| 3s | In the 1980s, cartoonist Alison Bechdel |
| 7s | observed a frustrating trend in pop |
| 9s | culture. Most films only had a single |
| 11s | female character, and when there were |
| 13s | multiple women in a film, their |
| 15s | storylines almost always revolved around |
| 17s | |
| 17s | Just call him. Say, "Hello!" He's in my book |
| 20s | club. Why is there a woman in this |
| 22s | picture? It's his wife. This realisation |
| 24s | inspired her to create a comic called |
| 26s | The Rule. I only go to a movie if it |
| 29s | satisfies three basic requirements. One: |
| 32s | It has to have at least two women in it |
| 34s | who Two: talk to each other about Three: |
| 37s | something besides a man. These |
| 39s | requirements form the foundation of the |
| 41s | Bechdel test, which has become a tool |
| 43s | used to call attention to gender |
| 45s | inequality and pop culture. For example, |
| 47s | this scene fails the Bechdel test. |
| 49s | |
| 51s | |
| 53s | Hugh? He's a bit of a cad, actually. So my type, then? |
| 57s | While this scene passes it. |
| 59s | You have no style or sense of fashion. |
| 62s | Well I think that depends on what your- |
| 67s | No, no, that wasn't a question. Bechdel credits |
| 71s | the idea for the test to her friend Liz |
| 73s | Wallace, who was inspired by Virginia |
| 75s | Woolf's essay, A Room of One's Own. Wolff |
| 78s | writes, "All these relationships between |
| 80s | women... are too simple... and I tried to |
| 83s | remember any case in the course of my |
| 84s | reading where two women are represented |
| 86s | as friends. They are now and then mothers |
| 88s | and daughters. But almost without |
| 90s | exception they are shown in their |
| 92s | |
| 93s | Whatever we do, we always want to look |
| 95s | |
| 97s | I mean, why, imagine if our husbands |
| 99s | |
| 102s | urban sweat clothes with stringy hair |
| 104s | |
| 106s | Even though Woolf's essay is over 90 |
| 109s | years old, limited female representation |
| 111s | and pop culture persists today. A survey |
| 114s | of a hundred and twenty films by the |
| 116s | Geena Davis Institute on Gender in |
| 118s | Media revealed that only 31% of the named |
| 121s | characters were female and 23% of the |
| 124s | films had a female protagonist or |
| 125s | co-protagonist. Okay. I'm a lady, she's a |
| 129s | |
| 129s | you're a lady, we're the ladies. The |
| 132s | website bechdeltest.com is a |
| 134s | user-generated list of over 6500 films, |
| 137s | that catalogs which films pass the test, |
| 140s | with the added requirement that the |
| 142s | female characters must be named. And |
| 144s | while the requirements to pass |
| 146s | might seem simple, there are an enormous amount of |
| 149s | very successful films that fail. We're |
| 151s | ranking girls. You mean other students? Yeah. |
| 154s | As the Bechdel test gained popularity, it |
| 157s | also became the subject of intense |
| 158s | scrutiny because some people assume that |
| 161s | films that fail the test were |
| 162s | automatically considered bad. Bechdel |
| 165s | never intended for the test to be a way |
| 167s | to comment on the quality of a film, and |
| 169s | she admits that her favorite film |
| 171s | doesn't pass the test. I don't really |
| 173s | follow this scheme in my real life. |
| 176s | [Laughter] - What's your favorite movie? |
| 178s | - Groundhog Day. - Goundhog Day does not pass the Bechdel test? - It majorly, majorly fails. - It majorly fails. |
| 185s | Another important distinction to make is that the Bechdel |
| 187s | test is not a way to evaluate whether a |
| 189s | film is feminist. For example, the film |
| 192s | Gravity fails the Bechdel test, while |
| 194s | Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" music video |
| 196s | does pass the test. "Oh my God, Becky, look |
| 200s | |
| 202s | Andi Zeisler, co-founder of Bitch Media, |
| 204s | wrote of the test, "Bechdel and Wallace |
| 207s | expressed it as simply a way to point |
| 209s | out the rote, unthinkingly normative |
| 211s | plotlines of mainstream film... it was |
| 214s | never meant to be a measure of feminism, |
| 216s | but rather a cultural barometer." What |
| 219s | Zeisler means is that the Bechdel test |
| 221s | is most effective when applied on a |
| 223s | universal level. When hundreds of |
| 225s | successful films struggle to pass the |
| 227s | requirements, it's important to reflect |
| 229s | on how this impacts the way audiences |
| 231s | are conditioned to think about women. |
| 233s | Says NPR's Neda Ulaby about the |
| 236s | test, "It articulates something often |
| 238s | missing in popular culture, not the |
| 240s | number of women we see on screen, but the |
| 242s | depth of their stories, and the range of |
| 244s | their concerns." You're good at hiding |
| 246s | stuff, huh? My mom calls it compartmentalizing. |
| 250s | Apparently I do that a lot. |
| 252s | Bechdel's test has inspired others to |
| 254s | create their own tests based on race, |
| 257s | ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Other |
| 260s | tests being developed through |
| 261s | |
| 263s | look at the diversity of the crews |
| 264s | making up these projects. And hopefully |
| 267s | by continuing to give creative power to |
| 269s | women, audiences will be exposed to even |
| 271s | more complex, compelling, and relatable |
| 274s | stories of female friendship and |
| 275s | accomplishments. - Thank you for getting me |
| 277s | into the league, Dottie. - You got yourself in |
| 280s | the league. I got you on the train. In 2017, |
| 284s | the top three grossing films all passed |
| 286s | the Bechdel test with flying colors. So |
| 288s | even though gender inequality is still |
| 290s | prevalent, progress is being made and the |
| 293s | characters from Bechdel's original comic |
| 295s | would have more options at the box |
| 296s | office today than they did in 1985. |
