Bechdel Test Thread

[TrilllianAstra]

I thought having a thread for "I just watched this and it passed/failed and I thought..." would be good to encourage me to think of the Bechdel test when watching TV/films or reading books. I wonbe watching/reading anything on purpose for the thread, just thought I would apply it to whatever I happened to be watching or reading.

The test doesn't necessarily say that a film is feminist/antifeminist, but it is interesting.

Rules reminder:
Are there at least two women (some versions say "two women with names")
Who have a conversation
About something other than a man?

Feel free to join in :)

Just finished Cover Her Face. Pass - two women discussing the murdered woman, plus other reported conversations.

Watched Showgirls last night - spectacular pass, and some!

Almost all lead roles are female, many conversations, rarely about men. As a bonus all males are in negative roles, and the girls are hot as hell and frequently naked. Oh, that last bit's not good is it?

AND made me really wish there were roller derby teams in the UK to join (are there?)

There are indeed

www.wolverhamptonhonourrollers.co.uk/?p=59

Oh Kiki's Delivery Service is great. I really rate it. I like that she has mainly female friends guiding her through her (generally self guided and independent) life. I think that's much more true to life than a male rescuer scenario which you see in stories so often.

I wonder if I can recall whether the other Ghibli films I have seen pass or not.

My Neighbour Totoro
Arrietty
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away

Passed

Porco Rosso
Ponyo

Failed

I think?

Mermaids - passes
Dirty Dancing - fails
Honey - passes
Homeland - fails
Nashville - passes (created by a woman, brilliant career rivalry between two older/younger women at the heart of it).

Some episodes of homeland pass - Dana and Jess talking about going to the police.

I'm fairly sure the new star trek film fails the test. In fact I can only think of two women in it and I'm sure they didn't share any scenes.

Watched Star Trek last night, a definite fail, which spoiled the film a bit for me.
Iron Man passes I think though

An excellent pass from Parks and Recreation - not only is the main female character fantastic but her friendship with Ann is adorable.

Can anyone think of a film/tv show that passes a reverse Bechdel test?

I mean two or fewer men in it, who don't have a conversation, or if they do, it's about one of the women characters?

Becasue one doesn't immediately spring to mind.

Anyone feel like they can be bothered to explain the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions to memberfor? Not sure I've got the energy to deal with the hard of thinking first thing in the morning.

Ah, I see the mods got in and deleted.

Scott and Bailey passes. Probably passes the reverse test too.

OneHand, SATC? Definitely some of the episodes.

Kiki's delivery service too, I think.

Oh yes - SATC.

And Scott and Bailey - will have to watch out. DSis says "It's totally unrealistic having all those women in the Police." I wonder if that's true - it certainly shouldn't be.

Just watched one! Mystery Woman. It's a lightweight murder mystery, sort of a young Miss Marple for Sunday afternoon viewing. The murder victim was a man - so it fails technically - but the sleuths are all women who, amazingly, are not trying to get off with any of the men!

I watched Company of Wolves last night - definite pass.

Watched The Skin I Live In a couple of nights ago - fail, I think.

Oooh, OHF, I've just seen your reverse test and think this afternoon's film may have passed it! There could have been some other talk between the men - I wasn't watching out for that - but they barely spoke to one another; it's all about the women.

Some episodes of Buffy probably fail the reverse test - can't recall in enough detail...

St Trinian's passes with flying colours, but is highly questionable in many ways

As an assessment of how feminist any individual film is it's no good though, e.g. The African Queen fails but I'd happily let my daughters watch it. I have a feeling that there might well be more old films that pass than modern ones, unless of course they are those rare 'female ensemble' films.

Dr Who passed this week, The Politician's Wife I'm not sure, there were conversations between named women but think they were all about David Tennant so that fails. Think I mainly watch BBC4 documentaries for a reason... Oh, my Mum's favourite Scott and Bailey definitely passes but you'd hope so with two female leads!

Lou, it isn't really a measure of feminism. It's a measure of the extent to which women are agents as opposed to adjuncts to the men in the film.