The Oscars and The Bechdel Test
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0:05 - 0:08It's been a few years since I’ve checked in with The Bechdel Test For Women in Movies
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0:08 - 0:11so I thought I’d be a good time to look in on Hollywood
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0:11 - 0:15and see if there's been any substantial improvement in women's representations on the big screen.
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0:15 - 0:20One way to do this is to apply the test to the films that have been nominated for best picture in the 2011 Academy Awards,
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0:20 - 0:26since the Oscars are widely regarded as the “best of the best” at least as determined by the industry itself.
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0:26 - 0:30But before I get to that, here’s a quick refresher on what the Bechdel Test is and how it works.
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0:30 - 0:34The Bechdel Test is a very basic gauge to measure women's relevance to a film's plot
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0:34 - 0:37and generally to assess female presence in Hollywood movies.
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0:37 - 0:42It was popularized by Allison Bechdel in her comic Dykes to Watch Out For back in 1985.
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0:42 - 0:46In order to pass the test a film just needs to fulfill these three, very simple, criteria:
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0:46 - 0:49A movie has to have at least two women in it who have names,
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0:49 - 0:51who talk to each other,
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0:51 - 0:53about something besides a man.
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0:53 - 0:54Pretty simple right?
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0:54 - 0:58I mean this is really the absolute lowest that we could possibly set the bar
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0:58 - 0:59for women’s meaningful presence in movies.
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0:59 - 1:01Let’s remember that this was made as a bit of a joke
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1:01 - 1:06to make fun of the fact that there are so few movies with significant female characters in them.
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1:06 - 1:08The reason the test has become so important in recent years
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1:08 - 1:13is because it actually does highlight a serious and ongoing problem within the entertainment industry.
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1:13 - 1:17So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Academy Award best picture nominees
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1:17 - 1:19for 2011 and see how they measure up to the Bechdel Test.
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1:19 - 1:21First up the Descendents.
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1:21 - 1:24It’s a story of a father pulling his family through a crisis.
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1:24 - 1:27The mother is basically fridged before the opening credits even finish rolling
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1:27 - 1:30to provide the catalyst for the father figure’s growth.
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1:30 - 1:34This film does pass the test because of a handful of brief interactions between female characters,
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1:34 - 1:38including between the two daughters, Alex and Scotty.
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1:38 - 1:43Moneyball is a story about an American League baseball team centered around their general manager Billy Beane.
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1:43 - 1:48It fails the test badly, not even having two female characters speak to each other at all.
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1:48 - 1:51Even so it’s a surprisingly funny and captivating movie.
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1:51 - 1:54Tree of Life is a more experimental film about a boy and his family.
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1:54 - 1:58It fails the test because the only brief scene where two women talk,
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1:58 - 2:01the conversation is about the death of the family's son.
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2:01 - 2:03While it's true there's very little dialogue in the film as a whole,
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2:03 - 2:06the father and the son do speak to each other on multiple occasions.
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2:06 - 2:11Hugo is a whimsical film about an orphan boy trying to solve a mystery left by his father.
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2:11 - 2:14And while there are two named female characters who speak to each other,
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2:14 - 2:17their conversation is always in relationship to a man
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2:17 - 2:21except this one 5 second interaction that some might argue constitutes a pass.
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2:21 - 2:26Isabelle: You were an actress? A real cinema actress, it’s impossibly romantic mama.
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2:26 - 2:31Mama: It wasn’t like that, we weren’t movie stars like they have today.
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2:31 - 2:35If while at the theater you drop your box of junior mints, and by the time you pick em up
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2:35 - 2:38you’ve missed the one scene in the whole film where women actually talk to each other,
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2:38 - 2:40there’s something clearly wrong.
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2:40 - 2:43Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close also fails the test.
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2:43 - 2:48It follows the story of a boy dealing with the trauma of losing his father on 9/11.
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2:48 - 2:51Two women never talk to each other about anything other than the boy.
