Bechdel Test Movie List

The two main characters are women.

There is plenty of dialogue between named women about non-man things. While the movie is dominated by well-developed female characters, the male gaze of the direct is distinctly felt, in particular during the (needlessly) long sex scenes.

7384 I think its a little heteronormative and heterosexist to assume that the reason for the long sex scenes is for men. It's a movie where the main characters are lesbians, most lesbian films target lesbian and bisexual female identified audiences. Implying this is entirely for men makes the irronious and homophobic assumption that

B is right to point out that the sex scenes may not *be* for men, but 7384 is also correct that the sex scenes indicate a male director. The sex scenes are straight out of a porn flick, where straight men direct straight women in pretending to have lesbian sex. That first long long long ridiculously long sex scene bears very little resemblance to actual lesbian sex. (Yes I'm a dyke. No I haven't had sex with all the other lesbians in existence, but in my experience, the sex scenes were little more than a perfect example of what straight people *imagine* lesbian sex is like, as opposed to what lesbians actually do in bed with each other. Why does neither of them seem to know where her partner's clit is? And why the hell would you have oral sex standing up?)

That being said, despite the terrible sex scenes, the rest of the movie was fantastic. *And* it passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.

Definitely made for the male gaze. Two FRENCH lesbians, one an artist, both completely without armpit hair or pubic hair? The sex scenes and camera angles were definitely porny.

This film may of passed the test, but the people behind the screen were many men- the author of the source didn't like the film, the film is via entirely the male gaze and the director was apparently abusive to the actresses, asking them to do sexual things that they did not want to do. I would keep that in mind if you plan to see this film and support the men that made (ruined) it. The male gaze of lesbian sex makes it entirely homophobic.

Risa is incorrect. The author of the comic, while criticizing the authenticity of the sex scenes, actually enjoyed the film very much. She called it: "coherent, justified and fluid ... a masterstroke."

When it comes to the male gaze criticism, I think it's besides the point. It's a film about the sensual. The sex is in keeping with the constant closeups of people eating, the visible snot in every crying scene, the lack of makeup. It's a celebration of the human anatomy, not exploitation.

And, as for whether or not the actresses were exploited, Adéle said that the problem wasn't the sex (they knew that it was going to be explicit beforehand), but that the director insisted on shooting every scene 100 times. Don't mischaracterize her annoyance with the director in order to fit the narrative that she was sexually exploited.

All in all, it's a 7 minute scene in a 3 hour film. It's not all there is.

The movie isn't about two lesbians, for god's sake. One of them was explicitly bisexual (even if the movie cowardly avoid to label her that). Stop the erasure, please