Bechdel Test Movie List

While the film has several named female characters, all the conversations between them revolve around the main character in some way.

I'd call it dubious. Knives and Tamara talk about how much Knives hates Ramona, and how Knives is dying her hair. It's dubious because both conversations are really about Scott.

Knives does talk to Kim about the band, but it's not really a "conversation" so much as three lines of dialouge ("Are you a drummer?" "...Yes" "That's so cool!". I still think it counts, though.

Also, Knives tells Envy that she loves her band and reads her blog. So it passes, technically.

In a movie like this, it's hard to say, I think.

The whole movie revolves around the relationship, between Knives and Scott and Ramona. Hell, when ANYONE is really talking, they're talking about the relationships (even the exes really only talk about Scott and Ramona)

It's hard to say, also, because the underlying current is always both Scott and Ramona. Even when Ramona and Envy are glaring at each other from the couches, they are "talking" to each other, but it's out of jealousy. Even Julie and Knives talking to Envy (or trying to) can be construed as "two women talking to each other about something other than a man" but it's masked by the tension of the relationship.

I think this movie has enough moments of the ladies talking to each other about something other than Scott (or any guy) to count, especially since even the guys talk about nothing other than Scott and Ramona, for the most part.

That's my two cents though :D

Admittedly no one really talks about anything besides Scott and his relationships in this movie (with the occasional exception of the band talking about practice or gigs), but I still don't think this movie passes.

The only exchange in dialogue between females that isn't about other males is, as Danny pointed out, when Knives asked Kim if she was a drummer and Kim answered "yes". Some may consider this to technically be "talking to each other", but in my opinion Kim only answered a yes-or-no question with the single matter-of-fact word "yes". I consider "talking to each other" to mean "having a conversation", and I consider a conversation to require more than answering a simple fact. I know the Bechdel test doesn't strictly say that, but in my opinion answering a self-evident question with a one-word answer doesn't qualify this movie as having female characters that "talk to each other".

There are a couple of more points that seemed to be missed in previous comments:

Knives asks Julie to show her where to find Clash at Demonhead albums.

Roxy and Ramona talk a little bit about their past that isn't really about Scott.

I'd say the movie passes narrowly but I still think it passes. It's way more than most other movies

Agreed- this needs revision. Knives tells Envy she loves her blog. PASS!

I agree with the other commentors: A narrow pass. Knives has several conversations with named female characters about topics other than Scott.

Good points. My mistake. I concede that this movie passes the test (albeit narrowly).

I've updated the rating from 2/3 to 3/3.

I think many more of the conversations center around Ramona than Scott.

I want to point out that the "when anyone is talking, it is about Scott and Ramona" idea doesn't really fly. There are extensive conversations between Scott and his roommate and between members of the band which are not about Ramona or Knives.

Don't get me wrong -- this movie passes, definitely. But it's important to do a Reverse Bechdel sometimes if we don't want to just be apologists.

While the film may pass this test technically, it fails to avoid being yet another movie that has a mediocre-looking male win over the gorgeous, out-of-his-class female through his wits and charm. We need a test for that tedious trend as well. :P

You're right, Bete.
Obviously, mediocre-looking males should only be with mediocre-looking females.

No.. then all the mediocre-looking women would be taken before the hot men could try to win them over.

I've got to give this movie props for passing at all. I wonder how many other guy-wants-girl-guy-fights-for-girl-guy-gets-girl movies come close.

I agree. Genre is so important. When a movie is primarily about relationships and most of those relationships involve men (and realistically 15/16 relationships do (about 1/8 people are gay and about 1/2 gay people are female)) it can't be too surprising that conversation will involve men.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the little bits of conversation between Julie and Envy. I mean, sure, it's very little and hardly counts due to the fact that Envy is glaring at Ramona and Scott the whole time but there's SOMETHING.
Julie: (to Envy) So, I heard you guys opened for the Pixies. You're like a superstar now.
Envy: (looking at Ramona and Scott, but talking to Julie) Yeah...it's, uh, not something I can really put into words.
Of course, Envy uses this as a lead-in to mention Gideon to rile up Ramona, but as the whole movie revolves around Scott's relationships with Ramona and Knives and very few of the characters (male included) rarely talking about anything BUT said relationships.
Which is quite unfortunate as the comic books pass the Bechdel test with flying colours.
Still, the movie passes the Bechdel Test too, narrowly, but it passes just the same and ever-more surprising is the fact that it's a male-centered rom-com, so really, that's rather impressive no matter by how much (or little) it passes.

Bete, you're implying a lot of repulsive ideas. First, that there is a such thing as "classes" of dateable people and that it is a bad thing to date out of one's "class." Second, that physical attractiveness has no subjectivity and because you find someone "mediocre-looking" everyone else must agree. Third, that physical appearance is the sole, or at least primary, factor in personal compatibility. Finally, fourth, "gorgeous" girls should be shallow enough to ignore wit, charm, and, I must assume, intelligence, because they may only be deemed successful in their romantic pursuits by finding a sufficiently gorgeous male in the same "class" as themselves. I find all of your presumptions to be incredibly superficial, sexist, anti-feminist, and anti-intellectual. Fortunately, there are plenty of films you can watch where an attractive, muscular, yet boorish man "wins over" the gorgeous girl with his pure aggressive masculinity, stubbornness, and sexual prowess, which you must find to be the only attractive and admirable male traits. That's very progressive of you.

@bete Besides Daniels points (which were I agree with) I disagree with you about this movie being all about 'getting the girl'. Though it wasn't handled as well as it was in the comics, there was also a lot about being your own person and taking control of your life, seen in the end scene were Scott earns 'the power of self respect' and Romona's relationship with Gideon, were he tried to manipulate her entire love life and then Brainwashed her. It was also about running away from your problems, which both of the main characters do frequently (though on Romona's part that is usually portrayed through her past relationships).

Daniel, you're taking Bete's comment too much to heart. Perhaps it because it strikes too close to home? The point of the comment has more to do with the fact that the mediocre looking man always ends up with the gorgeous girl (who he only likes because she's gorgeous and she fits into his dream girl ideal) but the mediocre looking girl has to become gorgeous to snag the gorgeous guy. You're saying that it's only the males who are allowed to be shallow. Second, the fact that the males are always portrayed as the average looking one and the females are always stereotypically beautiful says a lot to disprove your idea that beauty is subjective when it comes to media. Third, how many times does the gorgeous guy get the mediocre girl in comparison to the mediocre guy getting the gorgeous girl? Scott Pilgrim doesn't offer any wit, charm, or intelligence. I can't see any reason for Ramona to be attracted to him. You seem to be laboring under the assumption that you can't be both attractive and intelligent. Like attracts like, and more often than not, the mediocre looking guy brings nothing to the table but insecurity and a sense of entitlement, which the gorgeous girl does not generally have or need in her life.

Daniel, thank you for the excellent example of mansplaining. That is all.

Daniel is wrong. I think calling out the norm of men in movies being much less stereotypically attractive than their love interests is necessary. Hollywood loves to portray women as pretty one dimensional- the dimension being super fucking hot. This is problematic because it instills a belief in viewers that women are valued because of only their looks while men are the ones that have personalities and humor and smarts. It also only allows women actors that are extremely beautiful (societies definition of this) to succeed while all men actors can succeed. You can see it in 90% of movies, pay attention to it more and maybe you’ll understand how it is sexist. Xoxo