To Pass the Bechdel Test

Back in the 80’s, a lesbian woman named Alison Bechdel started a series of comics that would last until 2008. In a 1985 issue she had two characters talking about going out to see a movie. One says in frustration that she only wants to watch one if it has 1) at least two female characters, 2) who talk to each other, 3) about something other than a man. This, of course, is what led to what we now know to be “The Bechdel Test.” As I stated in the previous post, an enormous majority of movies in the last 100 years do not pass this test. So here is a quick walk-through the past century of movies that made the grade, even if just barely:

20’s

The Most Famous: (1929)The Most Surprising: None (too little known titles to choose from)

30’s

The Most Famous: Charlie Chaplin’s (1931)The Most Surprising: (1935)

40’s

The Most Famous: (1946)The Most Surprising: (1948)

50’s

The Most Famous: (1952)The Most Surprising: (1959)Other Notables: (1950); (1954); (1956)

60’s

The Most Famous: (1960)The Most Surprising: (1967)Other Notables: (1961); (1962); (1965)

70’s

The Most Famous: (1975)The Most Surprising: (1977)Other Notables: (1973); (1975); (1978); (1978); (1979); (1979)

80’s

The Most Famous: <TIE> (1982) and (1988)Most Surprising: (1982)Other Notables: (1984); (1984); (1985); (1985)

90’s

The Most Famous: <TIE> (1997) and (1993)The Most Surprising: (1990)Other Notables: (1991); (1993); (1994); (1995); (1999); (1999)

00’s

The Most Famous: (2007)The Most Surprising: (2004)Other Notables: (2001); (2003-04); (2003); (2004)

10’s

The Most Famous: (2019)The Most Surprising: (2015)Other Notables: (2010) [The 1969 version also passes the test.]; (2013); (2015); (2016); (2018); (2019)

NOTES ON THE TEST:

• There are two genres that seem to be good at passing: animated and horror.

• From the prequels and up, movies do well at passing.

• The earliest movie to pass the test is from 1899. It would take 11 years for another to come along, (1910)

• I left out a lot of big movies, but they were ones where it was either obvious or close to obvious that it would pass the test. I was often surprised at some of the titles that passed, only to find out that so many of them just manage to squeak by for merely one scene that barely crosses the line.

• The most famous movie I left out was (1981). It is listed as passing the test on bechdeltest.com, but it’s very arguable, especially in a movie that is pretty much one female character amoungst a large group of male characters.

• If one were to say of movies today, “They keep making movies with either an all female cast or at least a lot of them. It feels forced,” then this statement could only make sense if one were to add, “Back in the day, they kept making movies with either an all male cast or at least a lot of them. Maybe that was forced.”

Congratulations . This is your week.

Best Actress:

Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia in

Best Actor: Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss in

Best Quote: “I know you. You know you. And I know you know that I know you.” – Ben Stiller as White Goodman in

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend, and my mother said in her vote comment that she loves a good underdog story. So here are my top 10 favourite underdog movies:

1. Rudy (1993)

2. Miracle (2004)

3. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

4. The Karate Kid (1984)

5. Wall-E (2008)

6. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

7. Dumbo (1941)

8. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

9. Jerry Maguire (1997)

10. Rocky (1976)