10 Films and TV Shows that pass Bechdel's Test. I think it's a show that has great female characters. It has to have at least two [named] women in it 2. Who talk to each other 3. advertising. G LOW, Netflix's new series about a troupe of female wrestlers in the 80s, opens with a dig at the lack of roles for women in the entertainment business. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Pixar's record in general is pretty poor. According to . 20th Century Fox. Probably because, well, just have a look at this article to see who sits behind the camera. Whats not to love? Okay, so, right, Atomic Blonde stars Theron as an MI6 agent who travels to Berlin as the wall is about to fall in order to retrieve a priceless dossier to take down an espionage ring. Hm, Red Dwarf probably cuts it, too, with only one main character even arguably female, and very few appearances by any character not in the main cast. If you havent, then youre missing out on the creative genius that is Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. The Bechdel test, Also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a test used for works of fiction (usually movies), named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The Bechdel Test is a metric used for measuring how women are represented in a given film. Here's 10 from the past 25 year that may surprise you. Youll fall in love with these badass Black women who justget it. Its just to get people thinking about gender and how its presented in film. It originated in a comic strip by Bechdel in 1985. To search the database, enter a search term below. Rebecca Nicholson. Even shows that are deemed feminist sometimes dont pass the testand, frankly, its frustrating. But what makes this show pass the Bechdel test so handily is her relationship with her manager played by the brilliant Alex Borstein (she is everything). Of course, people watch movies for the simple pleasure that the story brings. (Though it should be called the Bechdel-Wallace test, according to the lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who helped create it.) The model also addressed men profiting off her body. Her pregnancy is discussed with the surprisingly sympathetic assassin Karen Kim, plus her last talk with O-Ren Ishii in the snow in particular is touching as they gradually admit their respect for each other. In one installment of her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, one character informs the other that she will only go to see films in theaters that have adequate female representation. In 2020, the archive shows that 78 films passed the Bechdel Test out of 329 films released in the U.S. and Canada. She is complicated and shes funnier than most (all?) The Bechdel Test is a way of evaluating the representation of women in film. The female characters must talk to each other. On the list of TV shows I regularly watch, the only one I can . This evil stepmother figure in Disneys 1998 remake is finally receiving the appreciation she always deserved. How to use Bechdel Test in a sentence. 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. They trade quips a few times, like when Prof. McGonagall makes a comment about always wanting to use that spell to Mrs. Weasley when she brings the stone statues to life, or when Mrs. Weasley calls Bellatrix a bitchbut no one actually responds and, yknow, talks. Should it be dismissed entirely? Registered office: 3rd floor, Latin Hall, Golden Lane, Dublin 8. 2020, however, has already been a promising year for Bechdel Test-passing hits. When you finish the breakdown, you will have a full measure of the quality of the female presence. This is a function of the number of main characters of each gender available to take part in storylines: in the extreme case of Will and Grace, if the characters were split into two pairs, the only combination that allows same-gender conversations is Will-Jack and Grace-Karen, whereas as the other two possible pairings involve different-gender conversations. Congratulations to Fast & Furious 7: Furious 7 for becoming the fifth movie in Big Stupid Movie Month to pass the Bechdel test. Its a must watch! Especially the last season, with its female villain. I assume Yeoman Rand and Sulu dont count. As the first woman to become pregnant in years, she carries an extremely precious cargo and faces danger on all sides. Votes: 13,610 | Gross: $1.60M. The movie: Annies best friend is getting married so naturally shes Maid of Honor. The best movies that pass the Bechdel Test are the ones that really, truly, pass with all the flying colors. With Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne going head-to-head in this hilarious bridesmaid-off, expect a lot of laughs and plenty of super awkward 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. Summit Entertainment Leia and Rey have more agency than weve seen women have in previous movies, and one of our favorite scenes is when Laura Derns character (Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo) and other female soldiers were discussing their next military move. How it passes: Its true that Frozen (opens in new tab) only has two named female characters, but the movie is literally about them and their relationship to each other. Law & Order in the early seasons wouldnt have, with no starring female cast members. In some cases, my processing couldnt pick up the scene breaks, or the transcripts didnt contain any; these episodes are each treated as one long scene, which makes it easier to pass this first step, but only slightly easier to pass the other steps than when scenes are properly detected. Are there any TV shows you can think of though that fail the Bechdel Test? 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. By providing the information below you will receive early-bird invitations to our events, exclusive musings tailored to your interests, and access to our curated mentorship program. The comic strip that popularized the test was titled "The Rule," and it says that to pass the test the movie must have three things. More than that, all the women are fiercely strong and morally questionable, presenting a version of women not often seen in the cinema. PH: (01) 6489130, Lo-Call 1890 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie. Mary Berry Cooks / Headline Publishing Group Theres glitter, spandex, and a lot of fighting. As with previous Ghostbusters movies, the busters are tracking down some ghosts who are wreaking havoc in New York. and TV shows. ABOUT. Then again, its possible that the nurses exchanged at least a few lines complaining about their living conditions, talking about the war, etc., and a conversation about treating a patient who happens to be a man is arguably not really a conversation about a man. But the Internet commenters can still find things to get upset about - go ahead, get angry! Rise Together is key to creating greater opportunity by providing you with the support, knowledge, and community to break through barriers. The Bechdel Test is a measure of gender bias in movies. The 25 best movies that pass the Bechdel Test with flying colors By Lauren O'Callaghan, Louise Blain, Zoe Delahunty-Light, Rachel Weber, Sam Loveridge last updated 6 May 2022 The best movies. Each of the 12 districts must send one boy and one girl into the fight, and our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, actually volunteers to be the female tribute for Sector 12, in place of her younger sister. None of the female characters in the film actually have a conversation. Shes got a bit of a grudge. Miramax Films. Girls TripGirls Trip is everything. First, the film must have at least two female characters. The test and its rules were first mentioned in Bechdel's 1985 comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and has three (and later added four) simple rules: 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. To pass the Bechdel test, a work of fiction must fulfil the above criteria at least once. It doesnt matter what age you are or if you have kids or not, because its that good. The next plot explores further how male and female characters interacted in each shows episodes. You will have a very real assessment of how much screen time this element has. Women comprised 17% of directors working on the 250 top grossing films in 2021, down from 18% in 2020. 