, both Lee and Melfi can portray the views of prejudice and bigotry throughout the film and movie.

Within Hidden Figures and To Kill a Mockingbird, both settings are focused during times where there was an upheaval in racism and gender stereotypes against women. Both Theodore Melfi and Harper Lee reinforce both forms of media to portray what it was like for the African Americans, as they were apart of segregation within the United States during the time of the novel and the film (1930’s to 1960’s). Both Lee and Melfi take advantage of using the setting during these times to strengthen the view of prejudice and bigotry towards people in society who have differences compared to others such as the colour of their skin or gender. Women did not have equal rights to men during the 30’s and 60’s, which is heavily shown within the movie, as well as including glimpses in the novel. In Hidden Figures, we can see that Mary Jackson wants to become an Aerospace Engineer for NASA, however, cannot become an engineer because the college that she needs to study the degree, only accepts white men. The contemporary audience views this scene as a display of courage, as she persevered through the barriers of society when she went to court and confronted the judge. 

Hidden Figures is based in the 1960’s during the space race where many big events occurred during this time. The movie focuses on 3 main African American Female Characters who work for NASA, in which the contemporary audience views the trio just how Theodore Melfi intended them to be viewed as, which is the treatment of these women during a period where there was a lot of uncertainty throughout society, regarding to women and African Americans and where they fit within society. Katherine Johnson is the main character out of the trio that the movie focuses on the most, where we can see the appalling treatment she receives, just like in the Space Task Group Coffee Scene where the Task Group make a coloured Coffee jug because she drank from the coffee machine that the rest of them drink from. This is clearly depicted as racism and prejudice towards Katherine, and it is something she must live with throughout the film. Not only does simple things like a coffee jug with a ‘coloured’ sticker on it depict racism and prejudice, but Theodore Melfi carefully uses Aesthetic devices to emphasise the point of view of Katherine compared to the rest of the men in the Space Task Group. At 52 minutes 44 seconds, Theodore Melfi highlights Katherine Johnson as she wears Green, representing colour against all the white men who are wearing white button up shirts. With the perfect execution of portraying colour throughout the white men in this scene, the contemporary audience can clearly see how colour was looked at, amongst the rest of society. 

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is about a criminal case involving a black man accused of rape against an underage white girl, which the novel's main character, Atticus, a lawyer, takes on and seeks to win for the black man, Tom Robinson. Ever since this case started, the town of Maycomb County has never been the same as what it was before, with many white males wishing to harm Tom Robinson after the allegations about him. Harper Lee executes the view of prejudice perfectly which the contemporary audience clearly views, especially with the town’s mood after this incident, and causes many issues such as fights at school between Atticus’s Daughter, Scout, and men shouting vigorously at Atticus for taking a Black man’s rape case. Many of the white men did not even know Tom Robinson, but after learning that he is an African American suspected of raping a young white female, the community of Maycomb harboured a great deal of animosity for him, despite not knowing him as a person or his point of view on the subject. It was just pure, unadulterated hatred and prejudice directed at him, due to the colour of his skin.

Hidden Figures' setting is a clear indication of how women were treated in those days, as women now have equal rights as males, which is viewed by the modern audience in a powerful manner, like how racism is viewed. At 1:17:26, Melfi blatantly utilises workplace prejudice against women, when the chief engineer, Paul Stafford, tells Katherine that she does not have access to the Pentagon meeting rooms because she is a woman, until her boss, Mr Harrison, gives her access to the meetings. This scenario sends a powerful message to the modern audience about how women are perceived in these times, as he portrays them as inferior to men and how they are always overruled by men. 

Prejudice and bigotry are driven by dislike of difference within society which is often perceived as a divisive issue. This is portrayed clearly towards the contemporary audience as hatred against women and African Americans and still occurs today. Harper Lee and Theodore Melfi can effectively depict the view of prejudice and discrimination which is exhibited against African American people and women during the 1930s and 1960s by using the setting in both the film and the novel. Using setting, aesthetic devices, and characters, both the film and the novel clearly depict how women and blacks were treated during these times, as well as how this was viewed by a contemporary audience.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.