The Oscars and The Bechdel Test
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Not SyncedIt's been a few years since I’ve checked in with The Bechdel Test For Women in Movies
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Not Syncedso I thought I’d be a good time to look in on Hollywood
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Not Syncedand see if there's been any substantial improvement in women's representations on the big screen.
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Not SyncedOne 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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Not Syncedsince the Oscars are widely regarded as the “best of the best” at least as determined by the industry itself.
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Not SyncedBut before I get to that, here’s a quick refresher on what the Bechdel Test is and how it works.
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Not SyncedThe Bechdel Test is a very basic gauge to measure women's relevance to a film's plot
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Not Syncedand generally to assess female presence in Hollywood movies.
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Not SyncedIt was popularized by Allison Bechdel in her comic Dykes to Watch Out For back in 1985.
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Not SyncedIn order to pass the test a film just needs to fulfill these three, very simple, criteria:
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Not SyncedA movie has to have at least two women in it who have names,
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Not Syncedwho talk to each other,
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Not Syncedabout something besides a man.
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Not SyncedPretty simple right?
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Not SyncedI mean this is really the absolute lowest that we could possibly set the bar
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Not Syncedfor women’s meaningful presence in movies.
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Not SyncedLet’s remember that this was made as a bit of a joke
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Not Syncedto make fun of the fact that there are so few movies with significant female characters in them.
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Not SyncedThe reason the test has become so important in recent years
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Not Syncedis because it actually does highlight a serious and ongoing problem within the entertainment industry.
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Not SyncedSo with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Academy Award best picture nominees
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Not Syncedfor 2011 and see how they measure up to the Bechdel Test.
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Not SyncedFirst up the Descendents.
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Not SyncedIt’s a story of a father pulling his family through a crisis.
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Not SyncedThe mother is basically fridged before the opening credits even finish rolling
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Not Syncedto provide the catalyst for the father figure’s growth.
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Not SyncedThis film does pass the test because of a handful of brief interactions between female characters,
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Not Syncedincluding between the two daughters, Alex and Scotty.
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Not SyncedMoneyball is a story about an American League baseball team centered around their general manager Billy Beane.
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Not SyncedIt fails the test badly, not even having two female characters speak to each other at all.
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Not SyncedEven so it’s a surprisingly funny and captivating movie.
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Not SyncedTree of Life is a more experimental film about a boy and his family.
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Not SyncedIt fails the test because the only brief scene where two women talk,
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Not Syncedthe conversation is about the death of the family's son.
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Not SyncedWhile it's true there's very little dialogue in the film as a whole,
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Not Syncedthe father and the son do speak to each other on multiple occasions.
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Not SyncedHugo is a whimsical film about an orphan boy trying to solve a mystery left by his father.
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Not SyncedAnd while there are two named female characters who speak to each other,
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Not Syncedtheir conversation is always in relationship to a man
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Not Syncedexcept this one 5 second interaction that some might argue constitutes a pass.
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Not SyncedIsabelle: You were an actress? A real cinema actress, it’s impossibly romantic mama.
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Not SyncedMama: It wasn’t like that, we weren’t movie stars like they have today.
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Not SyncedIf while at the theater you drop your box of junior mints, and by the time you pick em up
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Not Syncedyou’ve missed the one scene in the whole film where women actually talk to each other,
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Not Syncedthere’s something clearly wrong.
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Not SyncedExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close also fails the test.
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Not SyncedIt follows the story of a boy dealing with the trauma of losing his father on 9/11.
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Not SyncedTwo women never talk to each other about anything other than the boy.
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Not SyncedIn classic Woody Allan style, Midnight in Paris is about a man struggling to discover himself
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Not Syncedand while there’s a handful of women in the picture,
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Not Syncedthey
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Not SyncedSome critics have argued that this brief scene between Inez and her mother constitutes a pass.
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Not SyncedHelen: Come look at these Inez. Wouldn’t these be charming in a Malibu beach house?
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Not SyncedInez: oh
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Not SyncedHelen: Combien monsieur?
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Not SyncedShop Owner: dix-huit mille
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Not SyncedHelen : Merci
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Not SyncedInez : What is that ?
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Not SyncedHelen: They’re a steal at 18,000 dollars.
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Not SyncedGil: 18,000 dollars for this!?
