Grading Films on Representation of Women: The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel test determines whether a film actually treats the main women characters and any women mentioned in the film or show as people instead of as accessories or other objects.

The test is named after Alison Bechdel, who created comics in 1985 with a character who used these rules to evaluate films. The rules for the test were (and still are) simple and few:

1. The film has to have at least 2 women in it.
2. These women must talk to each other.
3. These women must talk to each other about something Other Than Men.

And contemporarily, people add that the "at least 2 women" criteria must include names for these women. Isn't it an odd thought that writers, producers, and movie directors would have forgotten to name women that have actual lines or other important parts of a movie?

That's what I would have thought!

Want to put gender bias into perspective? Here's how you're going to do it:

1. Watch your favorite movie Of All Time.
2. Are there 2 named women?
3. Do they talk to each other?
4. About something Other Than Men?

I'm curious as to what you'll find, so please make sure to vote on the right!

It seems so simple! And yet, you'll most likely be looking at the writers, directors, and producers of your favorite film differently. And you'll most definitely have a different outlook on movies in general from now on (or, at least that is what I am hoping!)

Let's talk about my favorite movie series: Harry Potter. Now, I understand there is more material in the books. Let's get past that. For right now, we are going to focus solely on the films.

Yes, we have more than one (named) female character. Just to name a few that have been there from the very beginning:

1. Hermione Granger
2. Petunia Dursley
3. Mrs. Weasley
4. Ginny Weasley
5. Professor McGonagall

But in the first film, do any of these women speak to one another??? I was hard pressed to think of any situations, let me tell you. I became so frustrated that I actually re-watched the first film just to see!

Mrs. Weasley does in fact speak to Ginny, to tell her to "Come along" basically at the boarding of the train on Platform 9 3/4. Mrs. Weasley first tells Harry how to push through the wall, and then she shows him by going with her daughter.

"Ha!" I thought. An interaction between two women! But honestly, a tiny 30 second scene between mother and daughter? Does that count?

"The Fat Lady," I thought! "That woman in the picture who hangs over the entrance to the Gryffindor Corridor! She has to have spoken with Hermione!"

So I paid attention, but sadly she does not. Harry speaks to her. She speaks to Harry, and to Neville. She does not speak to Hermione, nor Hermione to her. And to tell the truth, I had already felt like I was grasping at straws when I had to pretend that "The Fat Lady" was a Named Character.

"Madame Hooch?" She speaks to ALL the first years, right? And Susan Bones and some other girls are shown. Alas, she only speaks to Neville directly, to yell at him for flying first without her direction.

Okay, I was a little desperate. I searched every single character on the IMDB list.

Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson! They're both women! And they're both on the quidditch team! Which means they share screen time, right? I was excited, I fast forwarded to those parts, and watched.

Nope, if they talk at all, it's not to one another.

And that was it. That was the end of the character list. I had had my answer. The first movie in my favorite movie series Of All Time passed the first rule; it has plenty of female characters with names. The film barely passes the second rule, and this is only because Ginny and Molly are mother and daughter, and because Professor McGonagall is a professor who spoke to every student to call out their names for the Sorting Hat.

But I was hesitant to say that the film passed the 3rd criterion. Yes, Molly talks to Ginny about boarding Platform 9 3/4, not about men. But she was talking about it only so that she could show Harry.

And yes, Professor McGonagall yells roll call at the beginning of the feast, but the students' names are all she says. Does she even congratulate them? Tell them where to sit? I don't think she has an actual conversation with any of them at all.

So with weary, albeit twitchy, eyes, I had to admit that one of my favorite movies did not in fact pass this test.

Perhaps I'll have to go through the first book in the future to see how many instances were not included in the movie.

I want you to think about all the instances in your favorite movies where women had the chance to have a name but didn't, when they had the chance to speak to one another but didn't at all, and when they had the chance to speak about things Other Than Men but didn't.

Don't you think it's odd that they don't mention something from their own lives, or pasts, or goals, or hopes and dreams, or what happened that morning, or the awful driver they had to follow into work, or anything else?

Don't you find it odd that women are only ever deemed important in films when they're directing our attention back to the men?

I find it odd. More, I find it abhorrent!

Now, I want you to repeat to yourself over and over:

"There are more women than this in Real Life. There are more women than this in Real Life."

Why aren't women depicted realistically in films?

While searching for more origin and example information on the Bechdel Test, I came across one of the most helpful websites. Bechdel Test Dot Com is a Movie List database for only grading films on these 3 criteria! It boasts of about 7513 movie titles (as of 1/2/2018). Go search for your favorite movie and read the reviews!

I'm interested to see what you found out about one of your favorite movies. Did you look it up on the Bechdel Test Movie List website? Did you rewatch it to see for yourself? Please tell me what you've found below!