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2:51 - 2:56In classic Woody Allan style, Midnight in Paris is about a man struggling to discover himself
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2:56 - 2:58and while there’s a handful of women in the picture,
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2:58 - 3:02they never really discuss anything other than men and men's influence on their lives.
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3:02 - 3:06Some critics have argued that this brief scene between Inez and her mother constitutes a pass.
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3:06 - 3:10Helen: Come look at these Inez. Wouldn’t these be charming in a Malibu beach house?
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3:10 - 3:12Inez: oh
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3:12 - 3:13Helen: Combien monsieur?
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3:13 - 3:14Shop Owner: dix-huit mille
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3:14 - 3:16Helen : Merci
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3:16 - 3:17Inez : What is that ?
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3:17 - 3:18Helen: They’re a steal at 18,000 dollars.
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3:18 - 3:21Gil: 18,000 dollars for this!?
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3:21 - 3:22Helen: Oh wait it’s euros…
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3:22 - 3:26But as you’ll notice Owen Wilson’s character and the shop keeper are also involved in the interaction.
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3:26 - 3:28So I’d say it fails.
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3:28 - 3:31But I'll come back to this one line question later in the video
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3:31 - 3:33What’s even more embarrassing about this film
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3:33 - 3:37is that one of the most important historical figures that Gil interacts with is Gertrude Stein.
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3:37 - 3:39For those of you who aren’t familiar with her,
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3:39 - 3:43Stein is one of the most famous writers and lesbians in American history,
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3:43 - 3:48and Woody Allan has the nerve to not have her speak to another female character in the entire film.
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3:48 - 3:50War Horse is a story about a boy and his horse.
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3:50 - 3:52It fails.
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3:52 - 3:53So moving on.
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3:53 - 3:57The Help is a woman centered story with a large female cast,
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3:57 - 3:59there’s no doubt that this film passes the test.
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3:59 - 4:03While the film is deeply problematic when it comes to portraying issues of racism in America,
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4:03 - 4:08both Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer give incredible and moving performances.
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4:08 - 4:11Finally, we have the The Artist, which it’s true, is a silent film.
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4:11 - 4:16So you might be asking how we can apply the Bechdel Test to a film without any spoken dialogue?
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4:16 - 4:21Well in classic Silent movie style characters do communicate with each other
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4:21 - 4:22via title cards,
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4:22 - 4:23mouthing words,
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4:23 - 4:27facial expressions, physical gestures and pantomime.
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4:27 - 4:31So for this one I’ll accept any non-verbal communication between two women
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4:31 - 4:34that has any significance to the plot that’s not about a man.
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4:34 - 4:37And amazingly… it still fails.
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4:37 - 4:42It looks like out of the 9 best picture nominees in 2011 only 2 clearly pass the bechdel test,
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4:42 - 4:44while 2 others are questionable about one line.
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4:44 - 4:48And notably only one film nominated is female centered.
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4:48 - 4:50Coming back to Hugo and Midnight in Paris,
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4:50 - 4:55unfortunately, discussions and debates surrounding the Bechdel test often descend into quibbling over whether
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4:55 - 5:00one brief and questionable exchange makes a movie pass the test or not.
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5:00 - 5:03It’s not really necessary to get bogged down in the minutia
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5:03 - 5:05of whether one 10 second scene constitutes “talking to each other”.
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5:05 - 5:08If there’s really that much of a debate about this point,
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5:08 - 5:12then it’s a pretty good indicator that there’s a problem with women’s representation in the movie.
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5:12 - 5:14So, in the spirit of the Bechdel test,
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5:14 - 5:17I'd like to respectfully propose adding a small addendum:
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5:17 - 5:19A film has to have two named women who speak to each other
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5:19 - 5:23for longer than 60 seconds about something besides a man.
