So, love them or hate them, you can probably relate to at least one of them. It has to have at least two [named] women in it 2. Who talk to each other 3. 4. There are braces, acne, and lots of humiliating moments. The Bechdel Test explained like you're five It is as simple as that, and you will do this for every scene in the script. Wikipedia says that Ms. Bechdel prefers the name "Bechdel-Wallace test". Let us know! Mrs. Maisel is about a woman who is getting a divorce from her husband who cheated on her and finds her voice as a comic in the 1950s/60s and to be clear, she is definitely seen as a female comic. 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. Most people probably werent as mindful of the cringe-worthy storylines, one-dimensional characters, and lack of diversity that was, unfortunately, part of the norm before the early 2000s. Lauren OCallaghan. And it definitely passes the Bechdel test, with a diverse cast of women focusing on their careers and friendships. Shes also right pretty much all of the time and her male captains need to listen to her more often. Pipers boyfriend talks to his dad, but usually about Piper. Alison Brie's Ruth . GLOWThis Netflix series on its second season features a fictionalized account of how GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) came to be a cultural phenomenon in the 1980s. Thank goodness theres one more season to go. Heres how the test works a piece of fiction has to satisfy three requirements: Thats it. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. City Lights (1931) G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance 8.5 Rate 99 Metascore ), and there werent as many scenes that passed the Bechdel test in this season as there were in its first, but its absolutely still worth mentioning. Especially the last season, with its female villain. Have we missed anything? Mark Zuckerberg and his buddies spend two hours screwing over each other and everyone else around them in pursuit of Facebook billions, apparently in an attempt to prove that nerds cant havefriends. How it passes: Although we dont hear The Brides real name until about halfway through the second movie, her codename is enough to set her apart as a named character. 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. In order to pass the test, a film must feature at least two women who speak to each other on a subject that does not revolve around men. 6) Encanto. To pass the Test, the movie must include at least two women, who have names in the film, and that have a conversation with each other about something other than a man. What Insecure does better than most shows is showcasing real vulnerability and raw honesty, and therein lies its beauty. supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Was it perfect? Probably because, well, just have a look at this article to see who sits behind the camera. All Posts; The Rundown; Entertainment News . 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. All the Charlize Theron. The movie: The all-singing, all-dancing movie adaptation of the stage musical Chicago (opens in new tab) sees Rene Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere sing their hearts out as two female jazz stars/murderesses and the amoral lawyer trying to get them off. If you were ever looking for a film that could pass the Bechdel Test, this would be it. While Enid occupies herself with finding him a girlfriend, she and Becky grow further apart. Scared her people will turn on her, she runs away and loses emotional control plunging the Kingdom into an eternal winter. Seinfeld, Frasier, and The Office have more male than female main characters, so inevitably there are many more male-male than female-female conversations. Dead To MeJen and Judy are complicated. There is no clear correlation between the budget or revenue of a movie and its Bechdel score. 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. Gomer Pyle, Sgt. Pen15 might give you flashbacks to being a preteen. Registered office: 3rd floor, Latin Hall, Golden Lane, Dublin 8. 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. By role, women accounted for 17% of writers (even with 17% in 2020), 26% of executive producers (up from 21% in 2020), 32% of producers (up from 30% in 2020), 22% of editors (even with 22% in 2020), and 6% of cinematographers (even with 6% in 2020).. The test asks whether a film features at least two women talking to each other about something other than a man. Fox Searchlight Pictures The movie: In this particular post-apocalyptic world, children are sent to battle to the death on TV. Id think similar reasoning would apply to the Sopranos, the Wire, The Shield, etc. This is straightforward, as the transcripts contain scene indicators, usually. (Lets ignore the fact that the alien was a walking penis-monster, as this was before the Xenomorphs had established sexes the Queens werent introduced until 1986sAliens.). And you know when else Insecure passes the Bechdel test? If there were ever a female landing party member and a love interest for Kirk in the same episodethey usually just glared at each other. Paramount Pictures The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin . The three women talk about their work launching Project Mercury into space (ranging from aerospace engineering, to analytical geometry, to calculating trajectories, to phenomenally advanced maths), as well as about the professional obstacles in their way due to the prejudiced attitudes of their male, white co-workers. Its exciting to see them roll up with their emotional Away bags and yet be really nervous to unpack them in front of each other. Theyre primarily white and primarily male and it makes sense that those who control the stories, will ensure they reflect their own world views. Theyre the kind of friends you can share all your embarrassing moments with because theyve seen (and done) it all. The dramedy follows Issa, her best friend Molly, and their other girlfriends as they navigate life in Los Angeles. Anything, even if its something stereotypically feminine, like shopping or shoes. Holdo a total, er, force (RIP). Its much more about familial love and, you know, surviving. The information needed to compute the BT for every scene and episode can be obtained from these transcripts with only a little further work. Example: A woman has only one minor female friend, all other characters are male. Love and hate, fear and obsession, joy and anger, are all represented in their dance. And as a sidenote, can we just say, basically anything that Laura Dern does is freaking gold. And, apparently, successfully robbing banks is one of the things they can accomplish together. Disney Plus. Were trying to be conscious of not just meeting this bar. 1. 