We Met Katherine Johnson - One Of The Real 'Hidden Figures'

[@VICENews]

Katherine Johnson, one of the first Black women to work as a NASA scientist, has died at the age of 101. Back in 2017, VICE News spoke to her about 'Hidden Figures'

[@Caysari]

"First Black Woman" literally shows that she is white lol

[@disgusting1072]

Aurious ummm she is black

[@valk_7233]

@@Caysari And this commentary just show how stupid you are.

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

@@Caysari She is. Light skinned black woman get over it!

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

@@Caysari BOTH her parents were Black and it WAS SEGRATED BACK THEN!

[@coolocelot]

"She started her career as a *computer*" dang. I can barely start a computer.

[@thisaragm6175]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jamiyabrown9431]

same

[@lakep7798]

Right??!🤣

[@joe_isom]

This was before we had electronic computers 🖥 😊

[@tyrishasmith-grady703]

She was the computer

[@williammatthews2948]

Thank you Ms. Katherine Johnson for your most important and vital contribution to America's space program. I send you my utmost respect.

[@JoannaNaranjo]

helpp

[@sexybeast6567]

Wow. She is so lovely. We've lost a national treasure with her passing. RIP. My prayers and thoughts are with her family. Thank you for your invaluable contribution to humanity.

[@Christoere]

1:43 My mum hates maths, and so does my dad. But I'm an Aerospace Engineer..

[@shalommichael8263]

Christoere

[@Christoere]

No, i just found space and aircraft really interesting. I suppose my first inspiration started from just beating my older brother at building the best Lego or K'nex models. Maybe I just took that competition too far hahaha

[@nubianq333]

Adopted ? What's your point?...

[@LucaFacciniBrit]

I think liking Maths is different to understanding it. Perhaps your mum has some skills that you inherited, making you good at it. That is what I think happened to me, thanks to my mum (high school Maths teacher) I'm now studying engineering.

[@Atento987]

Skills in different disciplines come naturally to some, but not to others. Math is one of those skills that not too many ppl have, or can even develop. Glad there's always someone with the right set of skills for the need at hand. Thank you Katherine Johnson (RIP) for your invaluable contribution to space science, and to humanity thereafter.

[@apextroll]

Nobody is more obsessed with washrooms than Americans.

[@TravelingThruLife]

Fair Play

[@nameless592]

apextroll 👏

[@angelia497]

true

[@laureah21]

Haha so true, when do you think unisex toilets will come about

[@lucianf89]

Then you've never heard of South Africa or Apartheid

[@dzengrinder]

Man, this dudes hair look like it can run its own space program

[@dannycool59x49]

you don't grow the hair, it grows you

[@aikolyn]

dannycool59x damn, thats deep

[@andersonkurk]

dzengrinder He's Gerald from Hey Arnold.

[@RealD8]

The 80s are coming back!

[@Geanneley]

Well ur face looks like spiderman

[@amazinggrace5692]

Wish I had learned of these amazing women when I was in school. I wouldn’t have felt so odd.

[@lakep7798]

Can you imagine just how many girls it would have inspired?

[@neetrab]

Why did you feel so odd?

[@amazinggrace5692]

@@neetrab Loved math and science at a time when that wasn’t cool for girls. My father never acted as if it was odd though, so I was lucky. We were all supposed to go to college to get our MRS degree.

[@zaphodsrealm1549]

I'm 72 and just found out about this incredible woman and her contribution to what I watched on TV as a child. RIP KJ❤❤❤❤❤

[@ShauryaShree]

​@@amazinggrace5692 So did you pursue science or mathematics??? (I hope you did)

[@d.l.3149]

In reality, she went to the white women's bathroom, but the director lies in the story by saying it was a white man savior, not a black woman, who defied the separate bathroom rule. Pitiful in this day and age he couldn't give credit where credit was due to a black woman who defied the segregation rule.

[@saquist]

He doesn't lie. Movies embellish. "Based on a true Story". The point is to have many MOMENTS of conflict. Costner is a great actor...you're just going to have him DO.....NOTHING? If you walked away with a "White Savior" narrative then you really weren't paying attention. (NOTE: Katherine LOVES this movie...so perhaps you're too high on that horse.) Don't look for the negative where none was intended.

