The Bechdel Test: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
|||
(36 intermediate revisions by 13 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Useful Notes|wppage=Bechdel test}}
{{cleanup|Three examples are not clear whether they ''mention'' the Bechdel Test (and thus should remain here) or ''pass'' the Bechdel Test (and thus should be moved to the Trivia subpages for the works). Somebody who is familiar with each work needs to make the determination and either update or move each of these entries.}}
'''The Bechdel Test''', Bechdel-Wallace Test, or the Mo Movie Measure<ref>named after Mo, the main character of ''
In order to pass, the film or show must meet the following criteria:
# ''It includes at least two women'',<ref> (some make the addendum that the women must be ''named'' characters)</ref>
# ''who have at least one conversation'',<ref> (some make the addendum that the conversation must be at least 60 seconds long)</ref>
# ''about something other than a man or men''.<ref> The exact interpretation of this can vary; some feel that it's okay to mention a man or men so long as they're not the primary subject of the conversation, while others will demand a conversation where men aren't mentioned '''at all'''.</ref>
If that sounds to you like a pretty easy standard to meet, try applying the test to the media you consume for a while. There's a good chance you'll be surprised: mainstream media that passes is far less common than you might think.
Now, by limiting yourself to Bechdel-positive shows/movies
The test is often misunderstood. The requirements are just what they say they are -- it doesn't make any difference if, for instance, the male characters the women talk about are their fathers, sons, brothers, platonic friends or mortal enemies rather than romantic partners. Conversely, if a work seems to pass, it doesn't matter if male characters are present when the female characters talk, nor does it matter if the women only talk about stereotypically "girly" topics like shoe shopping -- or even relationships, as long as it's not relationships ''with men''. Neither was the test ever meant to be taken seriously as a benchmark for determining a work's degree of feminism, let along considered more than a joke.
This is because '''the Bechdel Test is ''not'' meant to give a scorecard of a work's overall level of feminism'''. The test was designed as a joke. It is entirely possible for a Bechdel-positive film
It's obviously easier for a TV series, especially one with an [[Ensemble Cast]], to follow this rule than a film, because there's far more time for the conversation to occur in. To compensate for this, Bechdel-inspired analyses of television often
Compare [[The Smurfette Principle]] -- works that follow [[The Smurfette Principle]] include a female character strictly for demographic appeal but make no real attempt to treat her as an interesting character in her own right, outside of her relationships with the male characters. See also [[Never a Self-Made Woman]], which shows that even a well rounded female character with her own goals is most often only relevant to the story by her relationship to a man. Finally, see [[Token Romance]] and [[Romantic Plot Tumor]] for the effects of Hollywood's belief that both male and female audiences are generally uninterested in female characters except in the context of romance with a male character.
We don'
{{examples|Works that ''reference'' The Bechdel Test (named or not), whether they pass or fail the test:}}
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Invoked in chapter 37 of ''[[First Times]]'' by "tealruby", a ''[[Harry Potter]]/[[DC Universe]]'' crossover featuring Hermione Granger, Green Lantern -- the "Book Club", an organization composed of the female members and associates of the Justice League, explicitly makes one of its rules "No Flunking the Bechdel Test".
{{quote|“We aren’t here to talk only about guys. Or whoever’s of interest. We’re here to talk about each other. A little discussion, fine. Relationship issues, of course. Just don’t make them the focus.”}}
== [[Film]] ==
* The 2016 [[Gender Flip]]ped [[Continuity Reboot]] of ''[[Ghostbusters (2016 film)|Ghostbusters]]'' passes bigtime, with a team of four [[Badass]] women who talk science, the supernatural and money, and have to deal with a male [[Dumb Blonde|Dumb Blond]] receptionist.{{context|reason=Do they discuss the Bechdel Test during the movie, or is this just a listing of the test's result that should be moved to the movie's Trivia subpage?}}
== [[Literature]] ==
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fandom book ''Chicks Dig Time Lords'' includes an essay about companion Nyssa of Traken. The author points out that many of Nyssa's episodes pass the Bechdel test, and includes a brief explanation of what the test is.
* In the ''[[Belisarius Series]]'' female characters regularly talk about politics and war to each other which is technically about men (as they form the vast majority of those who take part in such activities in the Middle Ages)but only intermittently about individual men and then often in their position as strategic chess pieces rather then as people. Irene and Antonina have one conversation which is primarily about Empress Theodora who is of course a woman. It does mention men as a by the way as of course her career was in fact [[Captain Obvious|affected by men.]]{{context|reason=Do they discuss the Bechdel Test in the books, or is this just a listing of the test's result that should be moved to the series's Trivia subpage?}}
* In ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' everyone except the Graysons which are portrayed as an [[Adorkable|endearingly but exasperatingly]] [[Good Old Ways| old fashioned]] [[Proud Warrior Race]] of [[Space Amish|Space Mormons]](sort of) and their [[Religion of Evil|not so endearing]] Masadan cousins are indifferent to whether a given role is filled by a man or a woman. At any given time the sex of the speakers will not matter and as it is a technothriller in space, the subjects are likely to be war, politics, or the technology of same.{{context|reason=Do they discuss the Bechdel Test in the books, or is this just a listing of the test's result that should be moved to the series's Trivia subpage?}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Questionable Content]]'' references the reverse Bechdel test in the title of [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1426 this strip].
