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]] Super 8 (2011) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by Nimravid on 2011-06-11 05:22:34.

Reviews

Comments

Nimravid said:
It's a very weak pass. Scantily clad teenager Jen tells her mother, Mrs. Kaznyk, that it's not fair that she can't go to a party or wear even more revealing clothing. Her mother replies that "Not fair is Africa." So on that alone it's a pass.

Mrs. Kaznik is a background mom character. The only major named female character is the love interest, Alice. Other than her, there is a damsel-in-distress with her hair in rollers, and Jen enters the main action very briefly when her 13 year old brother asks her to seduce a male character into a favor.
Message posted on 2011-06-11 05:22:34
Jose said:
I don't understand why the mom said that "not fair is Africa?" Was it a racist comment?
Message posted on 2011-06-17 17:07:13
O.C. said:
Jose, I think the mom meant that if you want to see a lack of fairness, there's plenty of poverty and famine in Africa, so the American kids should just get over it. I heard that comment as a version of "Children are starving in China, so clean your plate." Not the most subtle or sensitive statement, but not exactly racist either.
Message posted on 2011-06-20 15:07:42
wot said:
I don't think 'Africa' was racist, just an acknowledgment that a lot of crazy shit goes down on the content. If anything it's not a deeply knowledgeable assessment.
Message posted on 2011-06-21 00:18:52
Deva disagreed with the rating and said:
This clearly does not qualify. As you note, the only "talking" is between a woman and a child (albeit teenager) not two women. A woman talking with her non-adult child is not the same as two women talking. Especially since the conversion is about child rearing concerns (whether the child can go to a party).
Message posted on 2011-06-22 23:47:48
Nimravid said:
The way the test has been read on this site is any female characters talking to each other. As from the front page of the site: "For the sake of practicality, I've taken the liberty to read the first criterion as only named female characters counting." That way the test works on movies mainly starring children, animated movies where the cast is male or female animals or objects, science fiction where there are aliens or androids which are gendered, etc and still measures the amount of interaction female characters have with each other. The conversation was not about men, the characters were female and named, so technically it passes as long as the criterion is named female characters. I did try to get across that though this is a technical pass, the movie is not feminist friendly.
Message posted on 2011-06-26 21:39:27
j said:
"the conversion is about child rearing concerns (whether the child can go to a party)" -- which is not about men. And Jen is a child, but she is also a young woman. The movie clearly passes.
Message posted on 2011-07-08 05:26:55
Kelly Garbato said:
There were actually two separate scenes in which Jen argued with her mom about going to a party, but yeah, slim pass.
Message posted on 2012-01-08 03:36:38
ocelot said:
@Deva: Ageist, much?

Hey everyone, apparently a teenager doesn't qualify as a "woman" and therefore doesn't meet the standards for this test! So Jen's experience of one form of oppression (ageism) negates her experience of another (sexism). Great.
Message posted on 2012-02-20 02:50:42
Shedemei said:
How awesome it would been had the alien been female. Telepathic communication between Alice and the creature...that would have been a cool way to pass. (I think in that case it might be overlooked that "the creature" technically is unnamed; the alien is still important.)
Message posted on 2012-10-04 06:54:31
Grackle disagreed with the rating and said:
There must have been 25 or 30 male characters in this movie and the one Bechdel "conversation" between scantily-clad teenager and Mom was an exchange of two sentences. And they were such minor characters that they barely showed up or spoke for the rest of the film. I guess that counts in the most technical sense, but if someone told me that this passed the Bechdel test and I'd watched it on that basis I would have been sorely, sorely disappointed. And 14-year-old Alice is just beautiful fodder to be lusted after and then subsequently rescued by the 13-year-old boys. Plus, the other main female character is the protagonists' dead mother/wife. I mean, come on. I found it very alienating (pun unintended har har.)
Message posted on 2013-01-27 15:45:07
Daniele disagreed with the rating and said:
Apart the character of Alice, the other female character with a name is Charles's sister Jen and they never speak to each other.
Message posted on 2014-09-06 14:26:25

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