[@kingmemphis1986]

​@saquist The movie was whitewash. The director said it was whitewash, but he attempted to play the word game. White washing is not just in movies, it is in history books as well.

[@j.3069]

For me the message was she was about science and getting on with it and so were her colleagues, passionate about things not politics. This movie distracted from it if not made it have another message. The message I was taught about informatics was its heaven its exciting. Nothing about boys and girls and girls less interested in computers or less able. The same way Johnson was simply passionate and not distracted. This is what I wish we were taught but not movies can teach us but life experience and good mentours. It may go against a wished narrative of defying suppression and I don't desire to diminish it but over emphasising it to the point the message becomes tainted I feel is wrong . Reality is tough enough. We need empowerment through witness accounts of how they did it and not how movie directors sell it to their audiences better 50 years later.

[@Myopinionmattersthemost]

All of these movies are whitewashed they are made to make white folks feel comfortable watching the film. White folks do not want to see their ancestors behaving evil, they love the white savior

[@nathaliecowong]

Soooo True 1000❤❤❤❤

[@tomthemasteratstuff8954]

It said she passed 2020 February 24th that's very sad R.I.P Katherine Jonson you made us proud.

[@coreemore2355]

I know her personally.I worked at the retirement home where she lives.shes very nice

[@katiemooree]

I am so jealous of you, horrible that shes gone now but I’m glad she got the recognition she deserved

[@jdh4547]

She said “ can’t tell it” cause she’s old school and don’t want young bucks using her struggles as theirs. A true pioneer

[@lakep7798]

Best interview! I really appreciate his asking about whether or not the decision to NOT show that she simply refused to go to a separate restroom diminished the boldness and bravery and courage that was part of her character. I think it did. Wow. What an amazing woman. Someone to be admired.

[@13ullseye]

Nice to see Gerald from Hey Arnold grew up and became a journalist, but still kept his ridiculous haircut.

[@chocolat917]

Vandergrif 😂😂😂👍

[@doa2012]

Vandergrif this made my day 😂😂😂😂

[@LowMedow]

In my opinion, they should have stuck to factual information.

[@lakep7798]

Absolutely agreed.

[@natosomething3690]

They never do and never will, producers prioritise making a spicy and interesting film first of all

[@saquist]

It's Dramatization not a Documentary. The directed made creative decisions to add drama for roles that were lean and he did so in a balanced way or did you NOT notice that Katherine didn't make that important decision in Mission Control?

[@ShidaiTaino]

"Madam what was your past job" "I was a computer"

[@preciousbabydoll9793]

Praise God, Ms. Katherine Johnson is alive to acknowledge this honor. She sincerely deserve this praise.

[@User2718218]

She is a hero and I salute her and her colleagues and thank her from the bottom of my heart.

[@YoungTwam]

It's always the white savior complex

[@lpe3259]

Exactly

[@saquist]

Is it really? So you all think that there were NO WHITE people with great moral fortitude. Let's look at the truth. Katherine was surrounded by White People and according to her NO ONE STOOD IN HER WAY. The same has been true for me. This was simply a dramatization...do let resent you see what's not there.

[@stuart.w]

I have to say this was actually a pretty good little video. They got a simple answer from the director, didn't feel like they were pushing their narrative as hard as usual. Well done vice.

[@TLTthatsME]

It takes your breath away to know she wanted to travel in space but was denied.

[@johnd5398]

No, it doesn't. Because I have more than 2 brain cells to rub together to generate a spark.

[@gutgutcalor9095]

He shouldn’t have added that bathroom sign scene because her not using the black bathroom which was a mile a way gives a Rosa parks feel to her the history and courage

[@johnd5398]

fucking bullshit

[@rayfordcarpathia4015]

You did diminish Katherine Johnson's actions of choosing to not use the 'colored' bathroom. Dexter Thomas had a good point that you seemed to not think about.

[@johnd5398]

It diminished nothing. It's no worse than jaywalking or speeding. We ignore signs every day and think nothing of it.

