The rules now known as the Bechdel test first appeared in 1985 in Alison Bechdel's comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For.
In a strip titled The Rule, two women, who resemble the future characters Mo and Ginger, discuss seeing a film and one woman explains that she only goes to a movie if it satisfies the following requirements:
[1] The movie has to have at least two women
[2] who talk to each other,
[3] about something other than a man.
Data: fivethirtyeight.com
Desgin: Fe Simeoni
–
This dataset is based
mostly on American
and European movies.
☟
Click the buttons
and hover the bubbles.
Data: fivethirtyeight.com
Desgin: Fe Simeoni
–
This dataset is based
mostly on American
and European movies
The graph shows the percentages of movies that passed the Bechdel Test, sorted by genre. The pool of data is made by a screen analysis of more than 1,400 movies, mostly produced by Western companies, from 2010 to 2014.
Genres traditionally regarded as feminine, such as family movies or romantic movies, score best. This confirms the stereotype that war or sport do not suit a woman.
☟
Hover name of the genre
and discover the passing rate.
Data: bechdeltest.com
Desgin: Fe Simeoni
–
The dataset is based
mostly on American
and European movies
Data: fivethirtyeight
Desgin: Kiko Chen
-
Dataset based on the top
50 Holywood movies of
2016
Bechdel test certainly has its limitations, it's only looking at one aspect of the gender issue. What could be the tests that's beyond Bechdel? Here are 11 other tests created by FiveThirtyEight — Some addressed representation behind the camera. Others zeroed in on the problems faced by women of color. Still others concentrated on characterization and story — how women are represented on screen.
A movie passes if:
The on-set crew is 50 percent women
A movie passes if:
Every department has two or more women
A movie passes if:
Half of the department heads are women Half the members of each department are women And half the crew members are women
A movie passes if:
There’s a non-white, female-identifying person in the film Who speaks in five or more scenes And speaks English
A movie passes if:
Half of one-scene roles go to women And the first crowd scene features at least 50 percent women
A movie passes if:
The supporting cast is 50 percent women
A movie passes if:
2 points for a female writer or director
1 point for a female composer or director of photography
1 point for three female producers or three female department heads
1 point for a crew that’s 50 percent women
2 points if there’s a female protagonist who determines story outcomes
A movie fails if:
A primary female character ends up dead
A primary female character ends up pregnant
Or a primary female character causes a plot problem for a male protagonist
A movie passes if:
The film has a Latina lead
And the lead or another Latina character is shown as professional or college educated, speaks in unaccented English, and is not sexualizedz
A movie fails if:
A lead female character is introduced as one of three common stereotypes in her first scene: as sexualized; as hardened, expressionless or soulless; or as a matriarch (tired, older or overworked)
A movie passes if:
There’s a female character who is a protagonist or antagonist with her own story
The female lead has dimension and exists authentically with needs and desires that she pursues through dramatic action
And the audience can empathize with or understand the female lead’s desires and actions
A movie passes if:
The on-set crew is 50 percent women
Data: fivethirtyeight
Desgin: Kiko Chen
-
Dataset based on the top
50 Holywood movies of
2016
Color
● The movie passed Bechdel test
● The movie failed Bechdel
Size
If a movie pass one test, we give it one score.
⌾ total score of the tests the movie passed
☟ Hover to see the film names.
Movies that passed Bechdel test were not doing great in all the tests. There is no strong correlation between them — we definitely need more varieties of tests for movie industry.
Data: fivethirtyeight
Desgin: Kiko Chen
-
Dataset based on the top
50 Holywood movies of
2016
Diving deeper inside the 12 tests, We grouped the topics that have been addressed into biggers themes, indicated by different colors Then mapped them out in this network.
Gender issue has the biggest weight among all themes, but there is certainly much more to be addressed.