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Silkwood is a 1983 film about a worker at a plutonium processing plant who is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.

Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen, based on the book Who Killed Karen Silkwood? by Howard Kohn.
The controversial true story that inflamed a nation.  taglines

Karen Silkwood

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  • I remember in high school her saying, 'Now what'd you want to take that science class for? There's no girls in that science class. You take home ec, why don't you? That's the way to meet the nice boys.' 'Mom,' I said, There ain't no boys in home ec. The boys are in the science class.' She hated when I said, 'Ain't.'
  • Doctors are all goddamn liars.
  • Maybe Drew is right. Maybe we should just quit - get out of here. Move someplace where it's clean.

Dolly Pelliker

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  • Well Hurley works there, you think he'd work there if he was gonna get the cancer?

Winston

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  • It doesn't matter whether you work in plutonium or dog food because they ain't gonna give you a thing, there's nowhere left to go! You close this plant down and then what? You're gonna be up in Washington, but we're gonna be down here outta work! Your cancer's a maybe, that's all it is, a maybe...

Angela

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  • I can always tell when a dead person I beautify worked for Kerr McGee, because they all look like they died before they died.
  • Karen, you ever been downtown? There are two big streets. One's called Kerr, and one's called McGee. And that's how I see it. They own this state... they own everybody in this state... and they own practically everybody I work on.

Other

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  • Morgan: For as long as anyone could remember... this Indian chief was in charge... of naming all the children that were born in the tribe. One day, this brave comes to him and says... 'Chief, can I ask you something? How do you name these children? How do you think of their names?' And the chief says, 'It's very simple. When a child is born... and I see snow gently falling... I say, you shall be called Snow Gently Falling. And when a child is born and I see a hawk flying over... I say, you shall be named Hawk Flying Over. But tell me, Two Dogs Fucking, why are you so interested?'

Dialogue

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Drew Stephens: Sweetheart, it's like you're two people. I'm in love with one of them. But the other one is just...
Karen Silkwood: A real pain in the ass.
Karen Silkwood: What if somebody rapes me because you lost your key?
Dolly Pelliker: Who's gonna rape you that you ain't already fucked?
Dolly Pelliker: Thelma is cooked!
Karen Silkwood: What?
Dolly Pelliker: Thelma is cooked!
Karen Silkwood: [takes off running] Did they take her to decon already?
Dolly Pelliker: I think so.
Paul Stone: I don't think it's the smartest, getting involved.
Karen Silkwood: We already got involved.
Karen Silkwood: It says here that there's plutonium missing from just about every nuclear plant in this country.
Dolly Pelliker: Who's got it?
Drew Stephens: Any asshole that wants it.
Karen Silkwood: Do you feel different about me - since I got cooked?
Drew Stephens: What do you mean?
Karen Silkwood: You know.
Drew Stephens: Well, I still want to fuck you.
Drew Stephens: You don't just stand toe to toe with someone, call him a motherfucker, and get anywhere.
Karen Silkwood: I'll keep it in mind.
[Karen is digging through a filing cabinet, trying to find the film negatives and records from the plant. When she turns around she sees Morgan next to her and nearly screams]
Karen Silkwood: [gasps] Morgan!... Jesus you scared me!
Morgan: Had to.
Karen Silkwood: ...I'm doin' somethin' good.
Morgan: I know what you're doing, and you're the wrong person to be doing it. It's dangerous... that's all I'm going to say.
Karen Silkwood: Dolly, did you uh, did you tell the company about the New York Times?
Dolly Pelliker: No, I don't think I remembered about that part. [turns and looks out the window]
Karen Silkwood: Did you tell them about the X-rays? [pause] Dolly?
Dolly Pelliker: [turns to her] No.
Karen Silkwood: Are you sure?
Dolly Pelliker: Karen, they know everything about us. [turns back to the window]
Karen Silkwood: They don't know about the X-rays, do they?
[Dolly silently shakes her head]
Karen Silkwood: Why'd you quit?
Drew Stephens: I just don't give a shit.
Karen Silkwood: You don't give a shit if everybody in the plant is being poisoned?
[walks away]
Drew Stephens: Don't give me a problem I can't solve.
Karen Silkwood: You think I contaminated myself, you think I did that?
Mace Hurley: I think you'd do just about anything to shut down this plant.
Karen Silkwood: They're killing me, they're trying to kill me, they want me to stop what I'm doing, they contaminated me, you know that?
Drew Stephens: I know.
Karen Silkwood: I'm internally contaminated now!
Mace Hurley: We're getting a room for Dolly... we can help you, we want to help you! We can help you with a place to stay, we can help you with money!
Karen Silkwood: [tearfully] ... but first I have to sign somethin' right? Sayin' I did all this?
Mace Hurley: Just in your own words what happened.
[holds out a notebook and pen]
Karen Silkwood: Okay... uh, in my own words... I'm contaminated... I'm DYIN'.
Dolly Pelliker: How come you got divorced if you never got married?
Karen Silkwood: Common law.
Dolly Pelliker: Goddamn government fucks you comin' and goin'.
Thelma Rice: [crying after being brutally scrubbed during decontamination] My skin... my skin hurts!
Karen Silkwood: Yeah, but honey, try not to cry, cuz salt's gonna make it worse.

Taglines

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  • The controversial true story that inflamed a nation.
  • On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.

Cast

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