Congratulations to Fast & Furious 7: Furious 7 for becoming the fifth movie in Big Stupid Movie Month to pass the Bechdel test. First, the film must have at least two female characters. In order to pass, the film or show must meet the following criteria: It includes at least two women, note who have at least one conversation, note about something other than a man or men. Since an episode passing the test is usually achieved by one pair of speakers only, the results are sensitive to plot arcs in each season that affect who is present in the scenes and who the female regulars spend more time with, as indicated in the figure for the more recognisable cases. She later also attributed the idea to her friend Liz Wallace and to Virginia Woolfs writings. The test is named for Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, who made it known to the world with this strip. Why? But it easily passed the Bechdel test, focusing on their badass careers saving an entire CITY and their friendships. Most of them fail, even ones full of female characters. Married With Children (Peggy-Marcy and Peggy-Kelly) and Scrubs (mostly Elliot-Carla) fall down between steps 2 and 3, meaning they often had female characters talk to one another, but in many cases this was only about a male character. However, since her name is never mentioned in the film, it fails the test. Zoe Delahunty-Light. But the Internet commenters can still find things to get upset about - go ahead, get angry! By providing the information below you will receive early-bird invitations to our events, exclusive musings tailored to your interests, and access to our curated mentorship program. Why? Not only are the relationships between the female characters strong and loving (see: Rebecca and Keeley, Nora, Noras mom Sassy, and the powerful moments between Rebecca and her mother), one might argue that Teds lack of patriarchal bullshit is what makes him a part of the feminist society ideal that many of us wish for. As the first woman to become pregnant in years, she carries an extremely precious cargo and faces danger on all sides. Its a good thing that she has good friends to help her do it. This method probably fails to catch some cases where the topic of conversation was, broadly speaking, a male character, but a three-line sequence occurred without mentioning him by name or pronoun; but it seems too harsh to throw away the whole scene if a male is mentioned anywhere in the scene, since often scenes can involve multiple conversations between different groups of characters. Big Little Lies was produced by Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, two women who were sick of seeing women portrayed in a one-dimensional way. The Bechdel test is one of the most common ways that a movie or TV show's female representation can be judged. Did it miss the mark on some topics? Here are our favorites! Despite having two kickass female characters who are named, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) a.k.a. The Bechdel test was designed to point out how infrequently women in Hollywood movies are presented as characters in their own right, as opposed to adjuncts or even accessories to the male characters. Its 2019, high time to get all underrepresented groups in significant numbers behind and in front of the camera! Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! Oh and hey, Meryl Streep is going to be in Season 2. Although nearly the entire show involves interactions strictly between men. Another Best Picture Oscar winner that despite being groundbreaking in its representation of a gay black man, fails to have two women with names having one single teeny-tiny conversation about anything. 95 percent of the characters are female, and they communicate with each other constantly throughout the series about non-male-centric topics. The label of his particular examination is taken after a caricature artist, Alison Bechdel. The Bechdel test is named after Alison Bechdel who introduced the concept as part of her Dykes to Watch Out For comic series in 1985, but she attributes it to her friend Liz Wallace, who attributed it to Virginia Woolf. But the shows that dont pass the test are about men who already have established careers, and so the relationships between women fall to the wayside. The dramedy follows Issa, her best friend Molly, and their other girlfriends as they navigate life in Los Angeles. Movies with female directors have higher Bechdel scores. TV Show Recaps; TV Reviews; TV Lists; TV News & Trailers; TV Features; The L Word; The L Word: Generation Q; . For the most part, the shows that pass the Bechdel Test are shows about women who are devoted to their careers, Leslie Knope, Olivia Pope, Alicia Florrick. There had never been a movie with 100% Black ownership to make over $100 million, so that this also passed the Bechdel test is massive. submissions or preferences. Then again, its possible that the nurses exchanged at least a few lines complaining about their living conditions, talking about the war, etc., and a conversation about treating a patient who happens to be a man is arguably not really a conversation about a man. They recently soft-launched their take on the Bechdel test, called the Riz test, which aims to cast a light on how Muslims are represented on film and TV shows. During the comic relief French Lesson scene (Act 3, Scene 4) Alice teaches Katherine how to speak French and there is no mention of men whatsoever. The Morning ShowOof this last season was a toughie (hello, news media + New York + #MeToo + Covid = messy! If you need a reminder of how strong women are, then turn on Glow. While Enid occupies herself with finding him a girlfriend, she and Becky grow further apart. 