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5:23 - 5:25This new 60 second rule would help to clarify the test
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5:25 - 5:29and resolve some of the quibbles over one or two lines
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5:29 - 5:32and if two women do speak to each other for more then 60 seconds
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5:32 - 5:36there’s a slightly better chance that the dialogue will have some relevance to the plot,
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5:36 - 5:37maybe.
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5:37 - 5:43I mean, its only 1 minute out of a 90 or 120 minute film that we’re talking about here, it’s still a really low bar.
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5:43 - 5:47Passing films still wouldn’t necessarily have substantial female roles
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5:47 - 5:51it would make it harder for a movie to squeak by on a technicality.
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5:51 - 5:54For example if we look at the Best Picture nominees from 2010,
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5:54 - 5:576 out of the 10 nominees might arguably get by
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5:57 - 6:01but if we apply the new 60 second rule we find that half of them wouldn’t make the cut at all.
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6:01 - 6:07The three 2010 films that DO pass the test with women who speak to each other for more then 60 seconds
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6:07 - 6:11about something other then a man are all actually female centered films.
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6:11 - 6:14And if you haven’t seen Winter’s Bone yet, put it at the top of your list.
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6:14 - 6:17In addition to being beautifully shot and well acted,
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6:17 - 6:22I highly recommend it for its complex portrayal of gender and poverty in rural America.
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6:22 - 6:25Interestingly, even though True Grit is a female centered story,
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6:25 - 6:29following the adventures of Mattie Ross struggling to get by in a man’s world,
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6:29 - 6:32when we apply the 60 second rule the film doesn’t pass.
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6:32 - 6:37In fact the only exchange she has with any other woman is with Mrs. Floyd the innkeeper
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6:37 - 6:40and those incidental interactions total less than a minute.
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6:40 - 6:44This style of film where the female lead inhabits an almost entirely male world,
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6:44 - 6:48brings to mind the Smurfette Principle which I’ve discussed in my Tropes vs Women video series.
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6:48 - 6:52Again, to be clear this test does not gauge the quality of a film,
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6:52 - 6:57it doesn’t determine whether a film is feminist or not, and it doesn’t even determine whether a film is woman centered.
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6:57 - 6:59Some pretty awful movies including ones that have
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6:59 - 7:04stereotypical and/or sexist representations of women might pass the test with flying colours
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7:04 - 7:07Where really well made films that I would highly recommend might not.
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7:07 - 7:12The Bechdel test is best when used as a tool to evaluate Hollywood as an institution,
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7:12 - 7:16it can be applied to pretty much any grouping of mainstream movies
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7:16 - 7:21such as the Golden Globes nominees or the top grossing films of any given year, all with similar results.
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7:21 - 7:25The test helps us identify the lack of relevant and meaningful female roles
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7:25 - 7:28as a larger pattern in the film industry as a whole.
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7:28 - 7:32The problem isn’t restricted to any individual movie, director or genre.
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7:32 - 7:36Every once and awhile we get a film like Bridesmaids
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7:36 - 7:40that depict women and women’s relationships with one another in a more genuine and less "chick flicky way”
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7:40 - 7:45but this happens about as often as women are nominated for best director by the Academy.
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7:45 - 7:49In response to the Bechdel Test, I’m often asked, well, what about the reverse?
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7:49 - 7:53“Why isn’t there also a test to determine if two men talk to each other about something other then a woman”.
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7:53 - 7:56The answer to that is simple, the test is meant to indicate a problem,
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7:56 - 8:00and there isn’t a problem with a lack of men interacting with one another.
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8:00 - 8:04The Bechdel test is useful because it can point out an institutional pattern
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8:04 - 8:08and since there’s no problem with men and men’s stories being underrepresented in films,
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8:08 - 8:12the reverse test is not useless or relevant.
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8:12 - 8:14Women aren’t the only ones marginalized in Hollywood movies,
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8:14 - 8:17so one variation on the Bechdel Test that is actually useful
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8:17 - 8:21is applying the test to the development and presence of characters of colour.