[@ricktyman4709]

​@@johnd5398 The Director made up a scene that makes the White character a hero, which never happened. It was clearly a deliberate attempt to make white audiences comfortable that not every white person is portrayed as racist. But at the same time, it dilutes the historical accuracy because it never even happened.

[@joe_isom]

The directors response to that was good though. “When a white person does the right thing, & a black person does the right thing, then everyone does the right thing.” Or something like that. I know that wasn’t what he said word for word, but I really admire that response. So if a black person does the right thing FIRST, then the white person does the right thing SECOND, I don’t believe that diminishes anything. Skin colour shouldn’t matter these days. We’ve put that part of the past behind us, even though people of color still get treated like garbage by some nowadays, films like this are a step in the right direction. I love this film. It was so inspiring to me. That people of all colours, shapes & sizes can overcome any obstacles they may face & accomplish anything. That is part of the message I take from it. Learn from the past, but let it remain the past.

[@saquist]

No Dexter did NOT have a good point. The director is CORRECT. The real story is "𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭." C'mon ya'll... This is a Hollywood DRAMATIZATION and that's not dramatic. You don't bring in Kevin Costner to be a passive observer. These ROLES need MEAT. He needed something todo. The same is true at the end of film where they GIVE Katherine the genius suggestion of delaying the ejection of the retro rockets to keep the heat shield from breaking loose. Katherine didn't do that BUT the director decided the ROLE of the main character need a point of climax for the ending.

[@joaquinjimenez207]

I love her so much. It's indescribable how much respect I have for her as a person of color who loves math

[@charlesroque9993]

She is a hero! A true angel! True asset in opportunity perjectury launches! Forever indebted!

[@pfscpublic]

It's inspiring to see Katherine and finally to hear some of her story at last

[@freebethlehem6813]

I thought she was supposed to be black

[@theshouldersurfer]

she is old...dude

[@Rowxstr]

every race when they get 90+ they look hella white

[@TheMrRedSir]

+Pussy grabber in chief raicst

[@HollyandChanel]

Before the 1970s anyone part Black was considered a Negro. When she was younger, she was the same complexion as Beyonce.

[@MERKJONES]

She is black.

[@nathaliecowong]

Thank you for that wonderful interview from Miss Katherine Johnson in person❤

[@WillingTan]

Thank you Katherine for Inspiring millions! Just watched Hidden Figures.

[@theREALchriszito]

2:49 Great question. He handled it about as well one could, but way to highlight this tired fucking trope

[@tsvetalutz7969]

I like that the movie producers added Katherine running to and from the coloured bathrooms because it shows how cruelly blacks were treated at that time, and if these scenes were never added, we wouldn't have the song Runnin' by Pharrell​ Williams. +the noise Katherine's heels make when she runs is satisfying.

[@elizabeth__beavers]

Started her career as a "computer." Blows my mind.

[@LowMedow]

Don't add "dramatization" into films.

[@jarbackk447]

Well then it’s not a film is it? If you want it to be true then it should’ve been a documentary.

[@jarbackk447]

Mr. Vic well you can, but there is no problem with you adding dramatization into films and bending reality either. If you’re looking for historical facts and facts only a documentary is more suited.

[@dianaenamorado3526]

Go watch a damn documentary then

[@tyronetarver3453]

It is lazy filmmaking to believe you have to include lies in order to produce drama. There was a motive behind these untrue scenes. And that was to diminish Dr. Johnson's civil rights accomplishments and hurdles that she (and the other Black Women) jumped all by themselves. Dr. Johnson was a genius. They can't deny that. But what was more important was that they had to include a White Savior to downplay the bravery of these Black women.

[@7927jackpark]

The best scene in the whole film is seen in the first five minutes . I shed tears every time I see it.

[@GeorgesOpinion]

What's with so many dislikes? Triggered racists I suppose lol

[@ryans79mc]

I guess thats your opinion

[@JewTube001]

He asked a question so you can tell him if you don't like his conclusion. I'm quite confused over it myself.

