The Bechdel Test

I remember hearing about this during my undergrad education days in the mid 1990′s. Thank you for showing it to me again now that I have a bit more perspective and can appreciate it.

I find it deeply disturbing, because it suggests that movies–a major form of entertainment, art, and moneymaking–imply that stories of importance are generally about men or involve only men taking active roles.

While I can see the POV of this test, I can’t help but feel that just because it doesn’t pass the test doesn’t necessarily mean it’s part of a larger “problem” of anti-women-in-film propagation.

One film I saw in the list of examples in the video is “WALL-E.” Does not passing the test make this film overtly masculine by default? I’d like to think not. The context of a film needs to be taken into account as well.

Further, what qualifies as “talking about men?” If two women in a scene in a film happen to mention a man they know as part of a larger, more tangential discussion, does that mean they fail?

Interesting concept, but it needs fine-tuning.

According to this test, a politically correct movie about two homosexual minority Muslim men struggling for equal rights in society would not pass the test … UNLESS there were significant women characters. That sounds a little sexist to me.

When I go to the movies I don’t _wanna_ see woman blabber on about anything. Most of the time I wanna see dudes, if possible shirtless and as naked as possible, sweating and doing stuff.

It’s an indication of how the movies don’t reflect the real world, where slightly over half the population is female.

“The Movie Industry” is first and foremost a profit making enterprise. Perhaps we should compare the income generated by passing vs. non-passing movies.

Alternately, instead of looking at the movies that do not pass the test, we should focus on the ones that do.

Many of the movies shown above were action movies, where men were the target audience.

You can use statistics to prove anything; in this case filmmakers are sexist. Right, well…

Pirates of the Carribean films – lots of female pirates, were there?
Bourne films – fails the test because the women were talking about catching Jason Bourne (a man). Right, so they should’ve chatted about the weather or something?
Austin Powers films – they’re supposed to be sexist!
The Dark Knight – how many female police chiefs are there? What other female could you include other than shoe-horning some in?
Slumdog Millionaire – It’s supposed to focus on two boys
Bruno – seriously??
Shawshank Redemption – lots of women in male prisons, are there?

It’s a vaguely interesting test and can inspire a good discussion but really nothing to get up in arms about.

It’s very biased, most of those movies are made (in general) to appeal men, that’s their key demographic.

So let’s made the test with films made with women in mind, what are the results then?

C’mon!

Miss C–movies in general don’t accurately reflect society, anyways, do they? And if they do, they probably pass the test!

I will agree that the sample used IS heavy on action movies and movies that were quite clearly developed for the male demographic. Something I would be interested in is how many movies with a female lead don’t pass.

Another point I’d like to make is that we are talking about art. Since when does art have to be unbiased? I realize completely that the argument being made is the abundance of what they claim is male-centric, but really? Does this whole concept keep women out of good jobs or remove upward mobility in society? I’m sure you could perform similar tests on literature, music, theatre, and visual art and find that some of the most highly acclaimed works fail this test.

I see their point and it’s an interesting one, but how big of a deal is it anyway?

I don’t see what the problem was with most of the movies they showed.
Most of them did have at least one female role in them, AND that female role was a strong character.
Such as Wanted or Fight Club or most of the others they showed.
Just ridiculous IMO

Most movies are written by men and directed by men. A creator talks about what he knows and I would think that they don’t know a lot about female conversations.

Characters in a movie are only there to serve the plot no matter what gender they are. What about movies where women talk about shoes and clothes and hair, are those allright or do they show us an even graver stereotype.

Here is my test: when was the last time you saw a movie with an extremely stupid female character not being surrounded by extremely stupid male characters. Now, do this test in reverse.

So, I don’t really understand what this test is meant for. Should we boycott these movies because they don’t pass the test or should we enjoy them while seperating genders. My opinion is that seperation leads to segregation.

I’m a woman and I love most of the movies on that list of non-passing movies. I like a good action movie, and while I wouldn’t mind it being about a woman, men are generally better in those roles. I’m completely okay with that.

I also hate a lot of movies that are catered to women, like Sex and the City.

Many of these movies marginalize females, true, but also feature a hyper-male role model that sets unrealistic expectations for what a normal male should be.

Other the other hand, most of the men on television sitcoms and commercials are complete idiots, adolescent simpletons who must be guarded and guided by wise mother-mate women.

her terrible acting/presenting made this laughable, she didn’t even have a watch on her wrist.

This clearly isn’t just a problem of action movies. “28 Days Later”, an action/horror film, had very few characters, but two of its prominent characters were women. They took active roles in the story, and those roles were not defined by the men around them.

The point of this exercise isn’t to get movie-makers to throw more women into their films, but to give women important roles independent of male agency.

I think it would be far more telling if they showed the list of movies that passed it. There are plenty made, but are they movies everyone would like? Are they blockbusters?

Ok this is a stereotype but there is truth in it, guys don’t want to watch a relationship movie generally speaking, it’s not their first choice generally speaking. Women, however, will watch action movies, why would a movie maker cut half his revenue if they could help it?

