So some Swedish movie theaters have decided to institute a new rating system to let viewers know whether or not the films they show pass the Bechdel Test — that is, if at any point in the film two female characters have a conversation about something other than a man.
Over in the Men’s Rights subreddit, a fella with the classy handle classypedobear takes strong exception to this terrible affront to human decency. His argument?
Wait. WHAT IS WRONG WITH TALKING ABOUT KITTENS?
Thanks, AgainstMensRights subreddit!
On a related note, I just watched a midnight showing of “Thor: The Dark World.” And it PASSED the Bechdel Test! 😀
I’m thrilled beyond words because most (if not all) Super Hero movies fail it, so I just love the fact that this one passed. *happy*nerd*dance*
Can I recommend “The Bletchley Circle”, a 3-episode TV crime drama? I’m pretty certain it fails the reverse Bechdel test. Ok, it also fails completely on the PoC and tends to be heteronormative (although I thought there was sexual tension between two of women characters) but the principle characters are all women and the men are very much supporting roles. There are pretty gruesome murders so TW for violence against women but it is glorious to see a story about a group of four completely different women. They are so well written.
To my joy, ITV are making a second series to be broadcast next year.
I should perhaps mention that there are no kittens in The Bletchley Circle, though.
That comment about Bechdel and LIFE is just… mind-blowing. Is there anyone who’s life doesn’t pass? Who’s never ever heard two women talk about something other than a man? Or, if the person is a woman, who’s never talked to another woman about something other than a man? Perhaps some dude in an incredibly gender-segregated society (like taliban-controlled Afghanistan) has a life that fails Bechdel, but otherwise…
I’ve lived in Saudi and even there most men have mothers, and sisters, and cousins, maybe wives, or daughters, and all of those people do tend to talk to each other.
Maybe this guy is so awful that every time he walks into a room all the women in it go silent.
@titianblue: To my joy, ITV are making a second series to be broadcast next year.
Oh my God, that would be fantastic! I loved the Bletchley Circle! It was like a breath of fresh air to see truely well-written smart women on TV.
@CassandraSays: I’ve lived in Saudi and even there most men have mothers, and sisters, and cousins, maybe wives, or daughters, and all of those people do tend to talk to each other.
I actually saw a Saudi movie this summer, Wadjda, which passed the Bechdel test with flying colors. I really enjoyed it (and it even had an incredibly creepy *female* villain).
It’s worth seeing then? No sign of it in the cinemas here but I’m sure it will make it to Netflix eventually.
@girlscientist Series 2 is four episodes with 2 storylines. *does little dance of joy*
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-05-08/the-bletchley-circle-series-2-confirmed
Is there any variant of the Bechdel test out there, where the movie doesn’t end with the lead female getting paired off romantically and living Happily Ever After? Sometimes it seems like Hollywood can’t imagine any other satisyfing conclusion to a female character’s arc.
I think part of pedobear’s paranoia about women talking to each other is that they might end up comparing notes on PUA/MRA fuckery and become more resistant to gaslighting, abuse and boundary testing. Can’t have that!
I started watching the Bletchley Circle, because it had such good reviews. I liked the idea, and the only thing I wondered about was how easily they seemed to get cooperation (or just being listened to) from the police – it didn’t seem likely. But it was the creepy violence that turned me off after the first episode. Violence against women, particularly sexualised violence, is not something I can watch, these days, however well done the program is.
@titianblue: *squee*
Uh… yeah. How could anyone’s life not pass the Bechdel test? How insular are these people’s lives? Even in school, my life passed the Bechdel test.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! <3
I loved that show! I mean, I found quite a lot of it disturbing, but it was very well done… plus Anna Maxwell Martin was in it, and I've become a fan of her in the past few years.
…Catwoman?
(I finally watched that recently… not sure why it’s been so widely panned, it could’ve been better but it really wasn’t as awful as it’s been made out to be.)