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Not SyncedHelen: Oh wait it’s euros…
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Not SyncedBut as you’ll notice Owen Wilson’s character and the shop keeper are also involved in the interaction.
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Not SyncedSo I’d say it fails.
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Not SyncedBut I'll come back to this one line question later in the video
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Not SyncedWhat’s even more embarrassing about this film
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Not Syncedis that one of the most important historical figures that Gil interacts with is Gertrude Stein.
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Not SyncedFor those of you who aren’t familiar with her,
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Not SyncedStein is one of the most famous writers and lesbians in American history,
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Not Syncedand Woody Allan has the nerve to not have her speak to another female character in the entire film.
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Not SyncedWar Horse is a story about a boy and his horse.
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Not SyncedIt fails.
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Not SyncedSo moving on.
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Not SyncedThe Help is a woman centered story with a large female cast,
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Not Syncedthere’s no doubt that this film passes the test.
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Not SyncedWhile the film is deeply problematic when it comes to portraying issues of racism in America,
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Not Syncedboth Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer give incredible and moving performances.
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Not SyncedFinally, we have the The Artist, which it’s true, is a silent film.
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Not SyncedSo you might be asking how we can apply the Bechdel Test to a film without any spoken dialogue?
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Not SyncedWell in classic Silent movie style characters do communicate with each other
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Not Syncedvia title cards,
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Not Syncedmouthing words,
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Not Syncedfacial expressions, physical gestures and pantomime.
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Not SyncedSo for this one I’ll accept any non-verbal communication between two women
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Not Syncedthat has any significance to the plot that’s not about a man.
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Not SyncedAnd amazingly… it still fails.
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Not SyncedIt looks like out of the 9 best picture nominees in 2011 only 2 clearly pass the bechdel test,
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Not Syncedwhile 2 others are questionable about one line.
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Not SyncedAnd notably only one film nominated is female centered.
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Not SyncedComing back to Hugo and Midnight in Paris,
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Not Syncedunfortunately, discussions and debates surrounding the Bechdel test often descend into quibbling over whether
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Not Syncedone brief and questionable exchange makes a movie pass the test or not
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Not SyncedIt’s not really necessary to get bogged down in the minutia
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Not Syncedof whether one 10 second scene constitutes “talking to each other”.
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Not SyncedIf there’s really that much of a debate about this point,
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Not Syncedthen it’s a pretty good indicator that there’s a problem with women’s representation in the movie.
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Not SyncedSo, in the spirit of the Bechdel test,
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Not Syncedlike to respectfully propose adding a small addendum:
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Not SyncedA film has to have two named women who speak to each other
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Not Syncedfor longer than 60 seconds about something besides a man.
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Not SyncedThis new 60 second rule would help to clarify the test
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Not Syncedtest and resolve some of the quibbles over one or two lines
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Not Syncedand if two women do speak to each other for more then 60 seconds
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Not Syncedthere’s a slightly better chance that the dialogue will have some relevance to the plot,
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Not Syncedmaybe.
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Not SyncedI 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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Not SyncedPassing films still wouldn’t necessarily have substantial female roles
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Not Syncedit would make it harder for a movie to squeak by on a technicality.
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Not SyncedFor example if we look at the Best Picture nominees from 2010,
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Not Synced6 out of the 10 nominees might arguably get by
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Not Syncedbut 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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Not SyncedThe three 2010 films that DO pass the test with women who speak to each other for more then 60 seconds
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Not Syncedabout something other then a man are all actually female centered films.
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Not SyncedAnd if you haven’t seen Winter’s Bone yet, put it at the top of your list.
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Not SyncedIn addition to being a beautifully shot and well acted film,
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Not SyncedI highly recommend it for its complex presentation of gender and poverty in rural America.
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Not SyncedInterestingly, even though True Grit is a female centered story,
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Not Syncedfollowing the adventures of Mattie Ross struggling to get by in a man’s world,
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Not Syncedwhen we apply the 60 second rule the film doesn’t pass.
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Not SyncedIn fact the only exchange she has with any other woman is with Mrs. Floyd the innkeeper
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Not Syncedand those incidental interactions total less than a minute.
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Not SyncedThis style of film where the female lead inhabits an almost entirely male world,
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Not Syncedbrings to mind the Smurfette Principle which I’ve discussed in my Tropes vs Women video series.