101 Dalmatians (rated G): The original 1961 animated version squeaks . The Bechdel Test is a test for whether a movie contains: Its commonly used as a commentary about the lack of female representation in Hollywood. So, love them or hate them, you can probably relate to at least one of them. All the Charlize Theron. The Bechdel test is a simple test to evaluate films (and other media) for portrayals of women. Shes also right pretty much all of the time and her male captains need to listen to her more often. Have you ever had someone comfort you after a break up by saying "There's plenty more fish in the sea?". We all play a part in creating a more equitable and just workplace and world. The Bechdel is a good test to show general representation of women in film/tv, and should not be used to critique the value or lack thereof, of any specific film/tv. REVIEWS. Were ready for Season 6! The Wire had a lesbian couple, but they werent a focus. Irish sport images provided by Inpho Photography And so are five other '90s tattoo styles. Plus, its not as though failing the Bechdel Test means a movie is automatically terrible or sexist. We love this list and think many of them go farther than just passing the Bechdel test. 20th Century Fox When Issa speaks to herself in the mirror. If so, then the very first episode aired passes. The best movies that pass the Bechdel Test are female-positive and great watches in their own right. Alright, now were heading into the darker category. The singer reveals how grueling life was on the road. (will pass the test, but female characters are still underrepresented) And you know when else Insecure passes the Bechdel test? How about Girls? Youll fall in love with these badass Black women who justget it. G LOW, Netflix's new series about a troupe of female wrestlers in the 80s, opens with a dig at the lack of roles for women in the entertainment business. The Bechdel Test is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press The test and its rules were first mentioned in Bechdel's 1985 comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and has three (and later added four) simple rules: 11 The Imitation Game Based on the 1982 biography Alan Turning:. Example: A woman has only one minor female friend, all other characters are male. Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, So real. There were several recurring nurse characters who had names, but when they talked to each other then IIRC it was usually about the male characters. The Bechdel Test asks three key questions about a movie's female characters. HelloGiggles.com is part of the Dotdash Meredith Beauty & Style Group. The Duchess of York casts "no judgment" toward her nephew. The movie: Jess loves football, but she comes from an orthodox Sikh background, which means her traditional parents want her to give up playing and go to university, become a doctor, and marry a nice Indian boy. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, TV shows tend to run far longer than movies and thus, most of them end up passing the Bechdel Test. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: PartII. But the show is very, very real. A lot of episodes do pass, but not as many as youd think, and only barely. Thankfully, by Toy Story 3 Pixar had included a conversation between female . Star Trek: DiscoveryThe latest addition to the Star Trek universe is soooo goooooood. The actresses, who play characters of the same first names, started the show as a web series that was later picked up by Comedy Central. 3) About something other than a man. Pixar's record in general is pretty poor. Heres an excerpt on research conducted on film and gender in 2021: After reaching historic highs in 2020, the percentages of women directing top grossing films declined in 2021. They might as well be talking to themselves (or, more likely, the audience). The best part about Girls is that the characters arent that likable. If youve never seen Workin Moms, stop what youre doing right now, open Netflix, and cue up an episode ASAP. The 25 best movies that pass the Bechdel Test with flying colors By Lauren O'Callaghan, Louise Blain, Zoe Delahunty-Light, Rachel Weber, Sam Loveridge last updated May 06, 2022 The best movies. Land acknowledgements are a way for us to reflect upon the duality of our work while we work within our team, our community, and our client organizations to promote greater inclusivity and abolish inequities, we ourselves still perpetuate and contribute to various forms of historical and present oppression. But if females are in the story, theres no reason cant they be involved in at least one conversation with each other. Paramount Pictures In some cases, my processing couldnt pick up the scene breaks, or the transcripts didnt contain any; these episodes are each treated as one long scene, which makes it easier to pass this first step, but only slightly easier to pass the other steps than when scenes are properly detected. The series begins with the three of them working at Scarlett magazine (inspired by Cosmopolitan), and four seasons later, theyre still best friends and bonafide badasses. Her character, Cassie, is a fun-loving flight attendant who gets into a huge problem. Lauren OCallaghan. To identify female characters, I manually selected names from the list of all speaking characters in the dataset, including both major and minor characters, but excluding unnamed characters like Waitress. The movie: Best friends Enid and Becky spend the summer after high school trying to figure out what theyre doing with their lives and along the way they meet a lonely, middle-aged man named Seymour, who Enid strikes up a friendship with. At this point in time, the SGO team is fully remote, and we are located across the United States. Employment is overrated. Id think similar reasoning would apply to the Sopranos, the Wire, The Shield, etc. There are a couple guys on the prison staff, but they tend to talk about the prisoners or their boss Fig, who is a woman. 