This is complicated. Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), and Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) are all actually fictional characters. Al's character is loosely based on a number of men, but the others were created to showcase the sexism, racism, and hostile workplace environment.
Furthermore, when asked about how segregation affected her at NASA, Johnson responded, "I didn't feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research. You had a mission and you worked on it, and it was important to do your job. . . . I didn't feel any segregation. I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it." Even though Johnson may have been treated as a peer, the reality of segregation for others, especially outside of the office, was very real.
