Celebrate women in film

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The Catalyst / Peyton Daley

“Hidden Figures”, “On The Basis Of Sex”, “Colette”, and “He Named Me Malala” are must watches during Women’s History Month.

With the past month being Women’s History Month, we appreciate the tales of women’s history in entertainment. Movies like “Hidden Figures,” “On the Basis of Sex,” “Colette” and “He Named Me Malala” tell the stories of strong female role models.

1. “Hidden Figures”
The 2016 film “Hidden Figures” depicts Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), three Black female NASA mathematicians in the 1960s. They started off as “computers,” a low-ranking job reserved for female employees, but were able to break through the barriers of sexism and racism within NASA and contributed vital calculations to the Friendship 7 Mission, which was the first time an American was launched into space. The movie depicts the challenges that women, particularly women of color, face in the fields of science and technology and brings recognition to the amazing work of Jackson, Johnson and Vaughan.

2. “On the Basis of Sex”
“On the Basis of Sex” follows the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice of the United States. The film is focused on her early career as an attorney and the struggles she faced throughout her law education as a woman, and later balancing work with her responsibilities as a mother and wife. Ruth (Felicity Jones) and her husband Martin Ginsburg (Armie Hammer) decide to take on a case regarding gender discrimination in tax deductions, launching her success as an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality.

3. “Colette”
“Colette” portrays French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley). The film, which is set in the late 19th century, explores themes of gender inequality in literature. After marrying a well-known author named Willy, Colette is pressured into ghostwriting a novel under her husband’s name. Her story instantly becomes a bestseller, and Colette begins a long fight to get ownership and credit for her work.

4. “He Named Me Malala”
“He Named Me Malala” is a documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for women’s education. When the Taliban took over in Pakistan in 2008, girls were forbidden from going to school and girls’ schools were burned to the ground. However, Malala kept attending school despite being threatened and even shot in the head at age 15. She survived the attack and has continued to fight for education for all, becoming a role model for girls around the world.