Thursday Movie Picks: Math in Movies

 

For the 29th week of 2022 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We go into the subject of math in movies as math is a subject that allows people to figure out things as well as solutions to a problem. Math is something that the world that is helpful and allows people to find things and also allow people to realize their potential. Here are my three picks as they’re all based on real people who found creative ways with math:

1. Stand & Deliver

The 1988 film about the East L.A. calculus teacher Jaime Escalante is a phenomenal film in which a man who teaches math at a high school in the predominantly-Latino area of East L.A. as he finds potential in these kids through teaching calculus. It is a film that doesn’t just showcase the importance of math and how a teacher can get through these young kids but also give them a future. Even as the work they do in the first test forces them to take it again under a lot of suspicion that is partially-based on social classes and racism.

2. A Brief History of Time

Errol Morris’ documentary about the late, great Stephen Hawking is an unconventional film that explore the man’s theories on time and space. Even through the usage of math as it play into Hawking’s ideas in his field of astrophysics while the film also play into the idea of Hawking believes in God. It is a documentary that manages to show a lot more of who Hawking is than the 2014 film The Theory of Everything which only scratched the surface of who Hawking is.

3. Hidden Figures

A film that should be considered in the pantheon of cinematic classics isn’t just this engaging fact-based movie about three African-American women who played key roles in the 1960s space race but also being the women who were able to rise above the prejudices of the times and make their own mark. The trio of Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae, and Octavia Spencer really shine with Henson’s performance as the mathematician Katherine Goble showcases why she is one of the unsung heroes of space program in the 1960s and why she gained the trust of the astronauts who wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.

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