Movie Info
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell, Mahershala Ali, Karan Kendrick, Aldis Hodge
Story: Bio-drama directed and co-written by Theodore Melfi. Hidden Figures (2016) tells the untold true story of three brilliant African-American women, Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history, the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit and guaranteeing his safe return. A stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence and turned around the Space Race. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
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Best Hidden Figures Quotes
Mary Jackson: [from trailer] We go from being our father’s daughters, to our husband’s wives, to our babies mothers.
Young Katherine: [to her class after solving the math equation] If the product of two terms is zero, then common sense says at least one of the two terms has to be zero to start with. So if you move all the terms over to one side, you can put the quadratics into a form that can be factored, allowing that side of the equation to equal zero. Once you’ve done that, it’s pretty straightforward from there.
Ms. Sumner: [to the Coleman’s, referring to Katherine] In all my years of teaching I’ve never seen a mind like the one your daughter has.
Katherine Johnson: Button it up, Mary. Nobody wants to go to jail behind your mouth.
Mary Jackson: I’ll do my best, sugar.
Katherine Johnson: Dear Lord, I don’t even know where to begin!
Mary Jackson: Oh, I’ll tell you where to begin. Three N**** women are chasing a white police officer down the highway in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. Ladies, that there is a God-ordained miracle.
Katherine Johnson: And tomorrow, I’m riding the bus.
Al Harrison: Paul Stafford, our lead engineer, Mr. Webb. I think what he meant to say is that speculation, at least on our side of the equation by definition, can be just a little dangerous.
Jim Webb: Dangerous? You know what’s dangerous, Mr. Stafford? Inaction and indecision. The Russians have a spy satellite lapping the planet, taking pictures of God knows what! The President is demanding an immediate response. No more delay. Alan Shepard, John Glenn, your uncle Bob, it doesn’t matter. Get us up there, Harrison. We can’t justify a space program that doesn’t put anything in space.
Vivian Mitchell: Well, that’s NASA for you. Fast with rocket ships, slow with advancement.
Karl Zielinski: [to Mary] No shoe is worth your life.
Karl Zielinski: Mary, a person with engineer’s mind should be an engineer. You can’t be a computer the rest of your life.
Mary Jackson: Mr. Zielinski, I’m a N**** woman. I’m not going to entertain the impossible.
Karl Zielinski: And I’m a Polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi prison camp. Now I’m standing beneath a spaceship that’s going to carry an astronaut to the stars. I think we can say we are living the impossible.
Karl Zielinski: Let me ask you, if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?
Mary Jackson: I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one.
Vivian Mitchell: [escorting Katherine to the Space Task Group] Skirts must be worn past the knee. Sweaters are preferred to blouses. No jewelry. A simple pearl necklace is the exception. Your supervisor is Mr. Al Harrison, Director of the Space Task Group. You’ll write research, proof calculations, so forth. Do not talk to Mr. Harrison unless he talks to you. Not many computers last more than a few days. He’s been through a dozen in as many months.
Al Harrison: Ruth, what’s the status on that computer?
Ruth: She’s right behind you, Mr. Harrison.
Al Harrison: [turns and sees Katherine] Does she handle Analytic Geometry?
Ruth: Absolutely, and she speaks.
Katherine Johnson: Yes, sir. I do.
Al Harrison: Which one?
Katherine Johnson: Both. Geometry and speaking.
Katherine Johnson: May I ask where the ladies’ room is?
Ruth: Sorry. I have no idea where your bathroom is.
Dorothy Vaughan: [to Mary and Katherine] What’s not fair is having the responsibility of a supervisor, but not the title or the pay. And watching you two move on. Now, don’t get me wrong. Any upward movement is movement for us all. Just isn’t movement for me.
Dorothy Vaughan: You’re better with the numbers than anyone in there, Katherine, and you know it. Just make that pencil move as fast as your mind does, you’ll be fine. And you, have some respect. Get your damn feet off my dashboard. This isn’t your living room. I sound like a supervisor, don’t I?
Mary Jackson: A mean old salty one.
Katherine Johnson: Riddled with authority, no question.
Dorothy Vaughan: You don’t mess with Mrs. Vaughan.
Kathy Johnson: [to Katherine] You could fly up to space if you wanted to, Mama. You could be an astronaut.
Levi Jackson: Civil rights ain’t always civil.
Mary Jackson: That Colonel Jim is a tall glass of water.
Dorothy Vaughan: That he is. Tall, strong, demanding.
Mary Jackson: And I bet he’s like it day and night.
Katherine Johnson: Mary, it’s Sunday. Please have some shame.
Mary Jackson: I will not.
Dorothy Vaughan: [referring to Jim] I think he’s smiling over here.
Mary Jackson: [to Katherine] At you.
Katherine Johnson: Well I’m not smiling back.
Dorothy Vaughan: Yes, you are.
Mary Jackson: Oh, child, you are all teeth right now.
Katherine Johnson: I am not.
