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]] The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by coolcleangreen on 2013-08-26 14:56:09.

Reviews

Comments

Helena disagreed with the rating and said:
There are definitely more than two named female characters- Clary, Isabelle and Jocelyn are the memorable ones. Clary and Jocelyn speak for about five seconds at the beginning, about Clary going out, so I'm not quite sure if that counts; near the end she holds Jocelyn's hands and pleads with her to wake up, which doesn't count as a conversation as Jocelyn doesn't respond. Isabelle and Jocelyn never speak. Isabelle and Clary do, but I think the only full-length conversation they have is about Alec and Jace. During the course of this, though, Isabelle tells Clary she's going to look 'stunning' in a dress, which is not about a man but doesn't really agree with the spirit of the Bechdel test.
Message posted on 2013-11-09 09:16:27
Janni disagreed with the rating and said:
No proper conversations take place between the two girls, until they have to talk about the boys, or they have a quick exchange with a sentence or so from each of them. There are at least two female characters, and they both talk, but Isabelle is extremely underdeveloped, and the two don't hold a proper conversation about anything other than a man.
Message posted on 2014-02-07 00:05:26
Mike said:
There are three main female characters, Clary (the protagonist), Isabelle and Jocelyn. Clary and Isabelle both talk to one another (about both boys and other stuff) and Jocelyn and Clary talk about Clary going out and her powers (over the phone). This is a clear pass.
Message posted on 2014-06-07 05:54:11
Kiera said:
The female characters in the film are badly adapted to the screen, but the film does pass the Bechdel test because 1) it does have at least two named female characters that 2) talk to each other about 3) something besides a man.
In the first scene, Clary and her mother talk about Clary going out:
Jocelyn: You make sure you come straight home tonight.
Clary: Mom, come on. It’s just a poetry reading.
It is a fleeting conversation, but it is about something other than a boy, despite the fact that she is going to the show with Simon. Clary also has a conversation with Isabel. This is exchanged while Clary is getting ready to go to Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn’s party.
Clary: This is a top.
Isabel: It’s a dress.
Clary: I can’t pull this off.
Isabel: Well actually with the right shoes…
Clary: No, I mean this dress is so tight it’s like a second a skin. Don’t you have anything else?
Technically, this isn’t talking about boys, even though they’re dressing up in skin tight clothes to go to a party which does go against the spirit of the Bechdel test.
Isabel: See? You’re pretty.
Clary: How is being dressed like a hooker going to help me find my mom?
Isabel: Easy now, those are my clothes.
These few words also technically pass the Bechdel test because they’re not talking about a man, but the word “hooker” implies the presence of men so again, goes against the spirit of the Bechdel test.
Another named female character is Madame Dorothea. She lives in the flat beneath Clary’s. Her and Clary have a very short conversation:
Madame Dorothea: Clary?
Clary: I came for the Tarot cards.
Madame Dorothea: Why?
Clary: I need them. You know, the ones my mom painted. I just need to look at them really quickly and I’ll give them back.
This conversation has nothing to do with boys so it most definitely passes. This conversation between Clary and Madame Dorothea, passes the Bechdel test faithfully and so the film passes.
Message posted on 2016-12-16 12:41:44

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