A Little More on the Bechdel Test

Since one of Bechdel’s major legacies is the Bechdel Test, I decided to shed a little more light on it in this Weekly Roundup.

The rules were discussed in class and in a previous post, but to recap: at least two women/who talk to each other/about something other than a man. At first glance I thought this was kind of silly, but upon further examination it’s actually a well thought out rule that would disqualify a lot of movies, but certainly not all. The Bechdel Test has a strong presence on the internet, and a quick google search turns up many interesting blogs and even a video that scrolls through just how many movies fail the Test.

The Test also raises some interesting questions, such as: how would the Sex and the City movies fare? Clearly there are more than two women, and while they do talk to each other it is often about men, but not all the time. Add to that the fact that the women in the movies are often materialistic and (in my opinion) petty. On the other hand, many women loved the TV show and the movies. It would be interesting to hear Bechdel’s verdict on this and other similar movies.

Personally, I’m not about to stop watching a movie because it doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test, but I’m hardly the target audience for it.