[@jbmjbm2145]

blacks are the most racist that's why they are always suffering

[@jbmjbm2145]

white man invented your computer and your internet boy

[@GeorgesOpinion]

jbmjbm21 lmao

[@neetrab]

I just stumbled across the movie last night. Loved it!! Didnt even know it was a true story until the credits came. Wow

[@gastonneal724]

My mother didn’t like math, but I found her algebra books when I was 5. I love math.

[@davidm9214]

Movies are a way to change history since people tend to not open history books past high school if they make it to grad at all

[@davy209]

I know. People should not be getting their history lessons from movies.

[@jamesward3859]

But in a way, a lot of people wouldn’t of heard of her if it wasn’t for Hidden Figures

[@davidm9214]

@@mjb6839 honestly most people ask me questions and I'm like...can't you google it....Also google is a company that can be bought and paid for, they are on board with the woke agenda

[@pattimessenger6214]

I love the movie Hidden Figures! Thank you for this insight into the real story.

[@baatinunseen5732]

I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to pause for a moment and give thanks for the great contributions of the Black community to our society. Their peaceful and generous nature make them ideal neighbors, lending testimony to their exceptional family values and parenting skills unrivaled by any other culture. Their commitment to academic excellence enriches our schools and serves as an example to all who hope to achieve prominence as a people. Real estate values are fueled by the mix of African Americans into an area due to their caring and respectful nature of these communities, an example of all they have achieved through their enthusiasm for self improvement by hard work and a self-reliant can-do nature. Without their industrious and creative drive, we would be poorer as a nation. So before anyone complains about why our children have to go to school on veterans day and NOT on martin Luther king Jr. day, one should ask themselves, what has a vet ever done for this country that the black community hasn't? So now I say kudos to you African-Americans. We live by your example.

[@thewestwinger3855]

Lovely comment, the best among a sea of racist comments

[@nubianq333]

Your unintelligent sarcasm coupled with a dose of hatred is noted with sympathy !!

[@sugerprince]

See people said segregation was so long ago but they people who lived it are still here

[@ceciliapreziose3783]

wow graduated college at 18!

[@sunayakong8537]

Director: we need drama, not truth man don’t you get it it’s artistic privilege.

[@deanblack1391]

May has well have been a documentary if he didn't add drama

[@RustyB5000]

homeboy needs a haircut so bad. can't take him seriously

[@Draindad]

WE WAS ROCKET SCIENTISTS AND SHIT

[@Tonybmw1988]

Hllspwn lmfao!

[@igortomas3776]

Flying dem pyramidz n sheit!

[@idislikegoogleplus9452]

Hllspwn WE WUZ ALIENS N SHEET

[@Mad_Axe_Man125]

lmao i was looking for this comment

[@larryross4669]

Hllspwn lol

[@andrewwell1855]

How can people dislike this! she had the balls to go inside of a white women restroom.

[@billyray7106]

wow, you all miss the message of the movie WE ALL GET THERE TOGETHER or not at all. TOGETHER!!!

[@obsoleteoptics]

Billy Ray Amen!

[@jessicamarie5781]

Billy Ray voice of reason. Jeez talk about ppl missing the message. It wasn't just a white black thing and toilets. All kinds of history being made, women in that field. America trying to put a man in space. No wonder we are not in the top ten of the world of education. More information about reality television then history and the reality of things.

[@McJessica1616]

2:14 Audiomachine - Reaching. Amazing song!!!

[@KimGossett-h3r]

Just wow! This woman was so smart. I hope she passed on her knowledge of math! I

[@eruangaomuasarah9755]

But when you include a scene that never happened just to dramatize, then that's a LIE!!. You are calling out a system with what wasn't entirely true, and making people believe it was.

[@mombradshaw5528]

I could LISTEN FOR AGES to any elderly person ..the stories and wisdom i wish i had !!..let alone a mathematical genius who was a woman and black! The things she overcome and the things she gave to our world 🌎

[@Bondisaurus]

Dude straight out of house party.

[@JuMiMi86]

Legend ❤ Rest in peace Ms. Johnson

[@ceerstar851]

I'm glad the director got called out about the "white savior conplex". He made himself look dumb. Pretending like he didn't know what it was called or what it was. His "it doesn't matter who does the right thing" answer was jus ridiculous. I couldn't possibly disagree with that any more than i do. He handled that very poorly.

