The Bechdel Test

Have you all heard of the Bechdel Test?

It’s a simple 3 question test that points out the lack of female characters in movies and a lack of female character development for them other than how they relate to men. I read about it here on John Scalzi’s blog – Whatever.

Here are the questions for the test:

1. Are there at least two women in this movie?
2. Do they ever talk to each other?
3. About something besides a man?

If the answer to all three of these questions is “yes,” then the movie passes the Bechdel Test. A list of movies that pass / fail the Bechdel test can be found here.

I looked through my shelf of DVDs and discovered that a lot of the films I like don’t pass the test.

Not to say that a movie which fails the Bechdel Test is bad. A lot of movies that pass the Bechdel test are awful. (ex."Alice in Wonderland") But still, it’s a little odd that, in this day and age, there aren’t better roles for actresses these days.

So listen up Hollywood – hows about we change some of our male characters into female ones, huh?

How many movies do YOU own that pass the Bechdel Test?