Hidden Figures

As so many others, we saw “Hidden Figures” yesterday. We easily found the bases for the acclaims it has received. I need not repeat them, but I share my personal reaction.

I was struck by how my emotions were moved so often. For a story based on fact, albeit altered for the movie, I was moved to tears repeatedly. Given that the story of discrimination is far from new, I often found myself wiping tears from my eyes.

I cannot say that I have a definitive reason for my emotional responses, but what comes to mind is the effect of our recent news stories associated with immigration.

It has always been a personal mystery to me why people are prejudiced. It is not that I am unaware of studies that have analyzed prejudice, but from a personal perspective, it has always been just plain stupid. I recall my father’s prejudices that I could never understand. Blanket indictments of other nationalities seemed ridiculous and surely were not to be discussed with him.

We went through the civil rights era and I thought that we had progressed, only to witness events in the black communities in recent times. The horrors of our past continue to erode our nation’s well being.

And now, we are witnessing prejudice against immigrants, as though their origins make them less than being the same as other humans. Our shared humanity continues to be shattered by prejudice, as though we have learned nothing from the past.

Watching the prejudice shown in the film against women, in general, and black women, in particular, was most sorrowful. Tears seem so little compared to the reality.

19 Feb 17

Given the political situation, I have been chosen not to participate in the ongoing drama resulting from unusual national happenings. I respect the election outcome, even if I remain more than concerned about its evolution. I am more than aware that I have been on one side of a national divide where positions of people like myself have no common ground with those who support the other side. The divide is real and there is virtually no point of communicating one’s views if the only ones considering them are people who already endorse the views.

This situation enables me to continue reading, which, unfortunately, makes me more than simply concerned. However, I admit to considerable amusement and wonder at some of actions and dialogue that are reported. I still assume that words in quotation marks reflect actual dialogue. Without the quotation marks, the words would be unbelievable. Thankfully, there is also humor initially resulting from the actual text. However, the text takes on added meaning when digested by humor, as exemplified by SNL.

It is hard to believe that this situation will last four years, even though some hope that it continues for eight years. Were I to live long enough for this scenario to play out, I would be compensated by the privilege of living until I was 88! It is incredible how resourceful humans are that they can think something positive which faced with horrors of reality!

We will be vacationing in Puerto Rico starting next week. The island will benefit from whatever we spend. Hopefully, the upcoming election will result in a positive decision to become a state of the United States. I could never understand their reluctance to lose their independence, given the benefits of sharing our national resources. I suppose that my lack of understanding past decisions of the Puerto Rico electorate only reflect my inability to comprehend our recent national election!