Jessica Chastain‘s just-announced new show about a group of women in the early 1960s who participated in a groundbreaking experiment modeled on NASA’s Mercury space program is being slammed as being “rip off” of the movie “Hidden Figures.”
“Thank god I cancelled Jessica Chastain after the faux feminism of MISS SLOANE so i dont have to deal with her HIDDEN FIGURES rip off,” tweeted one user.
“Oh wait it made MONEY? With BLACK women? Well get a load of THIS,” tweeted another.
“Hidden Figures” stars Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer as three female, African-American NASA mathematicians who contributed to the space program and helped launch John Glenn into space.
The film has been a critical and commercial success. It has a “fresh” score of 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and is up for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. Financially, the film has made $122 million domestically.
Chastain’s new show has the working title “Mercury 13” and will tell the story of an experiment created in 1960 by scientist and physician William Randolph Lovelace II, to see if women could pass the same rigorous physical and mental tests faced by the men of NASA’s Mercury program. (Tests that Lovelace helped develop.) 13 women, dubbed decades later as “the Mercury 13,” advanced through the tests until the experiment was shut down by the U.S. Navy.
So while many slammed the show for being a copycat of “Hidden Figures,” some rushed to the show’s defense, saying it’s based on another true story.
Jessica Chastain's project isn't a 'Hidden Figures' copycat. It's based on 'Mercury 13' https://t.co/aYzOytZGod pic.twitter.com/77j1yHTN3Y
— Sonja Nelson (@tweedandtales) February 9, 2017
but it's a completely diff story
— board certified dermatologist (@ouiasgaypeople) February 9, 2017
Chastain’s rep has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment. ITV Studios was not available to comment at the time of publication.
See reactions below.
Seriously. Black people can't do shit in America without white people trying to steal it and capitalize off of it. Quit it, @jes_chastain.
— PARIS (@iamparis007) February 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/miahansenloves/status/829808640978669569
https://twitter.com/Dee_Ann001/status/829807733759156224
https://twitter.com/MorganJerkins/status/829686384877305856
https://twitter.com/j_zimms/status/829698245454594048
Basically white women after Hidden Figures, to he honest. pic.twitter.com/HGg7gQqJt5
— The Goddess of Light (@GoddessCru) February 9, 2017
typical Hollywood copycats and appropriators. SMH
— CA (she/her) (@lazygardener) February 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/_TheOpinion/status/829695544897523714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw