Here are ten television shows today that pass the Bechdel Test. The label of his particular examination is taken after a caricature artist, Alison Bechdel. But the Internet commenters can still find things to get upset about - go ahead, get angry! Have you ever had someone comfort you after a break up by saying "There's plenty more fish in the sea?". Fantasies are notoriously male-dominated (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, we see you!). *WaitShore Leave has two women on the planet at the same time. The model also addressed men profiting off her body. While they both grapple with these feelings, we get to see how gorgeously complicated the human experience is through the lens of this intense and beautifully acted series. About something besides a man Movie list 2023 (5 movies) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Infinity Pool Missing Pathaan Reflect 2022 (153 movies) The 355 A Fada do Lar A Man Called Otto The Adam Project All the old knives It uses the same lines identified above as part of a back-and-forth between two characters, and sums these by the gender of the pair of characters involved: female-female, male-male, or male-female. Id guess most Orange is the New Black episodes would fail. "Glitch" is a drama that has earned its rightful place in any discussion about feminist science-fiction. GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Bechdel Test is a type of sexism test in the bracket of films. How it passes: The two leads, and indeed the majority of the cast, are women and the only time they really talk about men is when they briefly explain their crimes or discuss trying to get Geres Billy Flynn to represent them. Harry and his friends (several of whom are female) begin making their final moves to take down Lord Voldemort. Rick coaches him to tell a story that passes the Bechdel Test, providing a succinct explanation: "Two women, they both have to have names, and talk to each other about something other than a. Summit Entertainment. On June 30th, 2008, Jennifer Kesler . 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. 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. There were several recurring nurse characters who had names, but when they talked to each other then IIRC it was usually about the male characters. Most of them fail, even ones full of female characters. Currently, only the titles of the movies are searchable. Shes brilliant and weird and is really really good at choosing great roles. Don't get too bogged down in the requirements of the Bechdel Test test though because even if you're not sure what it means, every film on this list is a great movie in its own right, so you won't be disappointed. The only problem is that the conversation is about Jake, who, you probably noticed, is a man. Third, that conversation must be about something other than a man. So viewers would expect it to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors - and it does. Um, no. Marvel Studios At a time when toxic masculinity is still very much alive and well, this entire show is a breath of fresh air. Yes, but her relationship with French agent Lasalle is significantly more interesting. The Good FightWe were fans of The Good Wife, and when The Good Fight aired, we were excited to see some of our favorite characters back and connecting with each other in fascinating and exciting ways. 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. Wire service provided by AFP and Press Association. Cocaine Bear is the latest in a long line of movies to portray bears as bloodthirsty beasts, clamoring for the chance to feast on innocent humans. To pass, the work simply has . 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. and TV shows. Other than that every conversation I remember was about Hank or Walter. The best movies that pass the Bechdel Test are the ones that really, truly, pass with all the flying colors. 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. Lauren OCallaghan. To pass the Bechdel Test, two female characters who have names must have a conversation with each other about something other than a man. Most people probably werent as mindful of the cringe-worthy storylines, one-dimensional characters, and lack of diversity that was, unfortunately, part of the norm before the early 2000s. This is straightforward, as the transcripts contain scene indicators, usually. This test is passed much more frequently: almost every episode of each show passes (blue plus purple, below): However, Friends, Will and Grace, and Married With Children do show some episodes that pass the BT but not the male version (orange). You will have a very real assessment of how much screen time this element has. Happily there have been some absolutely stellar standouts as of late which not only pass the Bechdel test, but also move beyond this low bar into portraying powerful and moving performances with real substance and impactful storytelling. Employment is overrated. 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. Younger is a marathon-worthy series about a fortysomething who pretends to be in her twenties in order to break back into publishing. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies Holdo a total, er, force (RIP). Whats not to love? Neither speak to each other or ever meet. And you know when else Insecure passes the Bechdel test? ), and there werent as many scenes that passed the Bechdel test in this season as there were in its first, but its absolutely still worth mentioning. We can look at the results for each show, broken down by test step. 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. 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. Now its up to Elsa to find her and help her get control of her powers so she can unfreeze their home. Couldn't have used all that time to write in a conversation between two female characters that wasn't Neytiri and her mother discussing Jake, about, I don't know - like the fact that their whole planet was under threat of being destroyed? Another Best Picture Oscar winner that despite being groundbreaking in its representation of a gay black man, fails to have two women with names having one single teeny-tiny conversation about anything. These movies also happen to be very female-positive overall too. The movie: When Princesses Elsa and Annas parents die, Elsa must become Queen, but during her coronation party everyone finds out that shes been secretly hiding powers (which she can use to freeze anything) all this time. Theyre the kind of friends you can share all your embarrassing moments with because theyve seen (and done) it all. The Bechdel (pronounced beck-dell) Test was first created in 1985 by cartoonist Allison Bechdel. Thank goodness theres one more season to go. The Office increased its pass rate during its run, as did Seinfeld and Frasier, with the exception of their final seasons. As explained above, this can happen when the storylines pair characters of different gender together. According to the . Why are youhere? The Bechdel Test, if youre not familiar with it, is a benchmark for movies developed by Alison Bechdel in 1985. CONTACT. Star Wars: The Last JediWhile Carrie Fisher has always been a strong female presence in the Star Wars series, The Last Jedi takes female interaction to a whole new level. 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. Cue epic action sequences, horrendously troublesome gameplay tactics, and even a little bit of romance. Lauren OCallaghan. The Bechdel test ( / bkdl / BEK-dl) [1] is a measure of the representation of women in film (and, by extension, in fiction in general). Needless to say, a lot of superhero movies fail the test. Enter search term: Or, you can show the list for one or more years: 6) Encanto. About something other than a man. Creators, writers, and stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle portray versions of themselves in the year 2000. To search the database, enter a search term below. The test is named for Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, who made it known to the world with this strip. Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley. How to use Bechdel Test in a sentence. Her struggle with alcohol comes to a head and it was powerful to see how her friends supported her without enabling her. Doesn't Lara need any friends? Paramount Pictures This test, put forth by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a comic strip from 1985, posits . By role, women accounted for 17% of writers (even with 17% in 2020), 26% of executive producers (up from 21% in 2020), 32% of producers (up from 30% in 2020), 22% of editors (even with 22% in 2020), and 6% of cinematographers (even with 6% in 2020).. The Wire had a lesbian couple, but they werent a focus. Rise Together is key to creating greater opportunity by providing you with the support, knowledge, and community to break through barriers. And its been surprisingly challenging for movies and TV shows to pass this basic test. Aaron Sorkin, the films writer, actually commented on the lack of three-dimensional female characters in an interview with Stephen Colbert, saying that the women are prizes. News images provided by Press Association Like Harry Potter, there are a few brief moments where female characters say a single line at each other, but they dont actually hold a conversationexcept in one scene, where Neytiri and her mother have a drawn out discussion. But it goes much further than this, with Katniss having a variety of conversations with other women, ranging from her mother and Rue, to the delightfully colourful Effie Trinket, and only once does a romance get mentioned in one conversation between Katniss and Rue. Lers kick things off with a choice that surely wont disappoint. All rights reserved. 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. Id think similar reasoning would apply to the Sopranos, the Wire, The Shield, etc. In a film about violence and mafiosos, Karen ( Lorraine Bracco) and Rosie ( Illeana Douglas) manage to squeeze in a Bechdel Test pass with a conversation about Florida. The Bechdel Test (BT), which checks for a rudimentary level of female-centricity in media, has elsewhere been covered thoroughly for movies, with a crowd-sourced manual approach, but not, to my knowledge, for television, except at a high level or in very selected cases. So real. This may feel a bit more like a soap opera than a drama, but it absolutely passes the test! Marvel Studios. Kristine Kochanski was a major character in seasons 7 and 8, but Holly had changed back to a male appearance by that point so I dont think Kochanski ever spoke to the female-looking version of Holly. 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. Im not completely certain, but possibly the original Star Trek? Stay tuned by signing up for our newsletter! Nope. The movie: The all-singing, all-dancing movie adaptation of the stage musical Chicago (opens in new tab) sees Rene Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere sing their hearts out as two female jazz stars/murderesses and the amoral lawyer trying to get them off. policy. TL;DR: Some episodes do, some d. Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for user created content, posts, comments, The film follows three different possible outcomes for her actions and explores her relationships and interactions with the people and the world aroundher. The titular named Lara is the only named female in this movie. The Wheel of TimeIn a rare turn of events, we have one of two fantasy series on the list! Of course, people watch movies for the simple pleasure that the story brings. services and Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc 79 titles 1. The Bechdel Test is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. All the Charlize Theron. This special show gives us hope, makes us feel good, and reminds us that aging doesnt have to be awful (despite all those anti-aging ads). Theres glitter, spandex, and a lot of fighting. 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. The Bechdel Test is a simple test to see if a work of fiction passes the feminist [] 6 'The Social Network'. The Bechdel test is too incomplete to be effective. Despite all the bitchy girl-on-girl crime that goes on though, at its heart this film is about female friendships and how complicated they can be. Most of the cast is female. Some of the most popular films of all time fail The Bechdel Test, and often for reasons you may have never considered. I have compiled my ten movies and tv shows that have crushed the Bechdel test. In 2020, the archive shows that 78 films passed the Bechdel Test out of 329 films released in the U.S. and Canada. There must be two female characters in the scene. 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. Youll fall in love with these badass Black women who justget it. 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. Despite having an array of fierce and funny female characters, the last movie of the Harry Potter installments disappointingly doesn't feature a single conversation between the women. 6. Heres an excerpt on research conducted on film and gender in 2021: After reaching historic highs in 2020, the percentages of women directing top grossing films declined in 2021. While there are two female characters, Snow White and the Evil Queen, the latter is not given a name in the film. The show takes place in the beautiful town of Monterey, California, and follows three moms: Madeline, Celeste, and Jane. TV Show Recaps; TV Reviews; TV Lists; TV News & Trailers; TV Features; The L Word; The L Word: Generation Q; . Yes, please. Whether related to law, business, or politics, Diane, Lucca, Marissa, and Liz in particular had stunning moments of grace, confidence, and jaw dropping cool that we simply loved watching. Toy Story is such a beloved film to so many, but it unfortunately doesn't pass the test. 101 Dalmatians (rated G): The original 1961 animated version squeaks . note Additionally. 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. This Canadian-made comedy about friends navigating motherhood will have you laughing out loud. Here's 10 from the past 25 year that may surprise you. Alex and Bradley, newly brought together co-anchors for The Morning Show, have a complicated relationship. 95 percent of the characters are female, and they communicate with each other constantly throughout the series about non-male-centric topics. Anything, even if its something stereotypically feminine, like shopping or shoes. To pass the Bechdel test, a work of fiction must fulfil the above criteria at least once. We all play a part in creating a more equitable and just workplace and world. InsecureThe real love between Issa and Molly gives us all the feels like all of them. 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. 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. YAS! The movie: In this particular post-apocalyptic world, children are sent to battle to the death on TV. men. Seinfeld has only one female character in its main cast, so was bound to do badly in this test; however, it does pass step 1 in almost 90% of episodes. You can obtain a copy of the The three female mathematicians in the 1960s (played masterfully by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae) rarely talk about a man, focusing instead on their goals, their work, and the obstacles that they overcome every step of the way. I cant remember a landing party with more than one female. Each step was calculated by scene and aggregated to episode level. She later also attributed the idea to her friend Liz Wallace and to Virginia Woolfs writings. Zoe Delahunty-Light. A hobbit gets caught up in a huge war when he has to take a magic ring right to the bad guys front door. In 1985, American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. We love this list and think many of them go farther than just passing the Bechdel test. Failing the test doesnt mean the movies evil or anti-woman, or that passing makes it some sort of strongly feminist movie. The dramedy follows Issa, her best friend Molly, and their other girlfriends as they navigate life in Los Angeles. Mrs. Maisel is about a woman who is getting a divorce from her husband who cheated on her and finds her voice as a comic in the 1950s/60s and to be clear, she is definitely seen as a female comic. Sounds simple, right? I dont think its really within the spirit of the test to count a brief conversation in a single episode of a TV series that ran for years as a pass. In order to pass, a film must feature at least two women on screen talking to each other about. So, what is the Bechdel Test? Seems simple enough, right? TV shows tend to run far longer than movies and thus, most of them end up passing the Bechdel Test. But while the entertainment industry still has a lot of work to do, there seems to be a positive shift happening when it comes to female-led shows. 91 Metascore. American supervillain. EEEP! Why? Issa Rae embodies all of these qualities in her character, Issa. This evil stepmother figure in Disneys 1998 remake is finally receiving the appreciation she always deserved. Never saw it, but Im to understand its woman centric. Ghostbusters (The one with all the women)We loved the 2016 Ghostbusters. del test/n. (Episode III does still fail, though. 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. City Lights (1931) G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance 8.5 Rate 99 Metascore 3. for more than one minute of screen time. Theyre flawed, complicated, and sometimes make horrible decisions. This test is otherwise known as the Bechdel/Wallace test or the Bechdel Rule or Mo Movie Measure and is marked as a measure of gender depiction in the films. The Bechdel Test is a metric used for measuring how women are represented in a given film. The Bechdel test was designed by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in 1985. TH3 RUNDOWN. The data Im using are the same as introduced in this previous post: episodes transcripts for most episodes of seven major sitcoms from the last 30 years. Honestly, if you dont know this, then I hope that 35-year coma was really peaceful andlovely. Mary Berry Cooks / Headline Publishing Group At this point in time, the SGO team is fully remote, and we are located across the United States. New Line Cinema. The women of this show are complex and the show does a wonderful job of passing the Bechdel test, focusing on their friendships, their careers, their kids. (Episodes with scene breaks not properly detected are excluded from the step 1 calculation; this applies to all The Office episodes, so no step 1 point is drawn.). She quips that the last film she was able to go see was Alien in 1979. The test has three criteria: 1. the movie must have at least two female characters, 2. who talk to each other about something other than a man, and. Most are finally passing the Bechdel test, aka a test that analyzes a scene where two or more women talk about anything else other than men. But times are changing and there are a handful of incredible examples of ladies crushing mainstream media. So if you want to watch a TV show that passes the Bechdel test and shows the full picture of what it means to be a woman, try turning on one of these TV shows about female friendship below. Having acquired hundreds of sitcom episode transcripts, I can apply the test programmatically to each episode of these sitcoms, to compare the shows and track changes over the course of their runs. Paramount Pictures. You were so very close, JamesCameron. Euphoria doesnt shy away from topics that would never have been included in a teen show ten years ago. 5. Her best friend and coworkers are there for her, even at her lowest. Well, surprisingly hard to manage it seems, with up to 50% of films failing the test. 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. 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. Sadness, joy, frustration, bittersweetness. Movies that fail the Bechdel test tend to have higher IMDB ratings. Wikipedia says that Ms. Bechdel prefers the name "Bechdel-Wallace test". In 10 hours, not one interaction? Lauren OCallaghan. Star Trek: DiscoveryThe latest addition to the Star Trek universe is soooo goooooood. Have we missed anything? As well as showing that they kicked ass at the lab at the same time. It gets uncomfortable at times, but their stellar performances keep us glued.