Bechdel Test Movie List

Although three named women, Hypatia, Sidonia and Charition, appear among the credited cast of the film, the only woman who speaks is Hypatia. The two other female characters have extremely marginal roles, appearing only in one or two scenes.

I was actually stricken that this isolation from other women was probably the hardest sacrifice she had to do in order to live the life she wanted. And it is not even acknowledged when she thinks back of her sacrificing a personal life. The worst is that it is probably accurate!

This is a real shame, because the movie is about Hypatia of Alexandria, a feminist icon. They don't even give her female slaves to wait on her - there's a scene with two male slaves attending on her while she takes a bath - highly unlikely for any upper-class woman, philosopher or not.

Since the movie took the liberty of inventing the character of Davos, there's no reason why they couldn't have invented a female friend or relative or servant for Hypatia to talk to. Even if she's the lone female in her field, that doesn't mean she never interacted with other women.

Unfortunately, it is possible that she did not like to interact with other women, and even that she self-loathed her femininity.

I interpreted her having male slaves attending to her bathing (surprising indeed) as expressing the dehumanization of slaves in the profoundly unjust society of the time. And as something which humanizes her: she is a hero and a science martyr, but she was human and real, which adds to her greatness.