The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test

Why is my equality so threatening?

This week my eyes were opened to the surprising lack of depth to female characters in cinema. I found that many of my favorite movies did not make the cut. I would like to dive a little deeper into what the heck is happening in Hollywood but first, let’s start with what the Bechdel Test is.

The Bechdel Test was developed in 1985 by Alison Bechdel. There are a few basic rules to pass this test: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man (and when it comes to movies, the conversation should last more than 60 seconds).

Basically, the point is to represent women as the multidimensional figures they are in real life instead of the one dimensional figures you typically see represented in popular film. The Bechdel Test does not demand a movie is turned into a radical feminist piece. Typically, we see women in movies are reduced to objects for the advancement of the male protagonist. The Bechdel Test challenges the assumption that women cannot be strong female leads without the movie being a “chick-flick.”

 A favorite movie of mine that did not pass the cut is Napoleon Dynamite. While Summer, Deb, Trisha, and Lafawnduh are named, the only time we really see two named female characters speak to each other is when Summer and Trisha do so briefly and we do not hear their conversation. There is also a point when we see Summer speak to some other girls about getting her hair done but they are not named, nor do they verbally respond. I realized just how little female interaction there is in this movie when I searched for either clip mentioned above and could not find it online, further showing its insignificance to the movie as a whole.

A movie I just saw that did pass the cut is Seth Rogan's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. I was happily surprised to find the movie to have feminist values without being off-putting to those who do not directly support the feminist movement. The plot revolves around three college girls who want to start their own sorority where they can throw their own parties, instead of taking part in the sexist fraternity parties. Even when the main character Shelby loses her virginity, her sorority celebrates her instead of talking about who she lost it to.

 

 

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising outrightly challenges the patriarchy, rape culture, and micro-aggressions women face everyday. We see the feministic values in the way this sorority, Kappa Nu, engages in behavior typically socially considered less ladylike (like consistently getting high for the fun of it). We also see a battle of the wits in this film. Women are portrayed as intelligent instead of the ditzy quality you typically find when girls are in the movies because of their physical attractiveness. 
 

I will admit, however, there is a scene I do not fully support as a feminist. The sorority girls are hanging out with each other in the front yard, in their bikinis, attempting to "use their sexuality as a weapon" against their neighbors who are attempting to get them kicked out of their house so they can sell their own. As Mac tries to leave his home the sorority girls proceed to take the majority of his clothes off by the time he reaches the inside of his car. They then surround his car to which his wife responds by using a hose. This does not work however as seen in the trailer from 1:58-2:10. This movie is definitely not perfect but is certainly better than other movies where the women are second-class citizens to the men and the storyline.

I guess the main question I have comes down to this:

How can we continue what Seth Rogan has started and create more movies which are enjoyable for the majority of the audience to watch but does not need to fulfill the damsel in distress stereotype?

            An article I read entitled, “Swedish cinemas take aim at gender bias with Bechdel test rating,” showed that Sweden has already started to take initiative towards gender equality. In their film reviews they state whether or not the particular movie passes the Bechdel Test. I think America is more than capable of participating in similar measures. Instead of going to http://bechdeltest.com/ to see if a movie you are interested in has been reviewed and passed the cut, which would require you to know what the Bechdel Test is in the first place, how about we make this information more available to consumers. If America followed Sweden’s lead, many people would become more mindful of such underrepresentation, which could lead to the demand for more movies like Seth Rogan’s Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising film in which men are not always the ones who are plagued with creating the happily ever after’s for the women.

            I found an article entitled “A Seth Rogen Movie Is Somehow the Wokest, Most Feminist Movie of the year so far” and I appreciated two main things about the content: how it explains how the second movie makes up for the shortcomings of the first (the first Neighbors movie does not pass the Bechdel Test) and at the end when it states Seth Rogan is adapting to critiques instead of complaining that he is being attacked by those who expect comedy to still uphold some politically correctness instead of using the genre as a scapegoat.

I really appreciate how instead of the girls having guys save them in the end of the movie they realize that their power is found in their bonds with each other. Their sisterhood is challenged when they realize they do not have enough money to keep renting their house but the woman next door, which has been in conflict with them the entire movie, stops the breakdown of their friendship by relating to them that their house is not Kappa Nu, they are. We see in the end that because of this close friendship they have created, more people want to join Kappa Nu, and they are able to keep their bonds, as well as their house.

On my quest to discover how other countries are when it comes to gender equality, I found a great website called http://seejane.org/, where I found the following statistics.  

Shocking statistics aren't they? Well, there's more:

Some key accomplishments of seejane.org mentioned on their website are:

• They pioneered and amassed the largest body of research on gender prevalence in family entertainment covering over 25 years.
• 68% of entertainment industry executives familiar with the Institute’s research changed 2 or more projects. Changes included |aspirations/occupations of female characters, their dialogue, story development or an increase in female characters.
• They influenced change in major feature films including Pixar’s Monster’s University, Sony’s Hotel Transylvania, and upcoming film The Little Prince. &
• Geena Davis founded and co-chairs the Bentonville Film Festival – the only film festival championing women and diversity and guaranteeing theatrical, TV and home entertainment distribution for winners.  

If people not involved in gender studies also took in the true value of these statistics, I think great change could be made in the advancement of the portrayal of women. But how will we ever know if the results of these studies stay oppressed like modern day cinema has been oppressing an entire gender for decades?

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