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]] Tarzan of the Apes (1918) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by Mike on 2011-02-05 23:23:34.

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Mike said:
In this, the very first Tarzan movie, the hero's love interest, Jane, has a stereotypical black maid named Esmerelda. They have a few minor exchanges that don't seem to be about men -- for example, when they're frightened by a lion and barricade themselves inside a cabin.

The only other named female character is Tarzan's mom, Lady Alice Greystoke, who, when told it's impossible for her to go to Africa because she would be an unattended woman, replies, "Is courage only for men, then?" and ends up joining her husband on the trip.

Raised in the jungle, "the warm touch of the first woman he had ever known thrilled Tarzan with a new emotion and every throbbing pulse-beat spurred him to take her for his own." But when the half-naked Ape Man brusquely puts the moves on Jane, she tells him, "Tarzan is a man, and men do not force the love of women."
Message posted on 2011-02-05 23:23:34

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