Men’s Rightser on the Bechdel Test: “Why do Women need to talk to each other ? I don’t get it.”

“Sweden’s new rating system”

It’s not. It is some initiative from some private theaters, which seem to be of more arthouse style. Doubtful we will see this system in mainstream cinemas.

“The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” wouldn’t pass the reverse Bechdel test if I remember correctlu, due to a complete lack of male characters.

Ooh, actually, Volver wouldn’t pass it either, I think. There are only two male characters, and one ends up [SPOILER SPOILER] so isn’t in it for long, while the other is a minor character who’s gone very quickly. Of course, that’s because the movie is about [SPOILER SPOILER], so…

Damn, it’s annoying not being able to talk about a great movie because doing so would spoil the whole thing!

I don’t get it. This is no skin off anybody’s ass. Why would anyone care about….oh yeah, apparently women are boring. And only talk about babies and kittens. Which are totally boring and unimportant topics that only boring and unimportant women would want to talk about. And to have two women characters talk to each other (!) about something other than a man would be boring and unimportant cause who wants to listen to women? And putting some kind of rating on a movie indicating if that movie does have women characters talking about something other than a man? Bad idea.

What I don’t get is why this isn’t as common of a phenomenon in TV anymore (still happens. Even in some of my favorite shows, still fucking is a thing) but is still incredibly common in movies. Obviously two women talking about babies and cats does not a feminist film make, but still, I mean, there IS media out there to prove that the rest of the story won’t implode if you let two women talk about something other than a man.

Okay, here’s what I found, David, using my awesome Google and YouTube searchin’ skillz:

“Wedding Crashers:” didn’t have anything to do with an actual kitty, “Call me Kitty Cat!”

“Drag Me To Hell:” has the main character killing a cat (don’t wanna link that video.)

“The Ugly Truth:” has some great misandry goin’ on (how dare she objectify that guy like that!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUQgSxqzfts

“Puss in Boots:” …I don’t think I hafta explain.

“Half Nelson:” search came up a bust for this one. :/

“A Sunshine Cleaning:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3haDuAXAIM

“Dante’s Peak:” Extremely brief scene with a girl holding a kitten. Blink and you miss it. http://youtu.be/zWkNT5A3wIk?t=2m34s

sparky – Don’t you know? Two women not talking about a man is MISANDRY!

It’s amazing how guys who might be totally reasonable under other circumstances will adamantly deny the whole premise of the Bechdel test. I’ve had God knows how many conversations about how women want to watch movies about men and movies where the only thing women talk about is men, because women like gossip and boys and stuff.

Random, but thinking back I can only remember two occasions on which I’ve ever had conflict with a female friend over a guy (and it was the same friend both times, and the two guys knew each other – same social circle), when we were in high school. Other than that, nothing. I have a few female friends who tend to be attracted to the same kind of guys, so we talk about how got X and Y are together, but as far as conflict, nope.

Skyal | November 7, 2013 at 3:18 pm

He does, kind of, have a point. A movie with a strong female character, even a lead character, who doesn’t talk to another woman, wouldn’t pass, while movies with 2 minor, but named, female characters who have one line of dialogue unrelated to men would, even if that’s their only lines. Personally, I think the Bechdel test combined with the Mako Mori test would be a better standard. If it passes one, gets a C, A for both, F for neither

Eh, mine would be:
Three-part test: Bechdel, Moko, and “PoC Bechdel”
F: Passes None
D: Passes One
C: Passes Two
B: Passes Three
A: Requires passing the essay portion of the test, in which it’s actually possible to write about the film’s actively progressive themes. If the movie passes this test, it may be an A even without passing one or more of the above.

The thing about the Bechdel Test is that you’re not actually measuring women’s conversations in the movie. It’s more like a sneaky way of examining women’s roles in the movie; i.e. are they important characters involved with the events of the story in their own right, or are they just adjuncts to the men? Notice that the test never says male characters can’t be part of the conversation between two or more women. It also doesn’t say a man can’t in any way be the subject of the conversation…just that it also has to be about something other than a man. So in my book, if two female cops sit down with their male chief and discuss their progress on capturing a male criminal, that passes the Bechdel. They’re talking about a man, but they’re also talking about their work at one and the same time. They’re talking to a man, but the conversation could hardly proceed without both women present. If this conversation takes place in a movie, it’s a pretty sure bet the movie is about the two cops trying to catch the criminal. Even if the cops otherwise spend most of the movie split up gathering evidence on their own, the one conversation proves it’s about them.

To be fair, I did have an “argument” with my sister on Facebook last night about kitties. Specifically, about whether my kitten or her grumpy old man cat were better. I won, but she refused to concede defeat.

(Seriously, Pan lets me pick him up under his forelegs and spin him around, and then cuddles with me after. How is that not great?)