Bechdel Test Movie List

Maya has a few conversations with Jessica during this movie.They are mostly about capturing Osama bin Laden, who is a man; but they also discuss strategy and politics.

The film maker is obviously aware the test exists, and uses the point where the feminine conversations happen to make a point about feminist theory. The "not-talking-about-mens" parts of their conversation very clearly convey that they are both trapped in a male zeitgeist where the opposing ideological arguments are all also patriarchal constructs. The indistinct persons they talk towards are assumed to be all male as only males are considered legitimate foot soldiers of the enemy.

i don't think there's anything dubious about this rating. These two women are defined by their relationship to their work - OBL may be a man, but he's not a love interest in any way - he's an object of their work.

In addition to Osama bin Ladin and various male detainees, Maya and Jessica also have a somewhat philosophical conversation about the relative value of ideology vs. monetary gain with regards to members of al-Qaeda in general. Jessica also expresses concern for Maya's well being while they are at dinner together. Their friendship, though brief, is unconditionally supportive in a way that none of Maya's relationships with other coworkers are.

There's a scene in the movie where Jessica encourages a romance between Maya and her coworker Dan...

This movie definitely does not pass...

Jessica does ask Maya if she's "hooked up" with someone (maybe Dan?).

I agree that there is nothing dubious about this - the "dubious" marking should be removed.

Although many of Maya and Jessica's conversations are related to Usama bin Ladin, they also talk about other things - and about al-Qaeda in general (which can't be considered to be about men, even though a lot of al-Qaeda's members probably are male).

I've removed the dubious flag from this movie.

The test is whether they talk about a man.
They talk about men in literally every conversation. Does not pass.

This is the only action movie about a male dominated theme (war, espionage, CIA) that I have seen that did not make me uncomfortably aware that I was in female unfriendly territory. While the women in the movie are clearly aware they are in male territory, the movie does not make women feel as outsiders. I consider this a great contribution by this filmmaker. I wonder how men respond to the subtleties that allow women like me to feel like I do.

The test does not specify that the conversations about men are necessarily romantic. It is meant to draw attention to how society is constructed around paternalistic ideals. As such, this film should fail because the women's conversations clearly aim to implicate women in a violently oppressive, phallocentric patriotism.

This movie is a clear pass. I'm amazed anyone here is disputing it when you've got two central female characters who are constantly talking to each other about their job.

A lot of you seem to be having trouble understanding the basic premise of the test. It's a very simple objective criteria that avoids ideology and wider societal concerns. The argument that the military is inherently patriarchal is not relevant nor are the moments when conversations between two characters do not meet the criteria. All the test seeks to examine is whether there are any instances at all of two named female characters talking about a topic other than a man. As long as there are instances where they have such a conversation, the film passes. You may feel those criteria aren't strong enough or you may feel it to be too simplistic but then your beef is with the test itself and not with the rating a film gets under that criteria.