Oscar-nominated movie, Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson is under fire for portraying a scene that did not happen. The movie is based on a true story of how three black mathematicians named Katherine Globe, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson successfully carried out a space mission with NASA.

The movie is being criticized for adding a fictitious scene in which the supervisor of Katherine Globe, played by Kevin Costner, delivers a revolutionary speech. This speech is a scene where Katherine runs far off only to use the “colored” washroom because she is not permitted to use the regular one used by white people.

The director of the film, Theodore Melfi, is being heavily criticized for making up a scene in which a white person becomes the savior of a movie specifically oriented to black people. People are speaking up against this additional scene as it has made the movie divert from the actual message it displays. The director has responded to this criticism by saying, “Who cares who does the right thing, as long as the right thing is achieved?”

But it does matter Theodore! In black films there is always this need to portray the great white hope as though black people cannot achieve greatness without a white person in the shadow. When in actuality it is the exact opposite. Which is why this story was hidden for over a half of a century. It was the great black hope behind the success of the first American orbiting the earth. We were already lied to for way long about the brilliant minds that played a pivotal role in the history making event. Focus on the black women who had to overcome racial and gender barriers and keep your white savior.