Heartwarming / Hidden Figures

• Dorothy and Mary waiting for Katherine after her temporary promotion.
• The scene where Katherine tucks her three daughters into bed. The moment where one of her daughters hands her a drawing of her aboard a rocket, telling her she can be an astronaut if she wants to.
• After John Glenn comes to visit the Langley Research Center, the white employees attempt to prevent him from going to the black workers, but that doesn't stop him, and he gives them a respectful greeting, shakes their hands, learns some of their names, and even compliments Katherine on the computational work of her and her colleagues, saying that without the numbers, he doesn't fly. Later, during the landing/recovery briefing, Glenn was instilled with confidence in Katherine's calculations, stating he "liked her numbers". Lastly, Glenn was insistent that Katherine do a last-minute check when the IBM computer had given two conflicting results on the same calculation.
• In an earlier scene, Levi has misgivings about Mary trying to become an engineer, since it never happened to an African-American woman. But after she is given the right to attend an engineering school, he offers his support, including giving her a mechanical pencil.
• Mary's team leader encourages her to pursue an engineer position because she's that talented, but Mary replies that it's impossible for her, a black woman, to achieve it. He then reminds her that he's a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor who made it to NASA. It's so refreshing to see a supportive white character who can empathize with a segregated society.
• When Dorothy is finally given the promotion to supervisor she wanted, she refuses to become so without her black workers.
• The Space Task Group giving Katherine a pearl necklace as a gift for her engagement. Doubly so considering that one of the things Katherine mentioned in her epic rant in front of the whole office is that as a black employee, she isn't paid enough to afford pearls. It turns out that it was Mr. Harrison's idea.
• Near the end of the film, Paul Stafford sets a cup of coffee on Katherine Johnson's desk and carries a paper from her to Harrison. Quite a way from the 'colored' coffee pot that nobody bothered to fill.
• As part of the three stars presenting the Best Documentary Oscar, they were joined by Katherine Johnson, the only surviving member of the three at age 98.^note She lived a further three years, passing away in 2020 at 101. After suffering from the prejudice of the era and enduring half a century of obscurity despite her invaluable contributions to the space industry, she received a resounding standing ovation from the packed house, her achievements getting their deserved recognition at last.
  • Earlier, she had been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.
• In the middle of the movie, there's a scene where Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy are all together drinking some moonshine and dancing around the kitchen. It's a reminder that, despite all the racial tension and struggles they're going through as they change the world, they're still best friends who love each other.
• Jim Johnson's proposal to Katherine, at which he insists on her children being present because, as he puts it, he knows that marrying her means "marrying" her whole family, and he wants to be very clear on how enthused he is about that.