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 :)

Apologies, haven't time to read thread so possibly a repeat, but...

Iron Man Three passes the Bechdel test. Rebecca Hall and Gwyneth Paltrow talk about Rebecca Hall' s work for about ten seconds. Slightly less good (and avoiding spoilers): a woman gets shot dead by a man in a position of power over her, and the biggest groups of women are contestants in a beauty pageant wearing bikinis and what I assume are trafficked women being kept for sex.

But it does pass the Bechdel test and I enjoyed it a lot.

Well the reason I used The African Queen as an example of a film that fails the test is precisely because there is no way anyone would think it was a film in which the female character is an adjunct to the male character.

It's an interesting test because of the broad results across all films, if only a few films failed (e.g. the war films previously mentioned) that's fine but I think over half of all films fail and some barely pass which shows there is a systemic problem.

Haven't seen it, Lou - does it fail the reverse test ie the only conversation between two named men in the film is about a woman?

Bump

OneHandFlapping Sat 11-May-13 09:13:02
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.

Yes, Showgirls again! Passes all ways