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. It shows what women can do when theyre on the same side with the same goal. A Medium publication sharing concepts, ideas and codes. Easily passing the Bechdel test, Dead to Me brings together two women with completely different ways of being in the world together to deal with some wild bananas weird stuff. Second, the women must talk to each other. pic.twitter.com/rW4NDxMObf Seamus Ryan (@meanderingtripe) March 1, 2021 The test has gained traction in recent years, but there's still some big-name films that don't meet the criteria. Friends performs the best on the BT, and passes the full test in almost every episode. Was it perfect? Irish sport images provided by Inpho Photography 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. InsecureThe real love between Issa and Molly gives us all the feels like all of them. 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. Pretty sure Peep Show passes the Bechdel test. Answer (1 of 3): Disclaimer: I love Firefly. But times are changing and there are a handful of incredible examples of ladies crushing mainstream media. I cant remember a landing party with more than one female. 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. But alas, many Marvel movies do not actually pass the Bechdel Test. The single episode with the most Nurse/Nurse interaction, they were basically spending the episode bitching about Maj. Hoolihan. Frasier performs similarly badly; although it had two female characters in the main cast, Roz and Daphne interacted relatively rarely (this pairs conversations passed the BT in only 14% of episodes). Go ahead and watch a few episodes while at work. It covers domestic violence, marriage hardships, and the misconception of perfection. Enter search term: Or, you can show the list for one or more years: Movies that pass the Bechdel Test "Wonder Woman 1984" behind the scenes Courtesy Warner Bros. Movies that do pass the test include: "Kill Bill" Volumes 1 and 2 (2003-2004) "Frozen" (2013). The film follows three different possible outcomes for her actions and explores her relationships and interactions with the people and the world aroundher. Its clear that their relationships with each other, as well as with the larger community of human computers, gives them the support they use to succeed. 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. Shes not like those other girls because shes basically one of the guys. 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. TH3 RUNDOWN. Alex and Bradley, newly brought together co-anchors for The Morning Show, have a complicated relationship. New Line Cinema. Director and Producer James Cameron first wrote the script in 1994 and it took a whole 15 years before the film was made and released. Love and hate, fear and obsession, joy and anger, are all represented in their dance. Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc 79 titles 1. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). And its been surprisingly challenging for movies and TV shows to pass this basic test. Anything, even if its something stereotypically feminine, like shopping or shoes. Here are ten television shows today that pass the Bechdel Test. But, even though this movie passes the Bechdel Test, it doesn't pass the Dangerous Bear Trope Test. Married With Children (Peggy-Marcy and Peggy-Kelly) and Scrubs (mostly Elliot-Carla) fall down between steps 2 and 3, meaning they often had female characters talk to one another, but in many cases this was only about a male character. 1. These movies also happen to be very female-positive overall too. posts, comments and submissions available. Enter the Bechdel Test, which was created in 1985 by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a now-famous comic strip.Essentially, the Bechdel Test is a metric which determines whether a movie or TV series pays ample attention to its women characters. Now its up to Elsa to find her and help her get control of her powers so she can unfreeze their home. Creators, writers, and stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle portray versions of themselves in the year 2000. It could be about dog poo. Finally, the mother/daughter scenes have nothing to do with Bill and everything to do with The Bride realising that the reason for her revenge - her dead child - has actually been alive all this time. This was probably intended to refer to a one-on-one conversation, but in sitcoms often a larger group of characters are present in a scene. Im trying to remember any women on McHales Navy. 5. The Bechdel Test - Everything You Need To Know No Film School 116K subscribers Subscribe 150K views 4 years ago This video essay is part of the "Everything You Need to Know" series created. This is straightforward, as the transcripts contain scene indicators, usually. Scandal: Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) spends her time cleaning up the scandals that could wrack Washington D.C. and its political elite. While Enid occupies herself with finding him a girlfriend, she and Becky grow further apart. The Bechdel Test asks three key questions about a movie's female characters. Avatar (2009) James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster movie does have strong feminist themes but fails the Test in one key aspect: its strong female leads Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and Dr. Grace Augustine . Marvel Studios When Ive seen people discussing the Bechdel test with regard to television, theyre usually talking about individual episodes and not the series as a whole. Shes also right pretty much all of the time and her male captains need to listen to her more often. 1. TV Show Recaps; TV Reviews; TV Lists; TV News & Trailers; TV Features; The L Word; The L Word: Generation Q; . Remember the test was originally invented to help lesbians find movies theyd like. However, since her name is never mentioned in the film, it fails the test. Did it miss the mark on some topics? She quips that the last film she was able to go see was Alien in 1979. The Bechdel test is a simple test to evaluate films (and other media) for portrayals of women. By continuing to browse, you agree to the use of cookies. The Bechdel Test, also known as Mo Movie Measure and The Bechdel-Wallace Test, is a method used in media criticism to gauge the degree of representation and development of female characters within a work of fiction, and therefore, any gender bias against women that may be present in it. #ForeverAlone. and indemnify Journal Media in relation to such content and their ability to make such content, Most any military-based show. 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. 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.