Bechdel Test

‘How did it happen that four such smart women have nothing to talk about but boyfriends?’ -Miranda Hobbes, Sex and the City

After finishing my essays last week I found myself in front of my laptop searching for ‘good films to watch’, naturally being the top priority over trying to get an internship or any other productive things. As many of you know finding the right film to watch can be a tricky task depending on a variety of factors and because I’d just been writing rather depressing essays about exploitation and abuse of women (cheery, I know!) I wanted to watch something with a bit of girl power minus any chick flicks, I mean we’ve seen them all about 5 times right?! Scrolling through imdb’s top 250 films I found myself looking at a list of films including; The Shawshank Redemption, many a Godfather, 12 Angry Men, Inception and one of my fave films Goodfellas. A good list of suggestions, I’ll give you that, but where were all the women in these classics?

Disappointed, I asked my flatmates what film I should watch and gave them my criteria to which they responded that I’d find it difficult to find such a film and haven’t I heard of the Bechdel Test? Let me, with the help of google, fill you in. In order to pass the Bechdel Test the film must:

- include at least two named female characters

-they must talk to one another

-if they talk it must be about something other than men

Well that must be easy for any film in 2014, right?! Well apparently not. Even the films that do pass only do so because the female characters talk about marriage or babies. Surely films that portray such a simplistic view of women must be those ones we see with 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes that no one really watches anyway. But to my surprise, 5 out of 9 of this year’s Best Picture Nominees at the Oscars fail the Bechdel Test including the winner Twelve Years a Slave- #notfeelingthis. While the men in these Oscar nominated films go around  defending their freedom, making millions and defeating Somalian pirates the women are either non-existent or stand around chatting about ‘boy troubles’ in the midst of such action. Do film makers really believe that even in epic tales that document slavery, wars and even alien invasions, the one thing on a woman’s mind is men!  I can’t believe this 1950’s view that women’s lives revolve around men still exists in some of the greatest films that are being made today what made me even angrier was that I hadn’t spotted it sooner.  Even though I’ve never had the pleasure of enduring it, I hear that even in the 100 hours of the whole Lord of the Rings Trilogy not two women speak to one another and the highest grossing film of all time, Avatar, can’t even manage a convo between two ladies that doesn’t revolve around men!

Saying that, does this criteria really affect my enjoyment of these films? After all these revelations about the film world my shock and appal didn’t stop my from watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding that night. I enjoyed it.