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the bechdel test (named after alison bechdel) is a test (shocking) that consists of three very simple criteria to assess gender bias and female presence in film . it can also be applied to books , television shows , and various other media ~
the criteria are :
1 - the film (or tv show , etc) must have at least two named female characters
(you'd be pretty surprised how many films fail the test on this first one)
2 - the two or more female characters must talk to each other
(this is where the majority of films fail. and there is some debate with various films about whether or not a one line exchange between two women means it can pass this step . i don't think it does...)
3 - the conversation between the female characters must be about something other than a man
(this one gets a lot of films that pass the first two )
if a film fails the test , that doesn't mean it's a bad movie , or an anti-feminist movie . just as films that pass are not automatically good , feminist movies . the "sex and the city" movies pass , for example , and the portrayal of women in those is pretty horrific .
the test shows the disproportionate number of male characters when compared to female , and how , in many films , the female characters only exist to further the plot for a male hero (he's usually white and usually straight).
some examples of films that do not pass the test :
the dark knight rises
district 9
the bourne films
transformers
ghostbusters
the big lebowski
the pirates of the caribbean films
fight club
the shawshank redemption
lord of the rings
braveheart
toy story
x men
tomb raider
home alone
up
and many more
it's kind of shocking , really ...
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