101 Dalmatians (rated G): The original 1961 animated version squeaks . Its a good thing that she has good friends to help her do it. Married With Children went in the other direction. 3. for more than one minute of screen time. BA1 1UA. Often, the two women must be named, prominent characters to meet the criteria. In a world where superhero movies reign supreme, it's hard to imagine any of them not passing the Bechdel Test. Eat Sleep Die (2012) 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. Answer (1 of 3): Disclaimer: I love Firefly. We can look at the results for each show, broken down by test step. 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. In three films, none of them says a word to each other. Atomic BlondeYes, please give us more Charlize Theron! Most any military-based show. Cocaine Bear is the latest in a long line of movies to portray bears as bloodthirsty beasts, clamoring for the chance to feast on innocent humans. Here are ten television shows today that pass the Bechdel Test. Lauren OCallaghan. Sam Loveridge. Hilary Duff? There are only three named female characters in the original trilogy with speaking roles Princess Leia, Aunt Beru, and Mon Mothma, one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance. note Additionally. The movie: Annies best friend is getting married so naturally shes Maid of Honor. Marvel Studios. The best movies that pass the Bechdel Test are female-positive and great watches in their own right. We encourage you to, Nine Recent TV Shows and Movies That Pass the Bechdel Test, have a look at this article to see who sits behind the camera, Ghostbusters (The one with all the women), How to measure the impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training, Understanding Social Identities in the Workplace. The Bechdel test is a method used to determine the representation of women in film. A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers. The movies follow The Bride as she kills her way through the list of assassins who targeted her, working her way up to Bill - their boss and her former lover. The only problem is that the conversation is about Jake, who, you probably noticed, is a man. A scene fails this step if any of the three lines in the back-and-forth mention any of the main male characters by name, a male pronoun like he or his, or any of a short list of other male identifiers, such as men, boyfriend, dad, or mr. How about Girls? The Bechdel Test is a measure of gender bias in movies. Third, that conversation must be about something other than a man. 3. Please note that uses cookies to improve your experience and to provide At this point in time, the SGO team is fully remote, and we are located across the United States. Lauren OCallaghan. How it passes: Dont let the name fool you, Children of Men (opens in new tab) passes the Bechdel Test with flying colours. The Bechdel Test, if youre not familiar with it, is a benchmark for movies developed by Alison Bechdel in 1985. Washington Post, many films and TV shows fail the Bechdel Test (Rosenberg, 2015). 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. Next up, consideration of film beyond this basic test. It sounds simple,. The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselYou must have been living under a rock if you havent heard of this one. Amongst civil unrest and economic collapse, Theo unwittingly becomes responsible for a young pregnant refugee, Kee, who he must protect against all odds. 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. The three female mathematicians in the 1960s (played masterfully by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae) rarely talk about a man, focusing instead on their goals, their work, and the obstacles that they overcome every step of the way. RELATED: 10 Best 2019 Movies That Passed The Bechdel Test, Ranked After witnessing a series of inappropriate events at school - none of which are taken seriously by the staff - Vivian . 3) About something other than a man. A Medium publication sharing concepts, ideas and codes. del test/n. 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. 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. Zoe Delahunty-Light. Kee talks to revolutionary leader Julian and her midwife Miriam at many points throughout the movie, and its almost never about a man. Neither speak to each other or ever meet. Wire service provided by AFP and Press Association. 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. A lot of Hollywood films fail this test miserably and portray women in a sexist and unfair way. The Bechdel Test asks three key questions about a movie's female characters. For fun, how about shows that not only regularly pass the normal test but fail the reverse Bechdel Test? Theyre flawed, complicated, and sometimes make horrible decisions. Rise Together is key to creating greater opportunity by providing you with the support, knowledge, and community to break through barriers. Sadness, joy, frustration, bittersweetness. Mary Berry Cooks / Headline Publishing Group / Headline Publishing Group. As a reminder, 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. for the content of external websites. Bath Her struggle with alcohol comes to a head and it was powerful to see how her friends supported her without enabling her. and RollingNews.ie unless otherwise stated. 2020, however, has already been a promising year for Bechdel Test-passing hits. In 1985, American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. So viewers would expect it to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors - and it does. Although they spend a good portion of the film apart they still manage to have a many conversations about important things like their love for each other and saving their Kingdom from a perpetual winter. Will and Grace also scores highly, through Grace-Karen and to a lesser extent Karen-Rosario conversations. Sounds simple, right? Don't get too bogged down in the requirements of the Bechdel Test test though because even if you're not sure what it means, every film on this list is a great movie in its own right, so you won't be disappointed. They each have their own baggage which we learn about over time (and theres definitely more to unpack). 