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]] Ghostbusters (2016) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by Rhianna on 2016-07-14 00:42:06.

Reviews

Comments

Rhianna said:
Four lead female characters - Patty, Abbey, Erin and Holtzmann. They converse about hunting ghosts and science.
Message posted on 2016-07-14 00:42:06
Danielle said:
I don't think I've seen a film so cleanly pass since "Fried Green Tomatoes". (BTW, her first name is rarely used, Holtzmann's first name is Jillian.) Their conversations are almost solely around their work, past and present.
Message posted on 2016-07-16 15:30:13
Xavier disagreed with the rating and said:
Kristen Wiig's character talks about or references Chris Hemsworth's character often throughout the movie. which is a woman talking to other women about a man.
Message posted on 2016-07-16 17:04:24
Alexandre said:
This was a rare movie. Even when a movie passes the test, the passing moments stand out in my mind, making me think "hey! two named women spoke to each other! and no men was mentioned!". In the new "Ghostbusters", I didn't even think about Bechdel until about half the movie, and by then there were probably a dozen interactions that passed the three tests.

That said, it doesn't mean that the movie is great. I felt like everyone involved was holding back, competently trying to make a movie no one would hate instead of a movie many would love. I hope they will aim at greatness the next time around, because Feig and McKinnon and the other girls can do better than this if they want to. There was just so much pressure on everyone.
Message posted on 2016-07-16 17:29:25
Mercedes said:
During the movie I was a bit disappointed because some areas weren't as developed as I expected. Though I later realized that the central theme was not the ghosts, but the friendship between Erin and Abby. I came out of the theatre feeling impressed that these four women carried this movie so well without talking or being distracted by a man! Yes, Chris Hemsworth was used as eye-candy, but he didn't distract the women from their main goal. They didn't fight over him or place a mission in jeopardy because of feelings for him. They did their jobs and kicked butt like pros while doing it. They were fearless, and I'm so proud to be a woman because of it. I wish I had heros like then growing up because they show these girls that you don't need a man or have to have a man around to do your job. I loved it, and it would be really cool if they could make it into a series.
Message posted on 2016-07-26 20:56:40
Rachel said:
Loved the movie. It will hopefully make young girls realize they can do anything a man does!

Also, not only it passed the bechdel test, it reverses it! There are no two named male characters, who speak to each other and talk about something other than the women.
Although it's not nice to do the reverse, at the same time, might be needed from time to time to make people realize the importance of strong female and male characters in movies!
Message posted on 2016-08-05 17:50:26
doesn't matter said:
Does is passes the test if we change women into men? Or in other words are there 2 named man characters who talk to eachother besides something besides women?
Message posted on 2016-08-06 08:41:24
Kim disagreed with the rating and said:
This movie did NOT pass the test. Kristen Wiig's character was practically drooling over Chris Hemsworth's character -who, I must say, was funnier than 3/4 of the leads (Leslie Jones was hilarious). How does that happen? You have the two funniest women in SNL since Tina Fey! Also, out of the millions of ways they could have defeated the big boss, they take him down by shooting it in the groin. Every male character was either a complete imbecile or a jerk. Everything this movie did to 'empower' women was so on the nose.
Message posted on 2016-09-03 04:19:05
Jen said:
Xavier, the test is not "the women can NEVER talk about a man", and even if it were, Holtzmann and her mentor Rebecca Gorin talk EXCLUSIVELY about Holtzmann's inventions.
Message posted on 2016-09-06 06:58:35
silent said:
It also passes the person of color Bechdel test. Patty and her uncle have a brief talk about cars.
Message posted on 2016-09-27 10:36:04
Christine said:
Bechdel approved, though the actual story took a back seat, this film shone on it's characterizations. I disagree that it was a simple reversal of the patriarchal paradigm, it had something that many films, potentially even ones that pass, fail to achieve by miles: well developed characters. All the cameos and supporting roles, male and female were fleshed out and interesting to watch. Also the majority of the supporting cast was male, so where they weren't conversing together, there were still lots of intersting, well realized men on screen throughout the picture.
Message posted on 2016-09-28 07:08:42
Rachel said:
It takes an absolutely extra special kind of idiot to come to the BechdelTest site and incorrectly mansplain the Bechdel Test to us.

"Xavier disagreed with the rating and said:
Kristen Wiig's character talks about or references Chris Hemsworth's character often throughout the movie. which is a woman talking to other women about a man."
Message posted on 2017-03-02 21:42:43
Johann Dirry said:
This film clearly passes the Bechdel Test and also the Racial Bechdel Test.

Unfortunately, this is not a good thing because the film is filled with racist and sexist stereotypes.

It is an indication that the Bechdel test is too limited to cope with all forms of sexism and rassism.
Message posted on 2017-05-03 00:27:58
Steph disagreed with the rating and said:
Kristen Wiig's character (Erin) talks with Melissa McCarthy's character (Abby) about Chris Hemsworth's character (Kevin). It only passes the first two tests, but not the third because they do talk about a man. It doesn't matter if it's only once or several times throughout the movie, it happened therefore it doesn't pass that test.
Message posted on 2017-12-18 01:23:12
Billie Turner disagreed with the rating and said:
They only talk about men or ghosts. I'm actually enjoying the film and do agree it passes the rest but by the skin of its teeth and poorly
Message posted on 2018-12-15 22:14:44
Leire, David, Pelayo and Ivette said:
We think that the film past the test, because there are two womans, they talk togheter and they don't talk about mans.
Message posted on 2020-01-22 10:15:05
Avery disagreed with the rating and said:
To pass the Bechdel Test, the movie has to resort to a reversal of gender from the original characters. And do we realistically have a female nerd IRL?
Message posted on 2022-11-11 11:33:42

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