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Not SyncedAgain, to be clear this test does not gauge the quality of a film,
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Not Syncedit 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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Not SyncedSome pretty awful movies including ones that have
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Not Syncedstereotypical and/or sexist representations of women might pass the test with flying colours
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Not SyncedWhere really well made films that I would highly recommend might not.
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Not SyncedThe Bechdel test is best when used as a tool to evaluate Hollywood as an institution,
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Not Syncedit can be applied to pretty much any grouping of mainstream movies
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Not Syncedsuch as the Golden Globes nominees or the top grossing films of any given year, all with similar results.
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Not SyncedThe test helps us identify the lack of relevant and meaningful female roles
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Not Syncedroles as a larger pattern in the film industry as a whole.
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Not SyncedThe problem isn’t restricted to any individual movie, director or genre.
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Not SyncedEvery once and awhile we get a film like Bridesmaids
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Not Syncedthat depict women and women’s relationships with one another in a more genuine and less "chick flicky way”
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Not Syncedbut this happens about as often as women are nominated for best director by the Academy.
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Not SyncedIn response to the Bechdel Test, I’m often asked, well, what about the reverse?
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Not Synced“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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Not SyncedThe answer to that is simple, the test is meant to indicate a problem,
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Not Syncedand there isn’t a problem with a lack of men interacting with one another.
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Not SyncedThe Bechdel test is useful because it can point out an institutional pattern
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Not Syncedand since there’s no problem with men and men’s stories being underrepresented in films,
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Not Syncedthe reverse test is not useful or relevant.
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Not SyncedWomen aren’t the only ones marginalized in Hollywood movies,
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Not Syncedso one variation on the Bechdel Test that is actually useful
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Not Syncedis applying the test to the development and presence of characters of colour.
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Not SyncedAlaya Dawn Johnson adapted the test to ask if a movie has two or more people of colour in it,
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Not Syncedtalk to each other about something other than a white person.
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Not SyncedThe percentage of films that pass the modified test is extremely small,
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Not Syncedeven a movie like the Help which stars multiple named women of colour in prominent roles,
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Not Syncedpasses by the narrowest of margins because characters are almost always talking to or about white people.
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Not SyncedThis variation of the test exposes the fact that Hollywood still basically refuses
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Not Syncedto make movies for a general audience that focuses on the lives of people of colour,
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Not Syncedunless it also stars a sympathetic white character.
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Not SyncedAs Martha Southgate pointed out,
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Not Synced“Implicit in The Help and a number of other popular works that deal with the civil rights era
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Not Syncedis the notion that a white character is somehow crucial or even necessary to this particular tale of black liberation.”
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Not SyncedSo with that in mind, and as I saw on George Takei’s facebook page,
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Not Syncedthis may be a slightly more appropriate title for the movie.
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Not SyncedSo while it might be comforting to think that the number of important female roles in Hollywood films are slowly growing,
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Not Syncedthe truth is they’re really not.
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Not SyncedMen are still primarily the studio executives, the writers, the directors and the major decision makers in the industry
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Not Syncedand they tell stories that they can relate to.
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Not SyncedNot surprisingly this results in most movies focusing on men and men's stories.
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Not SyncedSo while it might make sense that one specific film like Moneyball is male dominated and male centered
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Not Syncedand they wouldn’t or couldn’t incorporate women as major characters,
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Not Syncedthe problem is that the vast majority of movies made in Hollywood are also male centered and male dominated.
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Not SyncedIt’s depressingly clear that Hollywood doesn’t prioritize roles for women
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Not Syncedand isn’t interested in telling women’s stories.
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Not SyncedThe real solution here is for filmmakers and screen writers to focus more movies on women and women’s lives,
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Not Syncedthat’s how we really solve this problem.
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Not SyncedThere are literally thousands of compelling, important and courageous
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Not Syncedwomen’s stories just waiting to be told on the big screen.
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Not SyncedWhen there are as many stories that center on women, as there are on men,
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Not Syncedthen there won’t be as much use for the Bechdel Test anymore,
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Not Syncedbut sadly it seems, that’s still a long ways away.
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Not SyncedFeminist Frequency videos are always advertisement free, so I need your help to keep going.
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Not SyncedPlease visit feministfrequency.com/donate
- Title:
- The Oscars and The Bechdel Test
- Description:
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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 |