At my last internship for an independent film production company, I was given a lot of research assignments. During one particular assignment, I stumbled upon The Bechdel Test. The video I included in this post lays out the basic background, rules, and explanation of the test.
So, as the video discussed, it's a pretty basic test. There are only 3 things a film must include in order to pass.
- Are there 2 or more women?
- Do they talk to each other?
- Do they talk about something other than a man?
One point I found to be very important from the video was the statement that this test is not meant to serve as a way for testing if a film is feminist or not. It is about measuring the presence of women in films. I thought she made a strong argument when she referred to it as a "systemic test." The phrase is used to show that films are typically made about men rather than women. (I think it is worth stating here that a film can still be great and fail the test). Her examples of films that do not pass the test were really strong in my opinion because it displayed a mix of recent and older films. This conversation has been going on for years and it's surprising how many films made today still do not pass the test.
However, women are not the only group being left out of films; there are minority groups that get even less screen time. It's always shocking to me that in 2017 we are still having so many discussions about diversity in films.
Something I have thought about since learning about The Bechdel Test is if there are similar tests for the other, more underrepresented groups in Hollywood films. Also, should we be testing television and streaming services? Does one platform produce more diverse content than the others? These are just some of the questions I have wondered and wanted to share. I do not think too much trust should be put into the test because the issues of representation are deeper than who appears on screen. It's a good place to start but equality, in my opinion, needs to start behind the scenes.
I consider myself a feminist and absolutely love this post. While I understand that a film may not be sexist just because it does not pass the test, I may begin to test all films that I watch using the Bechdel. In my opinion, if a film has less than two women in it, it should be called into question. One film that I particularly like is called The Women (2008) starring Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes, along with other well-known and talented actresses. Although it is about a man, all of the characters are women and they manage to produce the film without the use of any male characters. It is a witty and clever movie that gets its point across with an all-female cast.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Jenelle! I completely agree that a film containing less than two women needs to be called into question and looked at with a critical eye.
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