The Bechdel Test: a measure of the representation of women in fiction.
Criteria: 1) two (named) women characters must 2) talk to each other about 3) something other than men.
Popular movies that fail the Bechdel Test:
1. The (ENTIRE) Lord of the Rings trilogy
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Avatar
4. The Social Network
5. The Avengers
6. The Imitation Game
7. Harry Potter (specifically the 1st and 3rd)
So, to recap: in some of the most popular movies of all time there isn't one single moment in the entire film where two female characters talk about something that is not a man.
Now, I'm the first to admit that the Bechdel Test might have some flaws; it's probably a more accurate test of representation to count how many women characters have meaningful character arcs but sometimes I think about how screenwriters spend literal years writing scripts with "real", 3-dimensional characters only to FAIL what should such a basic test. And then I think about how some people still have the audacity to suggest that sexism doesn't exist...
One of my favorite movies of all time is The Social Network, which is about Mark Zuckerberg's explosive success after inventing Facebook (notice, it fails the Bechdel Test). The movie opens with Mark's girlfriend breaking up with him (a scene everyone should watch, so I linked it at the bottom). Instead of reacting like a mature adult, he decides to get drunk with his roommates and make an website to rate girls on the Harvard campus (with the creative name: Hot or Not).
Yup.
And, the website gets so many views that it crashes within half an hour.
Yup.
And Zuckerberg uses this as inspiration to create Facebook, the app that has made him a multi-billionaire.
Yup.
And it's not just Zuck; in the meantime, Sean Parker, the founder of Napster, speaks to every girl he meets in a condescending, holier-than-thou way, and the Finals Clubs that these Harvard boys are killing themselves to get into are basically strip clubs with alcohol for underage college students (a great combination, that leads to nothing but consensual sex, right?).
All this to say that whether or not we realize it, sexism propels this plot. There just aren't enough female characters in this movie to make it a film about sexism perse, but the men's dripping disdain for women makes itself felt nonetheless. The script writer, Aaron Sorkin, actually agrees with me -- he once said, "Yes, the Social Network is sexist. It's supposed to be". Because, after all, the film is supposed to mirror real life.
And that, in my humble opinion, is the saddest part.
I like how you include popular movies that fail the Bechdel test to support your claim. It is a simple test that sadly many of our favorite movies fail. As you mentioned before, the Bechdel test doesn’t measure how well written a female character is, but it is a tool directors should use to ensure that there is good representation for women in movies.
ReplyDeleteWow I really liked that you included a list of the movies as an example because it's a great way to support the lack of depth that the characters were written with in extremely popular movies. I agree with your point about sexism and the way it's presented in the most obvious ways, and you did a great job of providing commentary on each movie.
ReplyDeleteHey Deepti!
ReplyDeleteI loved the exampled you included in your blog! I watched "The Social Network" and never really related Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend to the Bechdel Test. Women are always on the topic of men in many movies - which is enraging, personally. They are portrayed to not have a life other than one revolving around men. Clearly, Hollywood and other "woods" need to fix that aspect about their productions because women aren't trophies - and neither are they malleable metal.
I love Alison Bechdel!! Her memoirs are fun to read!
ReplyDelete