[@saquist]

Not at all. As a black guy I think it was creatively a good call. These are dramatizations. This isn't a documentary. He allowed other characters to SHARE THE STAGE. Katherine's story was already stellar. But a Movie embellishes to make important points. If we had it your way nothing interesting would have happened here. Katherine just went to the bathroom and no one complained. Congratulations you made a boring movie about a great person. :D

[@michaelreyes744]

"To see what was out there." PERIOD Love her soul.

[@Hizirana]

Best Story ever❤ Thank you Miss Johnson ❤❤❤

[@holasoydora428]

tell me why no one offered her a ride to space smh

[@saquist]

Commercial Space Flight is extremely knew and she was very old when she passed away in 2020. That really wouldn't have been a great idea.

[@Lucien234-i2z]

It amazes me as a non-American that all those engineers who actually built and designed the space craft get no recognition but this person gets recognition for writing a navigation guide (It was more than just Katherine writing that code) just because she is black (supposedly) and a woman. What about all the people that actually built these space crafts! Only in America! Cue roll eyes 🙄. As a female biologist, I feel really insulted, big science = equal big teams.

[@leejohns2010]

I'd much much rather to see Katherine going into bathroom in the midat of all that BS in the office.

[@johnd5398]

you wanna watch an old woman go to the bathroom....?

[@meherfanorchachookaleemqaz1142]

I love Mrs Katherine Johnson and I’m learning about her at school

[@averyreganward]

good for the interviewer for calling that director out

[@Metal_Army]

i feel like these comments and this segment miss the point a little

[@Rocanala]

Beautiful lady! Inside and out!😍

[@itskelvinn]

Can someone tell me why brought all the papers to the bathroom in the movie? She probably spent like a minute on the toilet? So carrying 3 binders full of papers on a mile run, just for a minute of work? Seems like carrying the extra weight probably needed an extra minute of running anyway...

[@Ash-ng4mn]

But you created a movie (supposedly non-fiction), and lied. That's not art.

[@mystic7579]

That’s what you do when you have poetic license!!

[@deanblack1391]

You do realise if he didn't add over dramatic scenes and made some fake things he may as well have made a documentary

[@saquist]

No...if you look at the beginning of these films....everyone of them says "BASED on a true story". It's not a documentary it's a dramatization just like a play. It's a powerful story meant to enertain...so like your crazy uncle sometimes things are embellished for dramatic effect.

[@Varth_Dader.Twitch]

nasa didn't have segregated bathrooms in 1961 which is what the movie wants you to think. the ibm lady had the supervisor position 14 years before 1961. The whole end scene where she saves the day didn't happen and the character Kevin costner played didn't even exist. This movie is re written history and is false. read up on the real story if you want to be inspired by what really happened.

[@Stacey-ki4qc]

Thank you ms. Katherine. one Love... ❤💋

[@mariesahota1478]

Black woman!!! She LOOKS white

[@TroyBrownTV]

It matters who did the right thing and thats why they created a mythical white character to do it.

[@saquist]

Actually Costner plays a combination of many White characters that open the doors for Katherine. If you paid attention in College American History you'd know it was not only blacks fighting for their freedom. Quakers and Shakers started a reformation of ideas of what true freedom and morality was. We shouldn't be resentful that there was Good White People out there helping us. We should be thankful for good people no matter their race color or creed. Why do we keep forgetting this?

[@willienelsongonzalez4609]

I wish Hollywood would just stick to the facts instead of justifying their creative choice’s via “artistic license” to the true stories and real life events.

[@twittertwice]

This man ignores Katherine being very fair skinned. She could have normally gone to a white bathroom and people just assumed she was white. The problem that can happen when young Blacks do interview, they know nothing about the nuance of race as well as the blatant racism.I had an older cousin who looks like Kathryn and when I went to visit her in her long term care facility, a charming white framed 3story mansion turned into a care facility in a small town in Kansas. As I walk down long hallway peeping in bedrooms, she saw me, and Said “its me sitting here looking like an old white woman” she was in her 90’s and not PC. I did ask her if she ever consider “ passing” for white. She hook her head and -ask, why would I do that? My point with Kathryn, is whites were only skin color conscious in her time and likely Few of them paid attention to her in the bathroom or perhaps she stayed in stall till bathroom was empty.

