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]] Soul (2020) [imdb]

This movie passed 3 of 3 tests. It was entered by zalx on 2021-03-07 20:59:18.

Reviews

Comments

zalx said:
This is a little tricky, as 22 is not explicitly female, but is referred to as she at some points in the film. To make it more confusing, she is also inhabiting a man's body. If you allow these, then it is a pretty solid pass - as Joe, she talks to his mum about, at least, tailoring a suit. If you wouldn't allow 22 being female - which I think is established enough by the language, but is certainly arguable - then she does at least have a flashback conversation with Mother Theresa which should count.
Message posted on 2021-03-07 20:59:18
Ben disagreed with the rating and said:
The reason I disagree is because I don’t think any of the souls in this movie have genders. So, I’m not sure that 22 would be considered female, regardless of the pronoun. And, 22’s name is a number.

22 doesn’t have a conversation with Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa speaks two sentences of six words each to 22. That’s the end of that interaction. They don’t converse with each other, and Mother Teresa’s statements don’t move the plot forward.

Phylicia Rashad as Libba Gardner and Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams. A few other female characters have first names. But, none of these characters talk to each other.

Fortunately, the sexism in the earthly world of jazz performers is finally starting to come to light.
Message posted on 2021-04-02 15:08:44
reparteeanimal disagreed with the rating and said:
22-as-Joe talks to Joe's mom Libba about the suit but more so in relation to it belonging to his deceased father. Also, from Libba's perspective she's talking to her son, not knowingly to another female (soul). I think this fails the test (as the Mother Theresa flashback is too brief of a bit to count), unless there's some strong argument to be made in the other ambiguous soul counselor characters.
Message posted on 2021-04-03 00:24:51
Gabor Nyeki said:
If we accept 22 to be female, then the film meets all three criteria. 22 has a conversation with Joe's middle-school student, Connie, about whether to quit school or stay and keep playing the trombone which she loves.
Message posted on 2021-05-06 19:51:25

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