5. Theyre primarily white and primarily male and it makes sense that those who control the stories, will ensure they reflect their own world views. Yes, Good Girls is about three women who find themselves caught in an organized crime ringyet its not that dark (except for a few scenes). "Glitch". It also crushed the Golden Globes in 2017. TV shows tend to run far longer than movies and thus, most of them end up passing the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test, Bechdel-Wallace Test, or the Mo Movie Measure [1], is a sort of litmus test for female presence in movies and TV. 6) Encanto. 2.3 OTHER DIVERSITY TESTS This special show gives us hope, makes us feel good, and reminds us that aging doesnt have to be awful (despite all those anti-aging ads). In three films, none of them says a word to each other. There's a third named female character, Agent Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders), but she only directs orders to her staff and there's no dialogue. Id guess most Orange is the New Black episodes would fail. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies SuperJail, unless JailBot is female. The sparkling, progressive dialogue pretty much consists of, He doesnt need you, he has me., And Andrea the android talks to Nurse Chapel about a man in What Are Little Girls made of. On the list of TV shows I regularly watch, the only one I can . Basically, theres a lot to talk about other than men. US cartoonist Alison Bechdel came up with the test in a 1985 comic strip: to pass, a film must have two female characters who speak about something other than a man. Other than that every conversation I remember was about Hank or Walter. The women of this show are complex and the show does a wonderful job of passing the Bechdel test, focusing on their friendships, their careers, their kids. 3. for more than one minute of screen time. Please know that these are only a portion of the new television series passing the test. Wikipedia says that Ms. Bechdel prefers the name "Bechdel-Wallace test". An extra big kick in the nuts to Star Wars fans: The prequel trilogy actually passes the test (partially). Most are finally passing the Bechdel test, aka a test that analyzes a scene where two or more women talk about anything else other than men. Ghostbusters (The one with all the women)We loved the 2016 Ghostbusters. Besides Friends, Will and Grace, and Married With Children, the other shows have a lopsided number of male characters, so are unlikely to be left without a male-male storyline. The test has gained traction in recent years, but there's still some big-name films that don't meet the criteria. Star Wars: The Last JediWhile Carrie Fisher has always been a strong female presence in the Star Wars series, The Last Jedi takes female interaction to a whole new level. A kid on a distant planet finds out about a magical force from an old man and he learns to be a Jedi and they fight against the Empire and yada yada. The show is set in the world of 80s womens wrestling and follows an out-of-work actress who decides to achieve fame by wrestling. At the time, hardly any films could pass it, and many forms of media still struggle to pass it today. created content and their own posts, comments and submissions and fully and effectively warrant All Rights Reserved. In one installment of her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, one character informs the other that she will only go to see films in theaters that have adequate female representation. Grace and Frankie While Im pretty sure their husbands/boyfriends back home, and the 4077s doctors did come up, it was mostly about Margaret. How to use Bechdel Test in a sentence. The View from the Window by Carina Paredes-Rivera. Younger is a marathon-worthy series about a fortysomething who pretends to be in her twenties in order to break back into publishing. Amongst civil unrest and economic collapse, Theo unwittingly becomes responsible for a young pregnant refugee, Kee, who he must protect against all odds. Sadness, joy, frustration, bittersweetness. The model also addressed men profiting off her body. Are there any TV shows you can think of though that fail the Bechdel Test? Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley. Even shows that are deemed feminist sometimes dont pass the testand, frankly, its frustrating. Starring Jeon YeoBeen (as Hong JiHyo) and Afterschool's NaNa (as Huh BoRa), "Glitch" is a dazzling celebration of female friendships and WLW relationships, and the theme is brought out with the utmost grace and delicate nuance. There's only two named female characters in the whole of the 2008 Oscar winner of Best Picture: Jamal's mother (who dies early on), and Jamal's love interest. As with previous Ghostbusters movies, the busters are tracking down some ghosts who are wreaking havoc in New York. In 1985, American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The movie: Following the careers of the human computers Katherine Goble, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughn, Hidden Figures explores the rampant racism (and sexism) the three figureheads endured during their time working at NASA during the space race. This is straightforward, as the transcripts contain scene indicators, usually. Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, adapted from Margaret Atwood's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, does justice to the book which cannot be said about most TV/film adaptations out there. BA1 1UA. The Wheel of TimeIn a rare turn of events, we have one of two fantasy series on the list! Harry and his friends (several of whom are female) begin making their final moves to take down Lord Voldemort. About something besides a man Movie list 2023 (5 movies) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Infinity Pool Missing Pathaan Reflect 2022 (153 movies) The 355 A Fada do Lar A Man Called Otto The Adam Project All the old knives The titular named Lara is the only named female in this movie. Now its up to Elsa to find her and help her get control of her powers so she can unfreeze their home. Creators, writers, and stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle portray versions of themselves in the year 2000. Seriously, George, why is the whole galaxy a sausage fest? For fun, how about shows that not only regularly pass the normal test but fail the reverse Bechdel Test? Eat Sleep Die (2012) To pass, a movie must have two named women converse about something other than a man. (Wikimedia) Virginia. Enter the Bechdel Test, which was created in 1985 by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a now-famous comic strip.Essentially, the Bechdel Test is a metric which determines whether a movie or TV series pays ample attention to its women characters. Love and hate, fear and obsession, joy and anger, are all represented in their dance. Let us know! This is a function of the number of main characters of each gender available to take part in storylines: in the extreme case of Will and Grace, if the characters were split into two pairs, the only combination that allows same-gender conversations is Will-Jack and Grace-Karen, whereas as the other two possible pairings involve different-gender conversations. Despite having an array of fierce and funny female characters, the last movie of the Harry Potter installments disappointingly doesn't feature a single conversation between the women. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). In a world where superhero movies reign supreme, it's hard to imagine any of them not passing the Bechdel Test. The movie: In this particular post-apocalyptic world, children are sent to battle to the death on TV. The Bechdel (pronounced beck-dell) Test was first created in 1985 by cartoonist Allison Bechdel. And, apparently, successfully robbing banks is one of the things they can accomplish together. Lauren OCallaghan. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. She works closely with Abbey Whalen (Darby Stanchfield), and has numerous confrontations with First Lady (Bellamy Young). That means having at least two, named, female characters in the movie, who talk to each other about something other than men. The squads a little more preoccupied with ghost bustin than affairs of the heart, and casually saving the world from an evil menace. Theres glitter, spandex, and a lot of fighting. del test/n. Pen15 might give you flashbacks to being a preteen. The test asks whether a film features at least two women talking to each other about something other than a man. Despite being a children's animation company, only 25% of the characters in it are female, only 4 out of 14 Pixar films pass the Bechdel test, and Brave is the only movie to have a female protagonist. The readers of Dykes to Watch Out For (where the test originated) probably love this show. But it goes much further than this, with Katniss having a variety of conversations with other women, ranging from her mother and Rue, to the delightfully colourful Effie Trinket, and only once does a romance get mentioned in one conversation between Katniss and Rue. The Bechdel test, Also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a test used for works of fiction (usually movies), named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Sam Loveridge. Its authentic to life, and theyre all trying to make their way in New York. Atomic BlondeYes, please give us more Charlize Theron! 2. Who talk to each other. Most of the cast is female. The Office increased its pass rate during its run, as did Seinfeld and Frasier, with the exception of their final seasons. The Bechdel Test (BT), which checks for a rudimentary level of female-centricity in media, has elsewhere been covered thoroughly for movies, with a crowd-sourced manual approach, but not, to my knowledge, for television, except at a high level or in very selected cases. Currently, only the titles of the movies are searchable. We can look at the results for each show, broken down by test step. Like Harry Potter, there are a few brief moments where female characters say a single line at each other, but they dont actually hold a conversationexcept in one scene, where Neytiri and her mother have a drawn out discussion. The women definitely rule the show and its no surprise that women are also behind the scenes as well here. Fantasies are notoriously male-dominated (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, we see you!). YAS! Alison Brie's Ruth . At this point in time, the SGO team is fully remote, and we are located across the United States. for the content of external websites. The Bechdel Test is a measure of gender bias in movies. The test has three criteria: 1. the movie must have at least two female characters, 2. who talk to each other about something other than a man, and. Women comprised 17% of directors working on the 250 top grossing films in 2021, down from 18% in 2020. It's worth noting though that this is in a series that shows women's asses at every opportunity & had gold-painted dancing girls earlier. They confront him, defeat him, age weirdly, and everyone lives happily everafter. The Flight AttendantWe arent Big Bang Theory people, so we didnt have much of a frame of reference for Kaley Cuoco, but wow does she and her castmates do a spectacular job. Emma Stone chills, sings, dances and colour-coordinates her outfits with her three gal pals, buuuut the friends themselves