Bechdel Test Movie List

There are three named female characters: Astrid and Ruffnut from the first movie, and Hiccup's mother, Velka. However, I don't think any of them talk to each other in the span of the movie. Velka definitely doesn't talk to anyone outside of her husband, son and Gobber, and Ruffnut doesn't say much that isn't about some man or another.

A brilliant part of this movie is when Hiccup tells Astrid to "stay close" instead of "stay back" while heading into a dangerous situation. Applause for that.

The movie definitely could've done with more female character development on parts aside from Valka--I'd've loved to see Valka's introduction to Astrid--but a few things can't be forgotten:
a, the movie is focusing on Hiccup's reuniting with his mother, and dealing with Drago and his chiefdom; a quick f/f conversation would've been nice, but wouldn't've added much to the plot, or, in the case of Valka-Astrid, possibly would've added ~too~ much. HTTYD 'verse has simple stories with a lot of humanity--throwing in a mother-in-law/daughter-in-law problem would've been overcliche and gone nowhere with the plot.
b, No woman is sexualized in this movie. Heck, two ~men~ are sexualized instead. ~Seriously~ important, especially since I can't think of another movie with a ~male~ lead that does the same. Dreamworks was seriously excited about its new fat-jiggling software, but all they used it for was Eret's arm and Fishlegs's face--not once is there a sexy shot that could possibly demean women.

It fails and it fails hard. Astrid never speaks to Ruffnut about anything other than Hiccup, every damn line out of Ruffnut's mouth is about a man or men fawning over her and Valka never even shares a line with other females despite being in same scene. This movie could have, at the very least, made the female character's do something essential to plot, but no, they are all just objects of some male's affection, there to provide comfort for men and don't do anything that doesn't result in being captured or getting something killed. And Tibki, the sexualization of men in today's media isn't anything new, see Thor, Captain America and every other new superhero movie and even if it wasn't that wouldn't excuse the mistreatment of potentially amazing female leads.

I think the rating is wrong because Astrid and Ruffnut might not talk to each other one-on-one, but they talk out amongst the group a LOT. That deserves to be recognized before everyone bashes this wonderful movie. And yes, other characters developed more during this movie, but that doesn't mean Astrid and Ruffnut didn't as well. It just means we didn't see it. Valka had a big character INTRODUCTION. Not development. She couldn't have developed much if we had just met her as a character. So, yeah. I disagree.

khan, try rewatching the ENTIRE movie because lemme tell ya somethin pal. if you were in astrid's position with a partner or valka's position with a child or spouse, you'd probs do the same thing. as for ruffnut, snotlout and fishlegs do the SAME THING so stop acting like it's a female-exclusive gag. as far as valka-astrid interaction, it really wouldn't have added to the plot at all. not to mention, valka had NO IDEA who astrid was until hiccup kissed her. then right after hiccup was announced chief. so get off your goddamn tumblr feminist high horse and pay attention to what's going on around you. not everything is sexist and a shitty test like this one doesn't accurately portray movie quality. grow up.

Regardless of whether or not you like this movie, this is a simple pass/fail situation. HtTYD 2 fails the test. Whether or not you feel an added conversation between two women about something other than a man would detract from the movie is irrelevant.

The worst thing about this film is its treatment of Astrid. She went from being the series' most focused and dedicated up-and-coming warrior to being a simpering sidekick.

In the first movie, Astrid was all business. In this one, she's all giggles. In the first movie she aspired to be Berk's best dragon fighter. In this film, she responds to her boyfriend's possible promotion by promising to spend her time looking after his dragon for him while he's out working.

Astrid doesn't *want* anything for herself in this film. She's just there to help Hiccup. Urgh.

(None of this is to mention the wince-inducing and utterly pointless subplot involving Ruffnut's romantic life. Double urgh).

As for the treatment with Astrid, there is some very simple analysis that shows why Astrid is as you say: "All giggles"

The reason she was in 'all business' mode was simply due to her surroundings. Berk was a war torn town under constant attack and she had to be constantly on her guard. Her most important aspiration at this point was to protect Berk, Hence httyd 2 comes along thats five years in the past. 5 years of peace, of COURSE she's happier, a massive change is seen in everyone, Stoick as well. Sure he'd still more serious because he's cheif. But he is a more jovial person to be completely honest. And you forget, Whenever She was in a dangerous situation, she could hold her own. She wasn't whimpering behind Hiccup at any stage.

When Stormfly was first shot down, she had a club and was ready to kill somebody. (Buuut Hiccups a diplomat and was like 'can't we just be fwends?') And same thing, when they return to erets boat, Axe at the ready (again, held back form killing people because of Hiccup, if anyones whimpering her, It's Hiccup) You can see her surprise once Hiccup mentions surrender.

And again on Dragos boat, she not only stares down but she challenges the man who has them captured and ready to be excecuted. Her leadership shines here. (admittedly she uses Hiccup and talks him up, but it's probably because no matter how much you hate it, she has a boyfriend and values him, and also he has a night fury. And also it blows up in her face, but all leaders face defeat) She glares down someone even the 'manly' eret was fucking terrified of.

That being said, Her involvement in the final fight with the bewilder-beast was minimal and very disappointing. But then again, the Story is primarily Hiccups coming of age tale, so I can understand why it was a big Hiccup/Toothless bromance fest there.

Also lets not discount Valkas epic intro and backstory, she's been living on her own for 20 years, kicking ass as a vigilante. Just because the story doesn't focus on said people, doesn't mean their discounted, if anyones discounted, It's fishlegs,tuffnut and Snotlout. As least Ruff had a character ark. (Okay boys, heres the deal, Your pining for Ruff. End of story.) (Oh Tuff? Uhh, you just... Annoy your sister.)

So obviously there were flaws, and point where the women of the franchise could have shined more, but they do show it, they have a lot of potential.

It's strange that most of the "yeah, but" comments seem to miss the point of what the Bechdel Test actually is about. It's not a measure of what a good movie is..... heck, I don't think anyone's claiming Citizen Kane and Casablanca aren't timeless classics. It measures the lack of female representation in the industry proportional to male representation. So, you can love this movie, and acknowledge that it doesn't meet the criteria. And, sorry. It doesn't. Claiming that just because character growth and interaction didn't happen on screen? Looking at films through this lens makes it not beside the point. It makes it exactly the point. You can love a film and acknowledge that it fails the test and fails it hard. It can be a masterpiece and fail the test. Those movies can be great. That's not the point. The point is that films that pass the test are so rare that their near absence makes the industry as a whole worth examining.