Katherine Johnson: Oh, we calculate the mathematics necessary to enable launch and landing for the space program.
Colonel Jim Johnson: That’s pretty heady stuff.
Katherine Johnson: Yes, it is.
Colonel Jim Johnson: They let women handle that sort of… That’s not what I mean.
Katherine Johnson: What do you mean?
Colonel Jim Johnson: I’m just surprised that something so taxing…
Katherine Johnson: Mr. Johnson, if I were you I’d quit talking right now.
Katherine Johnson: [to Jim] I will have you know, I was the first N**** female student at West Virginia University Graduate School. On any given day, I analyze the manometer levels for air displacement, friction, and velocity, and compute over ten thousand calculations by cosine, square root, and lately, Analytic Geometry, by hand. There are twenty bright, highly capable N**** women in the West Computing Group, and we’re proud to be doing our part for the country. So, yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson. And it’s not because we wear skirts. It’s because we wear glasses. Have a good day.
Katherine Johnson: How could you possibly be ogling these white men?
Mary Jackson: Well, it’s equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color.
Mary Jackson: Every time we have a chance to get ahead, they move the finish line.
Dorothy Vaughan: Separate and equal are two different things. Just because it’s the way, doesn’t make it right.
Dorothy Vaughan: You act right, you are right. That’s for certain.
Colonel Jim Johnson: I’m sorry, Katherine.
Katherine Johnson: For what, Jim?
Colonel Jim Johnson: Underestimating you, and any other woman like you. Though, I don’t imagine there’s many.
Katherine Johnson: That’s good practice, right there.
Al Harrison: We’re in the fight of our lives, people. We’re not on some epic joy ride. I just saw seven faces who aren’t sure that we can get there. This is our problem, and so as of right now, there’s only two things you need to know going forward. One is staying here, working late, that’s going to be a fact of life. And two, don’t expect your paychecks to reflect the extra time it’s going to take to catch up and pass those b****rds. For those of you who can’t work that way, I understand, and thank you for what you’ve done. For everyone else, I suggest you call your wives and tell them how it’s going to be. I’ll start with mine.
Katherine Johnson: There is no bathroom. There are no colored bathrooms in this building, or any building outside the West Campus, which is half a mile away. Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself, and I can’t use one of the handy bikes. Picture that, Mr. Harrison. My uniform, skirt below my knees, my heels, and a simple string of pearls. Well, I don’t own pearls. Lord knows you don’t pay coloreds enough to afford pearls! And I work like a dog, day and night, living off of coffee from a pot none of you want to touch! So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day.
Al Harrison: Here at NASA, we all pee the same color.
Mary Jackson: I plan on being an engineer at NASA. But I can’t do that without taking them classes at that all-white high school, and I can’t change the color of my skin. So I have no choice but to be the first. Which I can’t do without you, sir. Your Honor, out of all the cases you’re going to hear today, which one is going to matter a hundred years from now? Which one is going to make you the first?
Paul Stafford: Do you have any idea how exacting these calculations have to be?
Katherine Johnson: It’s like shooting a sawed-off shotgun from a thousand feet and getting that one BB through a hole so tiny, you can’t even see it.
Al Harrison: Discovery is never just for the sake of discovery, gentlemen, but for the sake of human survival. And it will always come with a risk.
Al Harrison: Whoever gets there first will make the rules. That’s been true of every civilization.
Al Harrison: I think the bigger question for this body to consider is, who do you want calling the shots in space? We have to know what’s out there, senator. We have to touch the stars, if only to ensure our own survival. And only a man can do that. We seven! Get John Glenn home safely because we have to. Because he has to tell us what he saw.
Paul Stafford: Katherine, we have been through this. It is not possible. There is no protocol for women attending.
Katherine Johnson: There’s no protocol for a man circling the Earth either, sir.
Al Harrison: Within these walls, who makes the rules?
Katherine Johnson: You, sir, you are the boss. You just have to act like one, sir.
Al Harrison: You know what your job is, Paul? Find the genius among those geniuses, to pull us all up. We all get to the peak together, or we don’t get there at all.
Night School Professor: Well, the curriculum is not designed for teaching a woman.
Mary Jackson: Well I imagine it’s the same as teaching a man.
Vivian Mitchell: You know, Dorothy, despite what you may think I have nothing against y’all.
Dorothy Vaughan: I know. I know you probably believe that.
John Glenn: Let’s get the girl to check the numbers.
Al Harrison: The girl?
John Glenn: Yes, sir.
Al Harrison: You mean Katherine?
John Glenn: Yes, sir. The smart one. I mean, she says they’re good, I’m ready to go.
Dorothy Vaughan: Thank you for the information, Mrs. Mitchell.
Vivian Mitchell: You’re quite welcome, Mrs. Vaughan.
[Dorothy looks a shocked as Vivian calls her by her last name for the first time out of respect]
Al Harrison: So, you think we can get to the moon?
Katherine Johnson: We’re already there, sir.
Al Harrison: [chuckling] Yeah.