I saw Hidden Figures yesterday over the long holiday weekend. I had to see it on Sunday because it was sold out Saturday when I tried. The screening at my local theater was crowded on the film’s second weekend, which is indicative of how well it did at the box office overall. Hidden Figures was number one on its second weekend, beating out La La Land and Sing. After seeing it, it’s easy to know why. The film is delightful, the writing is fresh and funny and there were so many moments when the audience was laughing, tsking at the screen and just experiencing these very capable, impressive women. Everyone clapped at the end and I will admit to crying a few times but they were mostly happy tears. Plus it’s a rare family-friendly film and that brings out larger audiences. Going to the movies can be expensive though, and star Octavia Spencer knows this. On Friday she bought out an LA-area screening of Hidden Figures and donated all the tickets to single parent families. Octavia and her six siblings were raised by a single mom, whom she credits with giving her the drive to succeed. She wrote on Instagram that her mother, who passed away when she was just 18, could not have afforded to send her to the movies.

Tomorrow I've bought the 8pm showing of #hiddenfigures the rave Baldwin hills. If you know a family in need that would like to see our movie but can't afford it have them come. It's first come first served. My mom would not have been able to afford to take me and my siblings. So, I'm honoring her and all single parents this #mlkweekend Pass the word.

A photo posted by Octavia Spencer (@therealoctaviaspencer) on Jan 12, 2017 at 6:37pm PST

Octavia’s costar Taraji P Henson regrammed this with the message:

This is how phenomenal this woman is @therealoctaviaspencer bought out the movie theatre for TONIGHT’S 8pm showing of #hiddenfigures at Rave cinemas Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles California for poverty stricken families who want to see this movie with their children on #MLK day. If you are in #LA & don’t have the money to see the movie with your children go watch for free tonight! 1st come first serve so get there early. #blackfamilies #spreadtheword #realhistory #history #blackgirlsrock #octaviaspencer #tarajiphenson #janellemonae #baldwinhills

Mild spoilers for Hidden Figures follow
That picture of Octavia in character with illustrations of the real women from Hidden Figures is beautiful. One of the my favorite parts of the film were the end credits, when we got to see photos and video clips of the original women at NASA. Some of their triumphs as depicted seemed over the top, but it also occurred to me how phenomenal they musthave been in order to succeed in white male-dominated fields as African-American women in the 1960s. I recently found an interview with Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P Henson in the film) and she confirmed some of the details shown in the movie, like John Glenn personally asking for her to confirm the data from the computer calculations. Johnson is still with us at 98(!) years old and has seen Hidden Figures three times. The other two women shown in the film, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, have since passed.

Other people are raising money so that everyone can see this phenomenal film. Several teachers have started fund drives and a 13 year-old girl from Florida, Taylor Richardson, has raised over $9,000 to send girls to see the film. Richardson, who aspires to be an astronaut, writes on her GoFundMe page “As a girl of color, it’s important that girls not only look at the stars but take the steps to reach for the stars… STEM is hard work but we must explain to our girls that there will be times when you may fail but keep trying. We can’t allow our girls to feel that STEM is only for boys. We have to do more.” Also check out the website Future Katherine Johnsons, which is built by Black Girls Code and promotes STEM careers for women of color.

photos credit Hidden Figures