@Kitteh, I understand about the violence – it was disturbing. Hoping that the second series will be without it, especially given the plot hints that they’ve revealed. You’ll be pleased to know, in the interests of realism, that the police only listen the once, in that first series.
@buttercup, Damn, I know I read or watched something recently, which would have passed your test and my migraine-ridden brain is refusing to cooperate. Argue, it’s like having that pre-sneeze sting in my mind, because I should know, it’s nearly there and I just can’t remember. Will let you know when I do. *totters off to swallow more painkillers*
Ok, this wasn’t it but the Resident Evil franchise pass @Buttercup’s test ….
Gothika — the lead women get happy endings, but no men involved.
So my beloved and were talking and I joked that my life can’t pass the Bechdel test (being a guy and all), and she agreed, and then I said, “wait, it has. I have been in rooms where women have been talking about non-men and I didn’t interject”.
So yes, these guys are dumber than a box o’ rocks.
This probably sounds silly but honestly this is so hurtful and upsetting to me. It feels really gross to know that there are a not-insignificant number of men out there who refuse to see women as people living rich, full lives. It’s like they think we disappear the moment they stop interacting with us. That’s how little we matter.
And, like, “rapiertwit” leaves this revealing comment about what will happen to film if studios start pushing to pass the Bechdel test:
It’s like are entirely incapable of imagining that women could actually influence the narrative. That maybe the hero and the villain could be women. I… argh.
Random OT musing inspired by the mention of Bechdel:
I just bought a DTWOF album that contains selection of strips from the last (and best) years before the hiatus, finally translated into Finnish. Haven’t read it yet, but I greatly enjoyed the English versions of same strips, and at quick glance the translation seems brilliant. BTW, reading American progressive blogs has helped me a long way to understand the political and cultural references.
There’s so much cunning linguistic (ahem) play that the translation is going to be an interesting work of art by itself. I fear I’ll have many moments of “Argh I would have done that one better” and “Argh why didn’t that one occur to me?”. As an aside, I remember one book title spoof that kinda works as Manboobz inside joke: “Short Book Of Penguin Women’s Sex Stories” (presumably from “Penguin Book Of Women’s Short Sex Stories”)
Another aside: The Finnish equivalent of “dyke” (in queer slang sense, not slur sense) is lepakko (bat), just because it sounds vaguely like lesbo (lesbian). Then, I just recently learned there’s an obscure American comic book hero named Batwoman, who’s indeed gay…
@Buttercup: I think you can find various examples of action movies that don’t end with the heroine pairing up with someone. The alien movies, Terminator one and two, and lately Gravity (which I just saw in the theater and it was a real nail biter! Strongly recommend!).
Although I guess Gravity is more drama than action.
Gotta love that opening statement. Hey, MRAs! I think that ‘what you’re trying to achieve is noble’, but apart from that, your entire movement is a pile of horseshit. Make sense?
I love Die Hard, which technically passes because for 10 seconds Holly talks to whatshername. The thing is that the Die Hard franchise has 3/5 movies with a strong female character/lead (Holly Genarro and Lucy Genarro) and those are the best ones. These women look the terrorists (reporters) in the eye and come out the other side while John just blows shit up. In 3 and 5 they lack the leading female (ok and 2 was a little contrived), and the movies do not have those amazing confrontations. They are lacking, and people tend to see this without understanding *why*. It is the lack of a strong female in a position of power over the terrorists when she should be overpowered. Same thing in Passenger 57 (which passes the Bechdel, the Black Bechdel, and has amazing women, including a female terrorist), for all that idf a woman has a strong lead she is *always* going to be romantically involved with someone by the end, if not throughout. These movies are better for having believable and real representations of women. And DH4 (which failed the Bechdel) was the BEST EVER, Lucy is *not* her father’s daughter, she is her mother’s daughter.
In the first Terminator, Sarah gets pregnant because she paired off.