I find it interesting that there were several very popular romance titles in that list. It should be a clue: Even movies that cater to women and what they want to see, which presumably generally have a strong female lead, have only minor secondary female characters. That’s because, in general, what people find interesting about men and women is the tension/ relationship between them. Not so many people are interested in watching the tension/ relationships between women; they just don’t generate the same sort of excitement, and are also generally focused around rather mundane aspects of life. (It should go without saying, but probably doesn’t, that of course there are exceptions. A list of movies that pass the test would offer some examples.) Conversely, relationships between men tend to be a little more dynamic, and translate to a more interesting viewing experience.

People usually go to a movie to be entertained. Speaking as a woman, I very rarely find movies that focus on a group of women talking about their issues to be even remotely entertaining.

The only test a movie has to pass for me is that it be worth shelling out the money to see it.

I’m pleased by the fact that many Miyazaki movies pass this test. Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky. All these films by a Japanese filmmaker who is known world-wide but is particularly famous in his home country, where his films routinely break money-making records. Japan, a supposedly male-dominated society.

I think it’s idiocy and fear that has Hollywood making these same male-dominated films year after year. Hollywood execs really have no clue that they can cash in on women’s interests in entertainment just as easily as they cash in on men’s, if they’d take their heads out of their asses.

A few of movies of interest:
Fargo – female chief of police (Margie), but I do believe it fails. Of course, if she was pregnant with a daughter, it doesn’t.
The Descent – all female cast, no particular reason, bloody frightening.
Blade Runner – well, female replicants count, don’t they?
Kill Bill – Does this pass? Damned if I know. If only they could have shut up about Bill.
Alien – Ripley, and her poor shipmate.
Aliens – Ripley again, and badass Vasquez.

All in all, if you look at lots of movies, you can likely find “winners” in almost any genre. It doesn’t tell you if the movies are any good, but it could someday prove a good trivia test.

To be fair, Fight Club didn’t have many conversations between two different guys either- I seem to recall that being important to the plot in some way.

BROADS UNITE!!!

The test is bunk.

Question 3 is designed to fail the majority of films.

Take this exact same test, and see if 2 men in any film do not discuss a woman in any one scene.

The comments here are revealing. As revealing as the test itself.

Let’s start with some misconceptions. Feminism means many things but I think at it’s core its about asserting that women are human too. Those who dismiss or disdain feminism, for whatever reason, have a problem with that simple idea. Compulsive masculinists are hobbled by a male-centered ideology that allows them to see men as both men and as persons who transcend gender. Those who assert that men are superior, or more in a more complex emission, more interesting, fascinating, or appealing are easy to spot and swat. Theirs is an easier prejudice to combat. It’s the deniers that are harder to flesh out. They’re the ones to claim there’s no problem, the problem is old but solved, the problem is inevitable and thus not solvable, nothing interesting to see here, “I don’t see gender, I see people,” nothing to be done. This is a sexism by default, a sexism wrought by ignorance plus thoughtlessness, and a sexism rooted in self-centered approach to reality. This is sexism that results from the attitude that if it doesn’t harm me, then it’s not harmful…to anyone. That’s an attitude and a kind of sexism that has the odor of privilege.

The Bechdel Test is another way of capturing a truth that others have expressed. Years ago Marlon Riggs made the same point regarding race in his acclaimed documentary, Ethnic Notions. It’s at the exclusion of any representations other than the stereotype. Think about Hattie McDaniel. Here’s a black woman who won an Oscar for her role in Gone with the Wind. And she got it for playing a maid in story that is sympathetic to the side of slaveowners.

A lot of the comments smell of that peculiar odor. Fine tuning it and setting a better context is a dodge. The Bechdel Test is a simple but clever way of capturing a truth about movies and sexism: women are invisible and marginalized in most contemporary representations of women. Claiming that there are movies out there that don’t fit is a dodge. It’s a matter of patterns. Claiming that don’t reflect reality is a dodge. Aspirations, fantasies, and nightmares and who has them are very much part of reality.

But hey, the Bechdel Test is an example of education at its finest – it’s interactive, hands-on, and can be done at home in your underwear. Everyone can try out their own coding scheme.

This isn’t really about any individual movie meeting the criteria. It’s about how few do. That’s the interesting fact.

Also, the first question is the important one. Really, you can forget the rest of it. Usually you have two or more male main characters and a chick. (The Smurfette Syndrome.) It’s very rare you get the reverse. Why is that?

Now it may be as simple as women deferring to their boyfriend’s/husband’s interests, just so they can get a date night (which I suspect is actually part of it) or it may be that the largely male execs are more interested in movies that fail this test (also likely part of it.)

According to this test Lost in Translation is sexist. Damn you Sofia Copula, for betraying women everywhere!!!

Not even women want to watch a movie about women talking to other women about something other than men. lol

Btw, ,was watching The Red Balloon on Youtube with the kids and realized it doesn’t fit either.

As a woman, the last thing I want to see is women talking to each other. Period. Less women = better movie.
I think I’m just a catty bitch who hates other chicks, but it still dosn’t change the fact.

For what it is worth, this week’s episode of 24, featuring a female U.S. President and female acting president of the IRK (basically a representation of Iran) passes the test.

This clip doesn’t pass the test either, therefore I think it’s safe to dismiss the contents.