are never named. Seinfeld has only one female character in its main cast, so was bound to do badly in this test; however, it does pass step 1 in almost 90% of episodes. While reading a critical review of a popular show which noted that it didn't pass the Bechdel Test, it occurred to me, a long time fan of Hannibal To join our community, just fill out the form below. The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselYou must have been living under a rock if you havent heard of this one. Fox Searchlight Pictures. When Ive seen people discussing the Bechdel test with regard to television, theyre usually talking about individual episodes and not the series as a whole. If you were ever looking for a film that could pass the Bechdel Test, this would be it. 20th Century Fox. Seriously, in the entire 10-hour trilogy, no two female characters ever actually speak to each other. American supervillain. Where this show shines with regard to the Bechdel test is her relationship with her first captain Philippa Georgiou, and then further on with Captain Tilly. Go ahead and watch a few episodes while at work. men. Heres how the test works a piece of fiction has to satisfy three requirements: Thats it. New Line Cinema. Most are finallypassing the Bechdel test, aka a test that analyzes a scene where two or more women talk about anything else other than men. The show takes place in the beautiful town of Monterey, California, and follows three moms: Madeline, Celeste, and Jane. Honestly, if you dont know this, then I hope that 35-year coma was really peaceful andlovely. Issa Rae embodies all of these qualities in her character, Issa. But even then, she doesnt really speak. This show will be missed. The measure sometimes is enhanced by adding that the two female characters be named in the film. Toy Story is such a beloved film to so many, but it unfortunately doesn't pass the test. Absolutely. Each step was calculated by scene and aggregated to episode level. In a film about violence and mafiosos, Karen ( Lorraine Bracco) and Rosie ( Illeana Douglas) manage to squeeze in a Bechdel Test pass with a conversation about Florida. As the title lets on, Dead to Me isnt a light-hearted show. How it passes: Both the main characters are named women, who talk to each other a lot about football, their families, and yes, occasionally boys. Third, that conversation must be about something other than a man. The movie also includes Jess sister Pinky and a whole host of other named women on the football team, and besides that, the basic message of the movie is that women can do anything even become professional footballers. . On June 30th, 2008, Jennifer Kesler . A movie is typically no more than 2-3 hours long, while the complete run of a successful TV series could add up to over 100 hours. Padme speaks to Shmi Skywalker in Episode I and to her handmaidens at various points in Episode II, and in both cases, they discuss things other than men. When they do interact its usually to talk about their place in society with regards to the men and their plans. Director and Producer James Cameron first wrote the script in 1994 and it took a whole 15 years before the film was made and released. Especially the last season, with its female villain. They exchange quips a few times, such as when Mrs. Weasley utters the iconic line of "Not my daughter, you bitch" to Bellatix as she protects Ginny. This test, put forth by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a comic strip from 1985, posits . Most any military-based show. TL;DR: Some episodes do, some d. You were so very close, JamesCameron. Bilko, and those already mentioned, have a good chance of failing. Okay, so, right, Atomic Blonde stars Theron as an MI6 agent who travels to Berlin as the wall is about to fall in order to retrieve a priceless dossier to take down an espionage ring. "Glitch" is a drama that has earned its rightful place in any discussion about feminist science-fiction. Swedish cinemas take aim at gender bias with Bechdel test rating Movies need to pass test that gauges the active presence of women on screen in bid to promote gender equality Jennifer. Stay tuned by signing up for our newsletter! The rise in the overall number is due to increases in the percentages of women working as executive producers and producers. And it definitely passes the Bechdel test, with a diverse cast of women focusing on their careers and friendships. Votes: 13,610 | Gross: $1.60M. Do those bacta tanks grow babies,too? Most are finally passing the Bechdel test, aka a test that analyzes a scene where two or more women talk about anything else other than men. If you ever wondered what it would be like if thirtysomething women pretended to be middle school-aged girls, well, you dont need to wonder anymore! Um, no. Im trying to remember any women on McHales Navy. Should it be dismissed entirely? Cue epic action sequences, horrendously troublesome gameplay tactics, and even a little bit of romance. While they both grapple with these feelings, we get to see how gorgeously complicated the human experience is through the lens of this intense and beautifully acted series. Red flags that you're dealing with a man-child. The Bechdel Test is a way of evaluating the representation of women in film. Rachel Weber is the US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+ and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Thank goodness theres one more season to go. InsecureThe real love between Issa and Molly gives us all the feels like all of them. Thankfully, by Toy Story 3 Pixar had included a conversation between female characters that involved something other than men. For a movie or TV show to pass the test, it has to feature at least two women talking to each other about a topic other than a man.