Tag: bechdel test

I was going to quit making movie lists this month, but I keep them for myself on paper anyway. As long as I post other things too, I don’t mind them being on here.

Movies that passed the Bechdel Test

• Star Trek (Barely. One chat between roommates.)
• Away We Go (Lots of varied conversations. This movie was… fine.)

Movies that failed

• The Neverending Story (Does someone have a movie test where two guys cry about each others’ feelings in a movie? This would pass that.)
• The Hit
• Wrath of Khan (Makes a perfect double feature with the new Star Trek.)

Titles in bold are things I’m especially glad I watched.

Movies that passed the Bechdel Test

1. Beyond the Mat (WWF wrestler Chyna goes shopping with her friend. That barely counts but I’m partial to weird shopping scenes.)
2. The Celebration (Lots of little chats.)
3. Pan’s Labyrinth (Again, lots of conversations.)
4. Terminator (A few small chats.)
5. Terminator 3 (Feminine Terminator steals a woman’s stuff… Can I put only the car chase in bold?)
6. Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters (The Doctor’s sidekick tries to enlighten a woman who is stuck in a timeloop.)
7. The Pee Wee Herman Show (Miss Yvonne and Hermit Hattie talk about make up.)
8. Big Top Pee Wee (This one is probably for fans only.)

Movies that failed.

1. A Scanner Darkly (My rational mind rates this movie as only medium-good, but some other part of me has a lot of affection for it. The sad ending. The perfect Philip K. Dick moment when Keanu is told to put himself under extra surveillance. It has a purity.)
2. Jean Claude Van Damme
3. Bloodsport (Probably would not have been fun without watching JCVD.)
4. The Godfather
5. The Godfather Part 2
6. Terminator 2
7. Terminator 4
8. The Dark Knight (I’m fascinated that I find this movie so satisfying and so fascist at the same time.)

Bold means I’m glad I watched it.

This month’s lists are evidence that my neighbours Casey and Jessica are fond of renting entire series of Hollywood movies. I have also watched with them: all the Die Hard movies, all the Rambo movies, Alien and Predator in preparation for Alien vs. Predator, and probably more.

The fact that I go along for these action movie marathons could probably go in the same category as the facts that I only like to watch sports when international championships are broadcast at 4 in the morning, and that if I don’t see the midnight premier of questionable superhero movies I probably will never watch them. Bland content is a good foil for intense viewing contexts.

Movies I watched that passed the Bechdel Test

1. Comic Book Confidential (Lynda Barry reads a comic where girls complain about home ec class)
2. Death at a Funeral (small talk between stereotypical women)
3. My Winnipeg (mother-daughter conversations)

Movies that failed.

1. Milk
2. The Watchmen (Lori and her mom only talk about men, that I noticed)
3. The Corporation (mostly monologues)
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Encounters at the End of the World (mostly monologues)

Movies I’m especially glad I watched are in bold. Well, movie. Comic Book Confidential was ok, and maybe would have been exciting if more of it was new to me. Encounters at the End of the World was fine, but didn’t blow my mind. My Winnipeg had moments, but not enough.

Movies I watched that passed the Bechdel Test

1. Smiley’s People (talking about hospitals, gardening)
2. Careful (talking about dirt, scrubbing)
3. What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (most of the movie)

Movies that fail.

1. Driving With My Wife’s Lover
2. Careful with commentary (Guy Maddin commentary is still ecstatic and life-affirming)

Movies I’m especially glad I watched are in bold.

I noticed there is a website compiling Bechdel ratings for movies. Anyone can add to it. I am surprised how many reactions I have to the existence of this unassuming website.

• How did I not notice it when I started posting these lists?
• Now that I have found a big list of movies that pass and fail, I don’t think it will be that useful to me. I really only use the test to measure my own movie watching, not to choose movies. I didn’t realize.
• The same but different: my first thought was that I should stop posting my little lists here but, upon reflection, these lists are more about me than the movies and I still want them for now.

Movies I watched that passed the Bechdel Test

1. Brand Upon The Brain! (women talk about detective jobs, making out, orphan abuse, table manners…)
2. Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (talking about labour solidarity, each other, vicious racist gossip)
3. Standard Operating Procedure (borderline… this is mostly monologue and includes some letters from one woman to another)
4. Les Diaboliques (borderline again… women talk about each other and their plans, but it is related to a man)

Movies that failed.

1. I’m Not There
2. The Wrestler
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Movies I’m glad I watched are in bold. I wish I could put Brand Upon The Brain! and Ali: Fear Eats The Soul in ultra black.

These days, I’m making it a point to watch movies that inspire or support me rather than only entertain me, and the numbers are already up both for gender inclusion and for personal enjoyment. Despite feeling self-conscious about the flaky sound of this project, I recommend it.

A lot of people blog about the Bechdel Test for movies (a film passes if two women talk to each other about something other than a man), but I’ve had a hard time finding lists of movies that pass or fail.

I watch movies that fail, but last year I kept track to be aware of the basic gender decency of my media consumption. (I count lots of things. I am surprised how far away from gender equity I get if I don’t make a conscious effort to read women authors and listen to music by women. This is also a stirring game with race, sexuality, languages…) Since I had a list, I thought I’d post it online.

Titles in bold are films I’m glad I watched.

1. Made In Secret (women talk about porn, collective process, film projects)
2. Right At Your Door (women talk on the phone about a bioterrorist attack, their feelings)
3. No Country For Old Men (women talk briefly about how they annoy each other)
4. Aliens (talking about the monsters, feelings, whatnot)
5. Eagle vs. Shark (women talk about family and business, if I recall.)
6. Qallunaat! (women joke about colonial literature, white culture)
7. Malcolm X (just barely… women talk about race and poverty in a conversation about a man)
8. Paris is Burning (trans women talk about voguing, their bodies)
9. The Golden Compass (talking about adventures)
10. Short Circuit (talking about pets)
11. The Big Lebowski (barely… we see Maude’s side of a phone conversation about art with her friend Sandra, who we don’t hear and never meet.)
12. Labyrinth (talking about curfew, making a junk heap)
13. Chicago (talking about careers, fame, each other)
14. Notting Hill (dinner conversation about themselves)
15. Heat (talking very briefly about finding barrettes)
16. Dostana (talking about careers… but I disqualify this movie for raging homophobia.)
17. Lord of the Rings with commentary (the women writer-directors talk about women actors and crew, production choices)
18. Hannah and her Sisters (talking about sisters)
19. Eastern Promises (I’m pretty sure women talk about a baby girl)
20. Dangerous Liasons (women talk about other women, sex)
21. Knocked Up (women talk about careers, abortion, their bodies)
22. Half Nelson (mother-daughter chatting)
23. Gone Baby Gone (I’m pretty sure women talk about a missing girl)

I watched 83 movies in 2008 and less than a third had women talking to each other. In 2009 I should keep track of women directors and really shock myself.