Bechdel Test Movie List

/bech·del test/ n.
1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

[[3]] Barbarella (1968) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by Ian on 2011-03-31 23:44:59.

Reviews

Comments

Ian said:
It comes down to whether one considers "The Great Tyrant" a legit name or just a job title. She makes several sexual advances towards Barbarella. ("You're very pretty, Pretty-Pretty.")

Barbarella also runs into the twins Stomoxys and Glossina, but no real conversation takes place. The first time they meet Barbarella tries asking them about their planet and they ignore her. The second time they meet the twins beg her to come play which Barbarella ignores.
Message posted on 2011-03-31 23:44:59
Cassie said:
Even if you don't count 'The Great Tyrant' or 'The Black Queen' as being a named character, Stomoxys and Glossina talk to each other about Barbarella, it's just not in a language we understand.
Message posted on 2011-04-03 07:35:01
Diana I-C said:
Barbarella and The Great Tyrant actually have several conversations not including men: the one you mentioned; another brief discussion when she discovers who The Great Tyrant is, about how she likes to to the city and pretend to be one of her subjects; and finally at the end of the movie, when Barbarella finds The Great Tyrant in her dream chamber they argue about reality, and The Great Tyrant accuses Barbarella of making the Mathmos sick and causing it to vomit her up due to her goodness.
ALSO, the test doesn't actually require that the women all have proper names.
Message posted on 2011-04-04 23:30:29
martin said:
ok, I get that the name rule serves a purpose so only important characters count but should it be followed so blindly? a character dosen't have to have a stated first name to be a legitimate character, se for example The Bride in Kill Bill vol 1 (later named in KB2). There are plenty of characters, even male, who play major parts in movies and litterature that are nameless, like the Man in Black in Lost and The Stranger in High Plains Drifter (both major and important characters). And there's a big difference between a charactername like "The Great Tyrant" and a charactername like "woman in crowd #3". I see why it's important that the character has a uniqe characterspecific name, but why does it nesesarily have to be her given first name? To me The Great Tyrant/The Black Queen is a good enough name. I would say that this movie passes the test completly.
Message posted on 2011-07-11 18:50:54
Sky said:
As said above, the title is name like, as opposed to what we tend to mean by unnammed characters. She uses it as a name, and its sci-fi, its quite possible that is suppose to be a name. There's no indication otherwise. She clearly had issues, and it wouldn't suprise me if she decided that was her official name, not just title.
Message posted on 2011-07-26 02:47:38
Claire said:
Barbarella and The Great Tyrant do indeed have several exchanges that aren't about men. I'd say it passes easily.
Message posted on 2013-03-05 21:02:05
JK said:
Like the other commenters say, Barbarella and The Great Tyrant definitely share exchanges that aren't about men. The movie has all sorts of issues, but it passes.
Message posted on 2014-08-12 18:51:48
neil (webmaster) said:
I've updated the rating from 1/3 to 3/3.
Message posted on 2014-08-13 10:18:07
shorty said:
As with many other films that technically pass The Test, its still pretty sexist and not a great example of progressive feminism. The women are mostly objects and even the hero is kind of a ditz. At the time it was considered progressive because there were women owning and embracing their sexuality, but later on it just looked cheap and sleazy. Same deal with Playboy magazine. In the 60's: Progressive. In the 70's: Exploitive.
Message posted on 2022-03-03 14:28:58

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