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. And so are five other '90s tattoo styles. These movies also happen to be very female-positive overall too. She+ Geeks Out was originally founded on land that is the traditional territory of the Massachusett and Pawtucket tribes, and which is still home to descendants of these peoples. They confront him, defeat him, age weirdly, and everyone lives happily everafter. Its won all the awards, and for good reason. 2. Who talk to each other. 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. It doesntmatter. Toy Story 1 & 2. This show will be missed. The Bechdel test is a simple test to evaluate films (and other media) for portrayals of women. Content copyright Journal Media Ltd. 2023 Registered in Dublin, registration number: Over the years, there has been an increasing number of movies that pass the Bechdel test. The Bechdel (pronounced beck-dell) Test was first created in 1985 by cartoonist Allison Bechdel. 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. Do those bacta tanks grow babies,too? This test is passed much more frequently: almost every episode of each show passes (blue plus purple, below): However, Friends, Will and Grace, and Married With Children do show some episodes that pass the BT but not the male version (orange). Pixar's record in general is pretty poor. When you finish the breakdown, you will have a full measure of the quality of the female presence. No females speak to each other in thatone.). In fact, the example Bechdel gave as a film that passed the test was Alien, simply because Ripley and Lambert have a brief conversation about the alien. Sam Loveridge. Beyond that, it paved the way for 2018's reboot, which does pass the Bechdel test, as star Alicia Vikander told Metro in 2016. Ted LassoWhile it may be a mans name in the title, this might be one of our favorite TV shows that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. All rights reserved. Black Widow, the two characters never interact to have a conversation. Law & Order in the early seasons wouldnt have, with no starring female cast members. The View from the Window by Carina Paredes-Rivera. Sutton, Kat, and Jane are rising HBICs (aka head bitches in charge) in their industries. If you have a mixed ensemble cast its not unusual for it fail both the Bechdel test and the reverse Bechdel test because its rare for only the men or the women to have a conversation without talking about the opposite sex. REVIEWS. CONTACT. In 2020, the archive shows that 78 films passed the Bechdel Test out of 329 films released in the U.S. and Canada. So real. 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. Congratulations to Fast & Furious 7: Furious 7 for becoming the fifth movie in Big Stupid Movie Month to pass the Bechdel test. It made history, being the first all-Black starring cast to cross the $100 million threshold at the box office. Beyond the central relationship between those two women, any time theres a moment between women features the show at its best. The WitcherAnd our second fantasy series is The Witcher, which, despite a lot of male energy (wayy more um, cleavage, in this one), does indeed pass the Bechdel test a few times Yennefer and Tissaias complicated relationship, as well as Ciri and Eithns short time together, and honestly probably more but were still working our way through this story (hey, we still have pandemic time to watch!). After a chat of what The Hunger Games actually means, Katniss comforts her sister Primrose, whos had a bad dream. The movie: The Bride is hellbent on - surprise surprise - killing Bill because he and his assassins tried to kill her and her unborn child many years ago. How to use Bechdel Test in a sentence. In 1985, American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Even shows that are deemed feminist sometimes dont pass the testand, frankly, its frustrating. Stay tuned by signing up for our newsletter! The readers of Dykes to Watch Out For (where the test originated) probably love this show. The Duchess of York casts "no judgment" toward her nephew. By continuing to browse, you agree to the use of cookies. Breaking out the results by show and season and plotting against broadcast year, there is some sign of an upward trend. Please know that these are only a portion of the new television series passing the test. As explained above, this can happen when the storylines pair characters of different gender together. 95 percent of the characters are female, and they communicate with each other constantly throughout the series about non-male-centric topics. A lot of episodes do pass, but not as many as youd think, and only barely. The meaning of BECHDEL TEST is a set of criteria used as a test to evaluate a work of fiction (such as a film) on the basis of its inclusion and representation of female characters. While the show is problematic in a few important ways, it does move the needle, but frankly its just nice to watch fantasy with less cleavage for a change. Well, if you're looking for a female fish in the sea you'd be hard pressed to find one in Nemo's world. And its been surprisingly challenging for movies and TV shows to pass this basic test, even in our current golden age of media consumption. 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 alas, many Marvel movies do not actually pass the Bechdel Test. That said, I wouldnt be terribly surprised if MASH** didnt pass even that loose version of the test. 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. Youll fall in love with these badass Black women who justget it. Fox Searchlight Pictures. You will have a very real assessment of how much screen time this element has. The Wheel of TimeIn a rare turn of events, we have one of two fantasy series on the list! To pass, a movie must have two named women converse about something other than a man. This evil stepmother figure in Disneys 1998 remake is finally receiving the appreciation she always deserved. Or if they did have semi-important male characters, but the only topics of conversation they had were about the women in their lives? The Bechdel Test is a way of evaluating the representation of women in film. Seriously, in the entire 10-hour trilogy, no two female characters ever actually speak 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. Harry and his friends (several of whom are female) begin making their final moves to take down Lord Voldemort. Considering the fact that the entire population of New Zealand is in these movies, it kinda seems statistically impossible.