[@audengranger]

Hi, are there closed captions or a transcript available for this video? Thank you!

[@terrygyimah1956]

This woman is a true inspiration and I definitely want to watch this movie because I have never seen it

[@RayRaySD941]

Pleasee >_> this woman got more white in her than a thai call girl in the 70's, how bout yall focus on the real black women tht can relate too.... js

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

SHE FACED DISCRIMINATION and is a GREAT black woman! She has more honor qnd brains then you EVER will. She was black and was counted as black!

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

BINGZE- HER PARENTS WERE BOTH BLACK.....THEY WERE SEGRATED!

[@armstrongodey1202]

Lol what kind of trouble did. You get into? Can't tell it! 😂 😂

[@bangkokhomes]

What an amazing woman. Deserves the highest respect

[@gastonneal724]

Can’t mention great scientists without saying her name, but they do it all the time.

[@mereanawi6194]

the white savior critique is legitimate, but what happens in the film creates more drama. If it wasn't in the film, it would have simply been less dramatic.

[@jayfrazier1368]

Such a true legend✊💯

[@nassmatic]

They should issue a US stamp for Mrs. Johnson and her colleagues.

[@saquist]

I agree with this!

[@iamtwinkiebyrd6396]

I completely disagree!! He took away her AGENCY and diminished her. He said Not for me...whatever! She did the right thing for HERSELF!! that shoulda stayed

[@Libra_Strings]

I mean Melfi diminished my thoughts of the movie initially.

[@Closedbook03]

She has fair skin, in fact, I wouldn't know she's black if I hadn't known about her.

[@LilliLamour]

You must not be Black or from the south. Many Black people with black parents look like this for generations.

[@kbabyblue]

Who else thought she was the white lady 😳 ?

[@Gametime41300]

what do u expect from people that have murdered half the worlds CONTINENTS!

[@obsolom6917]

maaaaa, i'm cryingggg

[@zenzen3267]

why did this video get 201 thumbs down when the real deal was there😡😡😡😡

[@commess1]

Thanks for this.

[@spac3st0rm]

Half of the comments are "This dude's hair is fucked all the way up 😂" or "she's so old so looks white omg"

[@HectorMairenaSol]

Have you ever realize if American society were not treated black people like a second class citizen, they could had been the first in the space race?

[@adewaesan3159]

But which one was that talk about there was no moon exploration. Now that this woman existed, seen and met, and interviewed and documented in 21st century, should rest the case.

[@Rafabenitez01]

Are we all colluding in the illusion that this woman is black then ? 😆

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

SHE WAS BLACK! And you can learn from her how hard working she was! Her parents were both black and SEGRATED!

[@ddp8972]

My mum and her brother are 'half-cast Maori, med-dark skin, thick black hair, brown eyes, their other sister is a 'white Maori', white skin, thin blonde hair, blue eyes. I also have 2 'white Aust.Aboriginal' friends here in Australia, which is how I first found out about looking white but being of coloured desent.

[@sergeantmasson3669]

Incredibly amazing genius lady.

[@m.shannontalbott3884]

Thank you Katherine Johnson a queen in your own right

[@yir9383]

Beautiful & Brilliant lady..A story and movie that should have been made before now.

[@otumfuo3]

Propaganda spreading over the bathroom scene, a very paternalistic move as usual. Let the children know the truth and facts. We've been trodden on like wine press for way too long......

[@derikjohnson7934]

The way you snatched him up with that ACTUAL FACT about the bathroom situation and his white savior complex or giving people sympathy during that time…. lol I gagged bihhhhh! This is what journalism needs.

[@bobombo1988]

She doesn't look black

[@Kindredcocopuff]

Do yourself a favor. Don't read the fucking comments...

[@izzylee1252]

I know this is really serious and meaningful but omg the interviewer looks like Gerald from hey Arnold