Bechdel Test Movie List

Saw a preview screening last night. Several named female characters...Samantha, H or Helen, Keira and F’Nale.

Samantha has two interactions with female characters. One with H and one with Keira. Both not about men. Short interactions but still passes.

The interaction between Samantha and Kira is not applicable as in Kira’s eyes Samantha was in Haliday.

As for Samantha and Aech (H), I don’t remember them particular interacting when this was not about Wade but I may be mistaken. Also Aech was male, I feel it would only count if it was between Helen (Aech’s real world persona) and Samantha.

Samantha and Helen have a short discussion on inclusivity and no-expectations near the end of the movie (postal truck scene).

Helen and Samantha speak in the real world. When Helen picks up Samantha in her van and meet for the first time in real life, they briefly discuss what Samantha was expecting of Helen.

I agree with James.

The interaction with Kira was all about Haliday. If it passes technically, it’s still kind of weird that it’s a conversation for Haliday. They aren’t discussing him, but then one of them thinks the other is him and the conversation is one he directed them to have. Seems like it isn’t at all that different than directly discussing him.

The interaction with H is also weirdly borderline. Is the character male or female? The character is listed as male first in the credits. So, maybe not.

Very interesting!

Helen/Aech met Artemis/Samantha in the real world. This was roughly the interaction

Helen: Not what you expected?
Samantha: Yeah, I wasn't expecting a beaten up van from the 30's.

Basically Helen was asking if Samantha was surprised that she was black/a woman. And Samantha dodged the question by saying she wasn't expecting the master gamer to be driving an outmoded old van.

Artemis only spoke with an NPC created to look and act like Kira. If anything "Kira" was just part of the male developer's imagination. But the Samantha-Helen interaction is a quick but clear pass.

James, there was an (admittedly short) interaction between Helen and Samantha in the real world. After Samantha has escaped the IOI facility, Helen, who is driving the van, not playing the game as her male character, picks up Samantha. I recall something along the lines of Samantha saying that she was surprised by the van, although the implication is that she is surprised at Helen’s real gender.

Despite the implications, the short interaction is only explicitly about the van’s appearance, and so I believe it passes the test.

As per James' comment, I don't think there is an absolutely clear pass of the test (spoilers ahead for anyone that hasn't seen the movie). Here are all the female interactions I remember and why I don't think they pass:

The only female interaction I remember are:
1) In the Oasis: 3 female characters talk about how they expect IRock to kill them (fails as about a man)
2) Artemis asks Kira for a dance, while Kira is hallucinating that Artemis is a man (so fails on talks to each other)
3) Aceh and Artemis talk about her motorcycle. Aceh is a male character (albeit real world female), (so fails on two female characters)

In the real world:
4) Finale arrests Samantha. I thought this was a pass, but then remembered that, I think, Samantha does not reply (so fails on "talk to each other")
5) Samantha and Helen chat as Samantha gets on the bus. Don't recall exactly what is said, but it centres around Helen not looking like her (male) Avatar Aceh and I think can be reasonably summarised as "Helen and Samantha chat about H" (so fail for being about a man)

I can see arguments that 2-5 are passes, but actually, I think they are interesting technical fails.

Samantha and Helen do interact in the real world. Upon first “meeting” in the real world, they discuss Samantha’s surprise that Aech is female.

Yeah, I agree with James. I wouldn't count Samantha's interactions with Aech while she was in (male) avatar form. And same goes for Samantha talking to Kira while Kira was in a man's body.

Samantha and Helen did talk outside of the Oasis. It was after Samantha escaped the loyalty center and was picked up by the rest of High 5, they exchange some dialogue about Helen's car.

Samanatha and Helen had a brief discussion in the van with each other that was not about male characters.

@James, the interaction between Samantha and Helen is when Helen picks up Samantha off the street. Helen looks at Samantha and asks " Not what you were expecting?" Samantha replies "I wasn't expecting a 30's van." Probably not perfect quotes, but it does satisfy the test.

Agreed with the rating.
When Artemis opened the door of the van, she and H greeted each other with more than just one word. They were not talking about anybody else but themselves.

First a general point. Whether events are real-world or virtual-world is immaterial, the exchange must be between two women who consider each other to be women (what we know about their other identity is immaterial too: each person or avatar has a sex. Helen is female, Aech is male, etc). On that basis there are two possible Bechdel moments.

1. Samantha/Helen as Samantha gets into the van (mentioned by lots of people)
2. F'nale arresting Samantha (mentioned by Anna no. 5)

On 1: Helen's question is "Not what you were expecting?" What Samantha was expecting was Helen to be a man, like her avatar Aech, so the question is about Aech, and thus about a man. Samantha's response is "I wasn't expecting a beaten-up 30s van". Samantha says this as a politeness ploy: by bluntly saying ‘no’, she risks having Helen lose face, since Helen may interpret the ‘no’ as meaning she is inferior to her avatar (on any level: sex, scariness, skin color…). She thus ‘changes the subject’ as a rhetorical maneuver, feigning to have interpreted the initial question as about something else. Helen, who is expecting an answer about Aech, will inevitably recognize Samantha’s reply as rhetorical and as motivated by politeness issues. This exchange is thus squarely about Aech, a man. Even if one were to stretch the point and see Samantha’s response as ‘about a van’, it would still be impossible to qualify this *exchange* as ‘talking to each other about something besides a man’ since *Helen* is undeniably talking about a man. Seeing this exchange as not about a man involves interpreting Helen’s initial words in the light of Samantha’s subsequent response, and thus going back in time. And since we don’t have a Zemeckis cube, this is impossible.

I had the impression that Helen and Samantha had a further exchange before Samantha climbs into the back of the van, but I can’t remember what they said - can anyone confirm or clarify that?

On 2: Anna brings up this exchange and says she thinks Samantha does not reply. I had the impression she did, but can’t remember what she said. Again, can anyone confirm this?

The rating is technically correct. But I'd like to add that it is a shame that a movie in 2018 just passes because one irrelevant line of dialog near the end.

Ready Player One
Here are the answers to the questions I brought up in my previous post:
First, Anna is right: Samantha does not reply during her arrest by F’nale (1h12’).

This means that whether this film passes turns on the van scene. For the record, the exact exchange is:
S: Oh (= surprise)
H: Hey Arty. Yeah, I know. Not what you were expecting, huh?
S: Yeah, I wasn’t expecting a late ‘30s-model postal van.

(Answering my other quesion, Helen does subsequently say something else, but it is addressed to Samantha and also to two other males: ‘All right everybody, hold on to something’).

The only point at issue is thus whether this exchange is excluded for being about Aech, and thus about a man.

Most posters who refer to it ignore this issue. Juanfraner replies to my detailed argument by simply asserting that the rating is ‘technically’ correct. Strikingly, a few approvers include in their descriptions elements which support its disqualification. For example, Lauren says it is about ‘Samantha’s surprise that Aech is female’. This by definition means they are talking about a male (who Aech now isn’t). The same point goes for posts by IAce (‘expectations’), Kat (‘expecting’), Aduro (‘surprised … woman’), Eileen writes that the conversation is ’only explicitly about the van’ - an argument against the rating, not for it.

For the 3/3 rating to stand, someone has to explain why this exchange IS NOT about Aech/a man, and IS about a van. Specifically you need to show the exchange is about the van RIGHT FROM THE START - provoking Samantha’s ‘Oh’ of surprise, and Helen’s question -, before Samantha utters her last line. Nobody in the posts has even attempted to engage with this position. So, until then the stronger position has to be that of Anna and myself, which has the film failing the test on 2/3.