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8:21 - 8:26Alaya Dawn Johnson adapted the test to ask if a movie has two or more people of colour in it,
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8:26 - 8:29who talk to each other about something other than a white person.
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8:29 - 8:32The percentage of films that pass the modified test is extremely small,
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8:32 - 8:36even a movie like the Help which stars multiple named women of colour in prominent roles,
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8:36 - 8:42passes by the narrowest of margins because characters are almost always talking to or about white people.
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8:42 - 8:47This variation of the test exposes the fact that Hollywood still basically refuses
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8:47 - 8:51to make movies for a general audience that focuses on the lives of people of colour,
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8:51 - 8:54unless it also stars a sympathetic white character.
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8:54 - 8:56As Martha Southgate pointed out,
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8:56 - 9:01“Implicit in The Help and a number of other popular works that deal with the civil rights era
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9:01 - 9:07is the notion that a white character is somehow crucial or even necessary to this particular tale of black liberation.”
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9:07 - 9:10So with that in mind, and as I saw on George Takei’s facebook page,
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9:10 - 9:15this may be a slightly more appropriate title for the movie.
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9:15 - 9:21So while it might be comforting to think that the number of important female roles in Hollywood films are slowly growing,
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9:21 - 9:23the truth is they’re really not.
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9:23 - 9:29Men are still primarily the studio executives, the writers, the directors and the major decision makers in the industry
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9:29 - 9:32and they tell stories that they can relate to.
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9:32 - 9:36Not surprisingly this results in most movies focusing on men and men's stories.
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9:36 - 9:41So while it might make sense that one specific film like Moneyball is male dominated and male centered
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9:41 - 9:45and they wouldn’t or couldn’t incorporate women as major characters,
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9:45 - 9:50the problem is that the vast majority of movies made in Hollywood are also male centered and male dominated.
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9:50 - 9:53It’s depressingly clear that Hollywood doesn’t prioritize roles for women
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9:53 - 9:55and isn’t interested in telling women’s stories.
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9:55 - 10:01The real solution here is for filmmakers and screen writers to focus more movies on women and women’s lives,
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10:01 - 10:03that’s how we really solve this problem.
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10:03 - 10:07There are literally thousands of compelling, important and courageous
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10:07 - 10:10women’s stories just waiting to be told on the big screen.
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10:10 - 10:13When there are as many stories that center on women, as there are on men,
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10:13 - 10:16then there won’t be as much use for the Bechdel Test anymore,
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10:16 - 10:19but sadly it seems, that’s still a long ways away.
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10:19 - 10:25Feminist Frequency videos are always advertisement free, so I need your help to keep going.
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10:25 - 10:29Please visit feministfrequency.com/donate
- Title:
- The Oscars and The Bechdel Test
- Description:
-
It's been a few years since I've checked in with The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies so I thought it would be a good time to look in on Hollywood and see if there's been any substantial improvement in women's representations on the big screen. In this updated video, I go through the 2011 films nominated for Best Picture at the 84th annual Academy Awards and see how they measure up to the Bechdel Test. Keep watching because I also propose a small addendum to help clarify the spirit of the test and provide a solution on how Hollywood can fix the glaring problem that the Bechdel Test exposes. I'll also address the question, "What about the reverse test?" and I'll show an alternative test that has been adapted by critics to identify the presence of people of colour in films. Sprinkled throughout this video I offer a few movie recommendations.
Watch my original Bechdel Test for Women in Movies video: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2009/12/the-bechdel-test-for-women-in-movies
For more information, links and a full transcript visit http://www.feministfrequency.com
To donate visit: http://www.feministfrequency.com/donate
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Feminist Frequency
- Duration:
- 10:30
Emma Luna edited English subtitles for The Oscars and The Bechdel Test | ||
Emma Luna edited English subtitles for The Oscars and The Bechdel Test | ||
Emma Luna edited English subtitles for The Oscars and The Bechdel Test | ||
Emma Luna added a translation |