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 :)

Hmm, yeah - is it 'talking about something other than men' if it's talking about something that involves a man or men eg The War, a plot development of some kind, or their families?

Talking about men or a man I think means it doesn't pass, even if they are talking about the man or men in a non-love-interest manner. Like apparently 8 Women fails because the 8 women are always talking about the death of a man. I read that, I haven't actually seen the film myself!

I watched Water Lillies today. That passed, not surprisingly. The only male character barely says two words.

I'm sure that at some point they talk about something else in 8 Women, but it's been ages since I watched it. Hmm.

I have always thought that things would pass the test if the women have some conversation that is not about a man simply because, unless a story has no male characters at all, there are going to be mentions of male characters by female ones and vice versa.

Lord of the Rings - terrible... the film even worse (2 out of 3 female characters turned into love interest functions)

BTW well impressed SGB @ 3 published books oh so casually dropped into your post!

Sorry SGB, I meant when there is only one conversation between women in the film.

So, Sin City would fail if the women were saying "We have to get rid of Jim and Bob, those two corrupt policemen, hey I sure do dislike those fellows." / "Yes, we should push them off the bridge later."
But it would pass if the women said "Police corruption in this town is terrible and affects us badly." / "I agree, the whole system is a mess."

I don't think LOTR the film is any worse than the book - Eowyn and Arwen are pretty much defined by their romantic roles in the book just as much as in the film - the dialogue that Eowyn lost was all about how she needs to get over Aragorn and make a dynastic marriage to someone more suitable. And she still gets to kick against her restraints and save the day, which makes up for quite a bit.

Pickgo: not that impressive really, one softcover novella, one sort-of self-published (though it did come out as an ebook) and one that did actually appear in bookshops about 15 years ago...

Yep, In Bruges big fat fail. Two female characters but they don't talk to each other at any point. It does have a low-ish character count though.

Tolkien just doesn't get girls/women. I think he went from an all-boys school to Oxford (which had no females at the time - or if it did they were hidden away up the hill) and stayed there forever. It's probably best that he didn't try to write females.

500 days of Summer failed, watched that last week. But I don't think it would've passed if it was applied about men either.

Bridesmaids passed.

I quite liked the Coen Brothers' True Grit recently. I think it struggles to pass the Bechdel test, because I'm not sure whether the hotel woman had a name or whether she was significant enough of a character to count. But Maddie was a good character.

Mattie, I mean.

I like bones because despite being stunningly beautiful all the women are portrayed as highly intelligent and competent- as are a lot of the men. I am having trouble with the new Hawaii 5-0 (don't remember the original!) because I like it, and I like the bickering/ slashy relationship between the two male leads, but the only woman is very thin and young and I'm not sure how convincing she is at kicking ass! Anyone any thoughts?

The actress isn't actually very young Grace Park is 37 which, OK, is younger than me but not "young" precisely but the character is supposedly 23 or so, I think. And she is a Cylon so v good at kicking ass . That character in the original was male, so I suppose it's progress of a sort (and the men are, let's face it, pretty easy on the eye and spend as much time as she does surfing and wandering around in swimwear (well, Alex O'Loughlin does at any rate).

[Disclaimer: am not claiming that Hawaii-5-0 is actually a feminist tract]

Crikey I can't believe she is 37! In that case I am not sure she should be playing the probie?

It gets complicated, though. She doesn't look 37 by any stretch and does only look mid-to-possibly-late-20s so it's probably fair enough to cast her as being that age (I've seen online reviews that complain that she looks too young for the part as it is; if she were cast as her real age with 15 years' experience under her belt no one would believe it [interjection: because the rest of Hawaii-5-0 is just soooo realistic and believable, obviously]). I think it's better than the reverse casting situation where for example someone's mother is played by an actress only a decade or so older than him rather than by an actress of the right age.

Just watched an episode of Fringe - 3 strong female characters who talk to each other about scientific development on cases, not men. Actually, if you count the alternate universe there is 6 strong female characters.

mrsjohnsimm It is interesting, isn't it, how men often play characters who should be younger than they are (think Harrison Ford being the romantic lead well into his 50s) whereas younger women are cast even in "older" roles.

Grace Park kicks ass, but you couldn't cast her as being nearly 40 unless you wanted every new character to remark on how young she was to be that rank/position.

DP is watching Top Gear. Fail.

Have never heard of this before but its such a great obvious idea, will definately keep it in mind in future.

(For years I have fantasised about remaking so many popular films just reversing the genders. I'd start with Ferris Bueller I reckon.)

Only film I've watched in ages is I Love You Philip Morris which fails I'm pretty sure but not that surprising as its a gay male love story.

Don't start with Ferris Bueller - he is a manipulative selfish twat!

I know I bloody hate that film! But I think it would confound some stereotypes to have it reversed, all the best friend stuff, being a smart arse stuff, inventions etc. Women don't usually do that kind of thing in films.

Watched Mamma Mia which passed and it might even have failed the reverse test. I would never have chosen to watch this but it's actually one of the most feminist mainstream films I've ever seen.

Also watched the first Shrek again which is a disappointing fail.

Memento fails, only one female character (and one oher in flashbacks).