Girls Talkin' About Movies: Watching Film With The Bechdel Test In Mind

from 123rf.com

 Since I learned about the Bechdel Test a few months ago, it's been in the back of my mind every time I turn on the television or go to the movie theater. For those not in the know, the Bechdel Test is a test designed to measure the gender bias in a work of fiction. In other words, the Test is a way to determine how frequently (and how well) a movie, book, or TV show portrays women. Even though it was first introduced in 1985, it's still a telling indicator on the lack of three-dimensional female characters in popular entertainment.

The Bechdel Test has its origins in a comic strip titled (ahem) Dykes To Watch Out For, written by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Here's the strip that gave rise to the Bechdel Test; it was written back in 1985. On paper, it all seems very simple. For a work of fiction to pass the Bechdel Test, it has to:

1. Feature two or more female characters (a recent modification to the rule insists they be named characters);
2. Feature these two characters talking to each other; and,
3. The character's conversation must be about something other than a man.

No problem, right? Well, it's a lot harder than you might think. In fact, the number of films who meet these three criteria is surprisingly (depressingly!) low. In the case of the "blockbuster" wide-release films, the number passing the Test drops even lower. (By the way, I'm going to focus on movies for most of this post, since books and television tend to pass the Bechdel Test much more frequently. Books and TV employ long-form, more complex storytelling than most films, and are statistically more likely to have multiple named female characters who have intricate conversations at some point. Plus, lots more women write books than make movies, so that probably has some effect too!)

Here's a large database of films (3,200 and counting), each with a Bechdel Test "rating" (the films are graded according to how many of the three criteria are met). Warning: the website isn't formatted well. The movies are listed along the left side of the screen and lots of scrolling may be involved. If you want a shorter list of more recent films, try this list of films that fail the test, from FeministFrequency.com. And for one more interesting analysis, this article points out the large number of Disney and Pixar films that fail the Bechdel Test. Yes, Disney (the company that proudly touts its Disney Princess line) has a decidedly mixed record of creating well-rounded female characters.

from Walt Disney Corp. via Screenrant.com

So, what does the Bechdel Test say about pop culture? Despite its feminist origins, I don't think the Test is a good indicator of overt sexism. While sexism and misogynism are (sadly) alive and well in many parts of Hollywood, most films aren't created with the intent to marginalize or ignore women. However, the fact is that the film industry is comprised predominantly of men (white men specifically, but that's a whole other discussion). Female directors are very rare; female screenwriters, even more so. As a result, the stories we see coming out of Hollywood are told with a decidedly male perspective. And since most men understand themselves better than they understand women, it's just "simpler" for them to write stories from their own point of view.

Unfortunately, this can lead to a kind of unintentional sexism, in which women and their desires, interests, and goals (with the big exception of their romantic goals) are ignored in favor of the "real" story--the desires, interests, and goals of the male protagonists. What do men in movies talk about? Business, friendships, families, adventures, science, exploration, personal goals, spiritual discoveries...great movies have been made about all these topics. And many of these films have featured strong, interesting female characters. However, all too often, we only see one (maybe two) female characters in these films, and their goals conveniently match up with the man whose story it is. Often, this female becomes the "love interest." On other occasions, she may be a mother/sister/subordinate figure. In either case, her life is not the focus of the story...the man's is.

Marion was Indiana Jones' first and best girlfriend. She was brave, resourceful, passionate, and pretty. But the movie wasn't named after Marion was it? Nope...she was still Indy's sidekick/love interest, when all was said and done. And wait...did she even HAVE any female friends? Yeah, I thought not. Photo from VintageCulture.net

Things get dicier when there are multiple female characters in a movie. Some male screenwriters are likely at a loss as to what these women should talk about. Maybe because these screenwriters don't have many female friends in real life? Maybe their women friends always go to the restroom together to talk, and the men never hear the conversations? For whatever reason, the writers usually end up bending the women's conversations back towards the characters who "really matter" to the story--again, the male protagonist(s). Maybe (just maybe!) some male writers think that women talk about nothing but their boyfriends...or their dads or brothers or male friends. Maybe male writers think that women don't talk about "important" things with each other (like goals, careers, families, spiritual discoveries, etc.) Maybe they think women keep their conversations light and frivolous, sticking to topics like beauty products and nice clothes--so they assume conversations between two women won't add anything of substance to their movie. Maybe they assume that men are the most important aspect of the average women's life, so it's only natural women should spend most of their time talking about men. I realize much of this is speculation on my part (and again, I don't think most writers are consciously or maliciously minimizing women's contributions), but there is a lot of evidence to suggest that female characters aren't given the dimension or opportunity to develop that their male counterparts usually receive.

Now, lest I be accused of being an over-generalizing femi-Nazi, let me make something clear. The Bechdel Test is NOT an indicator of a film's quality. There are many films out there that have failed the Test, which are truly great, inspiring films that I love. On the other hand, there are plenty of movies that pass the Bechdel Test that are horrible films (like The Smurfs *shudder* or those Twilight movies). When I say a movie has "failed," I don't mean it's failed as an artistic venture, or that I hate it, or that it's terrible. I just mean it didn't have a large female presence in it. The Bechdel Test is most useful, I think, on a macro level, not on a film-to-film basis. When we can look at a large number of films, and gauge how those films use (or don't use) women, we can get a good idea of what general trends exist in Hollywood. From there, we (as consumers and potential artists) can evaluate what sorts of changes or additions can (and likely should) be made to the film industry in general, to better accommodate female characters and give them a more prominent voice.

But enough endless analysis! Since this blog post is getting long enough as it is, I'm going to wrap things up. HOWEVER...my next blog post will put the Bechdel Test into action! I'm going to list all the movies I watched this summer (in no particular order). Most of the films I saw in theaters; some were delivered to me courtesy of my Netflix subscription. I'll have a short review of each, and then figure out if each film passed the Bechdel Test. You, loving readers, can follow along at home. Afterwards, I encourage you to analyze the movies & TV that you watch as well, and see if they are up to the Bechdel Test standard! Whee, what fun...a new way to watch the stuff you enjoy!