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

[[1]] The Lorax (2012) [imdb]

This movie passed 1 of 3 tests. It was entered by Atinuviel on 2012-08-24 05:37:32.

Reviews

Comments

Maria disagreed with the rating and said:
There are at least 3 women here. The mother, the grandmother and the girl he wants to impress!
Message posted on 2012-09-13 11:28:07
Perfectly Idiomatic said:
Two women do talk: the mother and Norma talk about Games' night. Sadly, the mother doesn't have a name (not even in the credits).

I know Norma and Audrey meet at one point, but I don't think they speak. There's also Marie and Rose, who are named in the final song, but they don't talk to one another or, indeed, anyone else.
Message posted on 2012-09-29 06:18:06
Reye said:
Norma and Audrey both kind of... commentate during the main chase scene near the end? I don't think that counts, though... Same with the final song; I don't think three named female characters [Marie, Rose, and Norma] singing about the same thing counts, does it?
Message posted on 2012-10-25 05:39:14
Edith disagreed with the rating and said:
There's the mother and grandmother talking about games night and also the mother telling the grandmother not to mess with her food. Also, the young woman who gets the first Thneed-two other young women speak directly to her.

I wouldn't exactly say the movie passes with flying colours though, especially given that a good third of it is taken up with a man narrating a story to a boy.

The grandmother also talks ABOUT Audrey TO Ted while Audrey is standing right there. And Audrey and Grammy Norma actually sit together behind Ted and comment but never, ever speak directly to each other. Oh dear.
Message posted on 2012-11-27 23:24:02
Edith said:
Ah no, I take back my last comment. none of the female characters have a conversation at any time, they just make comments to each other. Also, Ted's Mom is not named.
Message posted on 2012-11-27 23:32:27
Erin said:
The mother is not named, and you couldn't call any of the piddly comments the unnamed females (mother included) say to each other "conversations".

I just can't believe this movie. The girl is the one that cares so much about trees, but of course it's a boy that goes off to actually do something about it - in order to win the girl as a reward. The Once-ler commends the boy for actually caring about trees, but all he cares about is winning a kiss from the girl who cares about trees, who isn't doing anything but painting pictures of trees and dreaming of trees and talking about marrying a man who would bring her a tree.

Why does every meaningful character have to be male? The Once-ler, the Lorax, the boy who saves the world, and the man who tries to destroy it. The only purpose of females is to motivate/reward the boy (he better get a kiss at the end of all this! She better fall in love with him!), get in the boy's way (mother), comedic effect (grandma), and the tiniest bit of back-up. Nowhere in this story can a girl feel empowered to do anything for herself or to reject a boy if he does something nice for her.
Message posted on 2013-02-13 15:53:40
Edith said:
you know, I actually showed this movie again to my kids in order to illustrate the principles behind the Bechdel test. They were pretty stunned. What amazes me about it is that there are so many missed opportunities for women to speak to each other. Plus that if they'd just bothered to give his mum a name, it would have passed the test in theory if not in spirit. They didn't give her a name. They gave the freaking delivery guy a name, they give the Once-lers twin brothers and uncle names each, but neither of the mothers gets a name. She's on a par with the other two speaking characters who don't get named-the gay advertising guys. Awesome message, women and LGBT characters are nameless.
Message posted on 2013-04-20 21:59:23
wobster109 said:
Applause to Erin and Edith. This sucks. Ted and Audrey aren't even characters in the original Lorax. I get that in the book, the Lorax and the Onceler are male. I'm sad that it never occurred to them maybe Audrey could be the hero.
Message posted on 2013-05-16 15:22:40
ava disagreed with the rating and said:
the mothers name is Bernice and Norma is her mom and they definitely have a conversation in the movie not about a man and they both have a name also Norma and Audrey have conversations
Message posted on 2021-04-22 00:18:31

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