Levi Jackson
Civil rights ain't always civil.
Al Harrison
Kevin Costner · 8 quotes
Dorothy Vaughan
Octavia Spencer · 6 quotes
Katherine Johnson
Taraji P. Henson · 6 quotes
Mary Jackson
Janelle Monáe · 5 quotes
Paul Stafford
Jim Parsons · 3 quotes
Most scenes together: Al Harrison & Katherine Johnson (3), Al Harrison & Paul Stafford (3), Mary Jackson & Katherine Johnson (2)
Hidden Figures quotes
Page 1 of 2The problem is when the capsule moves from an elliptical orbit to a parabolic orbit; There's no mathematical formula for that. 'Cause we can calculate launch and landing, but without this conversion, the capsule stays in orbit. We can't bring it back home.
...Maybe we've been thinking about this all wrong.
And how's that?
Maybe it's not new math at all.
It could be old math: something that looks at the problem numerically and not theoretically. Math is always dependable.
For you, it is.
Euler's Method?
Yes.
But that's ancient.
But it works. It works numerically.
How did you know the Redstone couldn't support orbital flight? That's classified information; it's top secret.
Well, it's no secret why the Redstone tests keep failing. It's fine for sub-orbital flight, but it can't handle the weight of the capsule and push it into space. Numbers don't lie.
[reading the censored test results documents]
And you figured all that out with this? Half of that is redacted.
Well, what's there tells a story if you read between the lines. The distance from launch to orbit, we know. Redstone mass, we know. Mercury capsule weight, we know. And the speeds are there, and the data.
You did the math.
Yes, sir. I look beyond.
And how did you know about the Atlas rocket? That's not math. That data's not here. Like he said, it's classified.
...I held it up to the light.
You held it up to the light?
Yes, sir.
[Harrison takes one of the censored documents and holds it up to the floresent light to read]
...Well, there it is. "Atlas". What's your name?
Katherine Gobal.
Are you a spy, Katherine?
Am I what?
I said, are you a Russian spy?
No, sir. I'm not Russian.
Ruth She's not Russian, sir.
Alright, then, we have nothing to lose, here. [to Stafford] Give her everything she needs to work on Shepherd's trajectories, without redaction. Are we clear on that?
Are we sure about this?
What's the issue, Paul? You heard her, she's not a spy.
I–I just don't think it's a good idea.
You know what I think is a good idea? Darker ink. I think darker ink is a good idea. Ruth, could you pass that along?
Ruth Yes, sir.
Thank you, Katherine.
Thank you, sir. [leaves with Ruth]
Where’s the machine?
Ruth Any day now, Mr. Harrison.
Any day now. What’s it called? The initials...the letters?
Ruth IBM.
International business machine.
Space is business?! I need a mathematician.
John Glenn
Let's get the girl to check the numbers.
The girl?
John Glenn
Yes, Sir.
You mean Katherine?
John Glenn
Yes, Sir, the smart one. And if she says they're good, I'm ready to go.
Karl Zielinski Mary, a person with an engineer's mind should be an engineer. You can't be a computer the rest of your life.
Mr. Zielinski, I'm a negro woman. I'm not gonna 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. Let me ask you, if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?
I wouldn't have to. I'd already be one.
How can you be possibly ogling these white men?
It's equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color.
Lieutenant Colonel Jim Johnson
They let women handle that sort of... [sees Katherine looking offended] That's not what I mean.
What do you mean?
LTC Jim Johnson
I'm just surprised at something so taxing.
Oh Mr. Johnson, if I were you, I'd quit talking right now.
LTC Jim Johnson
I don't mean no disrespect.
I will have you know, I was the first negro 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 negro 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.
Vivian Mitchell Despite what you may think, I have nothing against y'all.
I know. I know you probably believe that.
[Al Harrison comes out of his office to just as Katherine Johnson gets back from yet another long trip to the colored staff bathroom.]
Where the hell have you been? Everywhere I look you're not where I need you to be, and it's not my imagination. Now, where the hell do you go everyday?
The bathroom, sir.
[With rising anger]
The bathroom. The damn bathroom. For forty minutes a day? What do you do in there? We are T-minus zero here; I put a lot of faith in you.
There's no bathroom for me here.
What do you mean, "there's no bathroom" for you here?
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 the knees and my heels. And simple string of pearls. Well, I don't own pearls. Lord knows you don't pay the colored enough to afford pearls! And I work like a dog day and night, living on coffee from a pot NONE OF YOU WANNA TOUCH! So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day.
[Cut to the NASA team standing out in the hallway; Mr. Harrison knocks the "Colored Ladies Room" sign with a crowbar while the staff watch until the sign is finally down]
There you have it. No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms. Just plain old toilets. [he throws the crowbar on the floor] Go wherever you damn want, please. Preferably closer to your desk. Here at NASA... We all pee the same color.
State Trooper
[Dorothy Vaughan's 1957 Chevrolet has stalled out on the side of the road; a Virginia State Police cruiser drives up and stops, and a State Trooper gets out and looks at Mary, Dorothy and Katherine.]
Not a great place for the three of y'all to be havin' car trouble.
We didn't pick the place, Officer, it picked us.
State Trooper
[Glaring at Mary]
You bein' disrespectful?
No, sir.
State Trooper
You have identification on ya?
We sure do. We're just on our way to work. At Langley. NASA, sir.
[Mary, Katherine and Dorothy all display their NASA ID cards.]
We do a great deal of the calculating getting our rockets into space.
State Trooper
All three of ya?
Yes, Officer.
State Trooper
[The State Trooper studies Mary's ID card for a few moments.]
NASA. That's somethin'. Had no idea they hired...
[Politely; the Trooper meant something else]
There are quite a few women working in the Space Program, sir.
State Trooper
[The State Trooper looks up at the sky suspiciously.]
Damn Russians are watching us right now. Sputniks. [Turning his attention back] You girls ever meet those astronauts? The Mercury Seven?
[There is a moment's pause; the three women have never met the Mercury Seven but decide not to admit that.]
Absolutely.
State Trooper
Alan Shepard? John Glenn?
We work with those gentlemen all the time.
State Trooper
Those boys are the best we got. That's for sure. We have'ta get up there before the Commies do. Whole damn country's countin' on 'em.
That's for certain.
Hard to be of service broken down on the side of the road, though.
State Trooper
That's right. That's right. You need a tow or somethin'?
No, thank you, Officer. I think I got it, right here. Just have to bypass the starter. [Dorothy touches the screwdriver to between the battery poles; the car starts.] That's a girl. We're all set.
State Trooper
Hell, least I can do is give you an escort. Imagine y'all are runnin' late to work.
Oh, we wouldn't want to trouble you-
That would be wonderful, Officer.
State Trooper
Follow me.
[Cut to the State Trooper's cruiser flying down the road, lights and siren on, with Mary following close behind.]
Slow down, Mary! You're too close!
He said to follow him.
Doesn't mean you hit him in the ass!
Dear Lord... please... I don't even know where to begin!
I'll tell you where to begin: three "colored" women are chasing a white police officer down a highway in Hampton, Virginia, 1961. Ladies, that there is a God-ordained miracle!
Every time we get a chance to get ahead they move the finish line. Every time.
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 gon' hear today, which one is gon' matter hundred years from now? Which one is gon' make you the first?
If I said I was sorry, I'd be saying it all day.