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]] Gremlins (1984) [imdb]

This movie passed 1 of 3 tests. It was entered by neil (webmaster) on 2009-08-02 12:10:56.

Reviews

Comments

neil (webmaster) said:
Barely any notable female characters (basically just the mom and the love interest).

There is one scene were two women talk to each other: the woman credited as "Mrs. Joe Harris" (so I don't count her as a "named character") asks Ruby Deagle if she can get Mr. Corben to "just give us a little more time" for paying the rent, which Mrs. Deagle denies because "the bank and I have the same purpose in life: to make money. Not to support some a lot of dead beats."
Message posted on 2009-08-02 12:10:56
Joshua disagreed with the rating and said:
Mrs Joe Harris is absolutely a named character, even if you don't accept her forename as Joe, she is still by extension Mrs Harris; and the conversation itself is fairly long and provides exposition into Mrs Deagle's character
Message posted on 2012-01-10 22:07:52
Jonathan said:
Technically Joshua is correct. Is naming a character Mrs. Joe Harris offensive? Yes. Does it pass the test? We can't win them all, but please rate movies on here according to Bechdel, and not according to our disapproval. I don't need this website to tell me Hollywood stinks. That's just common knowledge. I need this website because I don't watch movies that don't pass the Bechdel test. I'm very grateful to Neil for sharing that info about the sexist naming of a character because I do care about that. However I also want to be able to watch movies and need to know if they technically pass, so I appreciate the effort to keep the ratings objective.
Message posted on 2013-12-07 06:51:24
Bradley disagreed with the rating and said:
Two named characters have a conversation that's not about a man. It's about family finances and the mortgage.

That one of the characters is in the credits as Mrs. her husband's name isn't a valid disqualifier because it adds a new condition. The dialogue doesn't include her first name being shared... The Chinese boy and his father who give the Gremlin aren't cited by full name, that doesn't mean they aren't in it and named.

Here you have two women in very different roles... One is a mom who is working AND maintaining the family AND involved with discussions of the family finances AND appealing to the bank. The other is a crank who's strong enough and scary enough to make the main character, Billy, feel threatened.

You've clearly got a conversation between two named women about a family's finance.
Message posted on 2014-05-18 17:16:27

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