There are occasionally debates on this forum about sexism, patriarchy, privilege, etc. Sometimes there are situations where a female member is describing something she perceives as unbalanced and a male member just doesn't see how it is unbalanced.
Here's a way to quantify some of it.
The Bechdel Test:
Well, that's how a lot of movies look to women.
Here's a website devoted to it:
Bechdel Test Movie List
Their stats show that of over 3,600 movies in their list, nearly half of the movies do not pass the test. In half of movies, there is not a single instance of two women talking with each other about something other than a man. And in one third of movies, there isn't even a case of two named female characters talking with each other at all, whether it's about a man or anything.
It's also worth noting that a lot of the subset of movies that do pass it, barely pass it. Like, there are one or two short instances in a two-hour movie where women talk to each other, so it technically passes.
Examples:
10 Famous Films That Surprisingly Fail The Bechdel Test | Film School Rejects
On this list are The Social Network, some of the Harry Potter films, Avatar, the entire original Star Wars Trilogy (in fact in that entire depicted universe that shows multiple technologically advanced civilizations, there were only three named female characters, Leia, Mon Mothma, and Aunt Beru, and they never talked with each other at all), the entire 12 hour Lord of the Rings Trilogy (again, in travels to multiple kingdoms, at no point do two named female characters even talk with each other at all), and Run Lola Run.
Several Popular Examples That Don't Pass:
Batman Begins and Dark Knight Rises
Toy Story 1 and 2
The Amazing Spiderman
The Prestige
Every Lord of the Rings Film, and the Hobbit
The Departed
Big Fish
Finding Nemo
Three out of four of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies
Gladiator
The Truman Show
Lion King
Every Disney Aladdin Movie
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Blade Runner
Avatar
Planet of the Apes
Three of the Harry Potter Films
District 9
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Memento
Good Will Hunting
Forrest Gump
Every Indiana Jones movie
Slumdog Millionaire
Limitless
Both Sherlock Holmes movies
Soloist
Where the Wild Things Are
Wanted
The 40 Year Old Virgin
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Madagascar
The Aviator
The Butterfly Effect
I, Robot
Napoleon Dynamite
The Polar Express
The Avengers
The Spider-man movies
The Last Airbender
Burn After Reading
The Hudsucker Proxy
Monster's Inc.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Proposal
Speed Racer
Yes Man
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
She's the Man
Lucky Number Slevin
The Pursuit of Happyness
Ultraviolet
Wristcutters, a Love Story
You, Me, and Dupree
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D
Thank You For Smoking
War of the Worlds
Most of the Bourne Identity Movies
Invictus
The Invention of Lying
Nine
Watchmen
Hancock
Kung Fu Panda
Marley and Me
Milk
Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace
The Woman in Black
Cowboys and Aliens
Shrek
An Extremely Goofy Movie
Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time
Shutter Island
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Funny People
Ice Age, Ice Age the Meltdown, Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The Prince of Egypt
The Wedding Singer
Air Force One
The Fifth Element
Gattaca
Every Men in Black movie
Space Jam
Mission Impossible
Spy Hard
The Long Kiss Goodnight
While You Were Sleeping
Waterworld
Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen
Troy
Galaxy Quest
The Iron Giant
The Mummy
Office Space
Wild Wild West
American History X
Armageddon
Liar Liar
And it's noticeable. A given 2-hour movie where two named female characters don't talk with each other about something other than a man (or even about anything) even once? Applied in reverse for men, just about every popular movie would pass this test, with men talking to each other about something other than women, or at least about something even if it's a woman, at least once.
That's what it's like when I watch movies. Central male characters with some female characters that primarily interact with the central male characters.
Just wanted to point out this perspective for discussion with several examples and some statistics. :sarcastic
Here's a way to quantify some of it.
The Bechdel Test:
I wanted to make this thread to show some guys how things look to some women. Imagine that a large chunk of your favorite movies do not have one instance of a man talking to another man about something other than a woman- not one instance. It would be weird, right? Like totally gender biased and female-dominated for no apparent reason?The Bechdel test is used to identify gender bias in fiction. A work passes the test if it features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Commentators have noted that a great proportion of contemporary works fail to pass this threshold of representing women.
Well, that's how a lot of movies look to women.
Here's a website devoted to it:
Bechdel Test Movie List
Their stats show that of over 3,600 movies in their list, nearly half of the movies do not pass the test. In half of movies, there is not a single instance of two women talking with each other about something other than a man. And in one third of movies, there isn't even a case of two named female characters talking with each other at all, whether it's about a man or anything.
It's also worth noting that a lot of the subset of movies that do pass it, barely pass it. Like, there are one or two short instances in a two-hour movie where women talk to each other, so it technically passes.
Examples:
10 Famous Films That Surprisingly Fail The Bechdel Test | Film School Rejects
On this list are The Social Network, some of the Harry Potter films, Avatar, the entire original Star Wars Trilogy (in fact in that entire depicted universe that shows multiple technologically advanced civilizations, there were only three named female characters, Leia, Mon Mothma, and Aunt Beru, and they never talked with each other at all), the entire 12 hour Lord of the Rings Trilogy (again, in travels to multiple kingdoms, at no point do two named female characters even talk with each other at all), and Run Lola Run.
Several Popular Examples That Don't Pass:
Batman Begins and Dark Knight Rises
Toy Story 1 and 2
The Amazing Spiderman
The Prestige
Every Lord of the Rings Film, and the Hobbit
The Departed
Big Fish
Finding Nemo
Three out of four of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies
Gladiator
The Truman Show
Lion King
Every Disney Aladdin Movie
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Blade Runner
Avatar
Planet of the Apes
Three of the Harry Potter Films
District 9
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Memento
Good Will Hunting
Forrest Gump
Every Indiana Jones movie
Slumdog Millionaire
Limitless
Both Sherlock Holmes movies
Soloist
Where the Wild Things Are
Wanted
The 40 Year Old Virgin
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Madagascar
The Aviator
The Butterfly Effect
I, Robot
Napoleon Dynamite
The Polar Express
The Avengers
The Spider-man movies
The Last Airbender
Burn After Reading
The Hudsucker Proxy
Monster's Inc.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Proposal
Speed Racer
Yes Man
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
She's the Man
Lucky Number Slevin
The Pursuit of Happyness
Ultraviolet
Wristcutters, a Love Story
You, Me, and Dupree
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D
Thank You For Smoking
War of the Worlds
Most of the Bourne Identity Movies
Invictus
The Invention of Lying
Nine
Watchmen
Hancock
Kung Fu Panda
Marley and Me
Milk
Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace
The Woman in Black
Cowboys and Aliens
Shrek
An Extremely Goofy Movie
Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time
Shutter Island
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Funny People
Ice Age, Ice Age the Meltdown, Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The Prince of Egypt
The Wedding Singer
Air Force One
The Fifth Element
Gattaca
Every Men in Black movie
Space Jam
Mission Impossible
Spy Hard
The Long Kiss Goodnight
While You Were Sleeping
Waterworld
Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen
Troy
Galaxy Quest
The Iron Giant
The Mummy
Office Space
Wild Wild West
American History X
Armageddon
Liar Liar
And it's noticeable. A given 2-hour movie where two named female characters don't talk with each other about something other than a man (or even about anything) even once? Applied in reverse for men, just about every popular movie would pass this test, with men talking to each other about something other than women, or at least about something even if it's a woman, at least once.
That's what it's like when I watch movies. Central male characters with some female characters that primarily interact with the central male characters.
Just wanted to point out this perspective for discussion with several examples and some statistics. :sarcastic
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