* Discussed starting in [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/thehangover/ this] ''[[Dumbing of Age]]'' strip. Also played with -- as pointed out in the last panel, most [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|lesbian porn]] will automatically pass the Bechdel Test. It further elaborates on the flaws of the test not necessarily indicating feminism, and later one male character implies that his own life would not pass the reverse Bechdel Test.
* ''[[Skin Horse]]'' namechecks it [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=45896 here], when even the lesbian cast member decides it's fine to discuss local [[Memetic Sex God]] Tip.
* ''[[Leftover Soup]]'': [http://www.leftoversoup.com/archive.php?num=50 "Bechdel Test passed, bitches."]
* In ''[[Magick Chicks]]'', when Cerise and Callista go to a date, Callista [http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/bechdel_test complains]{{dead link}} that the movie they've seen didn't pass the test.
* ''[[Unwinder's Tall Comics]]'' references the test on [http://tallcomics.com/?id=100 page 100] with the Rastov Test (which, instead of dealing with feminism, is a dig at overly-elaborate [[Space Opera|Space Operas]] and [[Techno Babble]]).
{{quote|'''Unwinder:''' You may know a bit about [Warren Rastov] actually. Ever heard of the Rastov test?
'''Barbecue Sauce:''' Is that like where a book or movie is only good if it has less than four warring factions, and they have to say at least one sentence that isn't full of made-up space jargon?
'''Unwinder:''' That's the one. It was actually a pretty direct response to his father's work. They had some issues. }}
* KukuRuYo commented on it in ''Gamergate life'' by offering the dist [https://www.kukuruyo.com/comic/the-male-bechdel-test-the-kuku-test/ "kuku test"].
* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' [http://irregularwebcomic.net/3994.html introduces the meta-Bechdel test], which also requires that the Bechdel test itself [[Lampshade Hanging|not be mentioned]]. Since all of the examples listed on this page (are supposed to) mention the Bechdel test, they all fail the meta-Bechdel test.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [http://www.buzzfeed.com/leefalhead/the-bechdel-test-1dq8 A Feminist Frequency video] shows a large number of popular Bechdel-negative movies
* Feminist Frequency discusses the test again [http://www.feministfrequency.com/2012/02/the-2012-oscars-and-the-bechdel-test/ here]. She proposes that the test be modified so that the scene in question must last at least sixty seconds to pass. She also describes a variant of the test for people of color.
* Name Dropped in ''[[
* ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall
* Talked about in ''[[Extra Credits]]'' in the episode "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131021142158/http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/diversity Diversity]".
* In [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s review of ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men: First Class]]'', she pointed out that it was one of the only superhero movies to pass the test. She then told her audience to go look up what the Bechdel Test was.
* ''[[Stuff You Like]]'' references this when reviewing ''[[Underworld (film)|Underworld]]'' [http://blip.tv/stuffyoulike/halloween-special-5-ridiculously-entertaining-things-about-underworld-5680230 here]{{Dead link}}. The scene is [[Action Girl|Selene]] and Erika (briefly) discussing dresses (before going on to talk about... umm... men).
{{quote|'''[[Deadpan Snarker|Subtitles]]:''' Did they just pass the Bechdel Test?}}
* ''[[Dumbing of Age]]'' named a strip after the trope and uses it to do a lot of [[Conversational Troping]] about it.
* ''[[Cracked.com]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Luke McKinney points out in [https://web.archive.org/web/20140830052052/http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-4-best-moments-in-worst-movies-ever-made_p2/ The 4 Best Moments in the Worst Movies Ever Made] that the movie based on the video game ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' "physically beats the shit out of the Bechdel test" "within the first 10 minutes".
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the ''[[Rick and Morty]]'' episode "Never Ricking Morty", Rick tells Morty about the test and Morty has to make up a story that passes it. Morty makes up a story that ham-handedly fits. In the story Every organism mentioned be female, Morty makes no mention of guys directly or otherwise (Summer is mentioned becoming Beth's daughter via mail delivery).
== Other Media ==
* While she didn't call it by name, [[Lauren Faust]] referenced this trope, claiming that a focus on romantic plots and subplots is what [[Girl Show Ghetto|ruins a lot of girl's shows]].
*
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Dialogue]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Double Standard]]
[[Category:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechdel Test, The}}
|