Welcome all to the first edition of a new philosophic category on my blog. Like with music and philosophy, this too is for a class. However, instead of music, I will be discussing women. Anyone who reads my blog knows I am a fan of film and the genre of film is a great medium to discuss not only philosophical points but also women and so today’s blog is about film.
Rather than be a about a particular film, I will be discussing the issue of the Beckdale test. The Beckdale test was first created in a comic called Dykes to Look Out For and the first film they mention that passes it is Aliens although Alien also passes.
Here is how the test works: watch a movie, any movie, or even a particular episode of a television series, and then see if it fits the following criteria:
1) There are at least two female characters that are credited with actual names so it does not count if they are called “female officer 1” or “girl at diner”.
2) Any two named female characters must then at some point in the film have a conversation with each other.
3) This conversation must last at least 45 seconds…
4) …and it must be on any topic other than boys, men, or males in general.
It is in fact quite scary to discover just how few films pass this test. This test does not prove that a movie is bad or sexist, chauvinistic, or anti-feminist. There are plenty of masterpiece films that do not pass the test simply because the plot never allows for it. However, it is a very each fix. Some films, but not all could easily switch the gender roles of characters and it would be fine. This of course only applies to films where the gender of certain characters really does not matter. Although that raises the question of “should it ever even really matter?” The real problem is not that every film passes this test but that films are made typically centered around male characters and male stories and plots. Even certain films in which the main title character is female and the film for the most part follows her around, fail the test. Take for example Run, Lola, Run (which coincidentally will be the next film I review. I promise I will start doing zombie films again also). RLR is a fantastic masterpiece of existential and empirical bliss. I can honestly say it is in my top-five-favorite-movies-of-all-time-list. However, it fails. Of course, Lola never talks to any character really for more than five minutes and the film is not exactly dialogue driven but the fact still remains. Again, the point is not that these failing the test makes these films bad or anything like that—it simply makes one think a bit more about popular culture. There are dozens of films where this problem could be erased by switching roles of minor characters or just adding an extra character or something and none of this would ruin the feel fo the film. Some films must fail the test simply because of their plot, theme, and message like the film No Country For Old Men—another fantastic film. If a scene or character was added or a role was reversed in this film, it might take away from the films mood. I am not saying that women in films take away from the film—all I am saying is that in a film about middle-aged men that is a work on middle-aged men encountering certain plot points, it would make little sense to change it. You can even watch it and decide. An example of a great film that I love that fails the test but could have passed it if it wanted to is Dawn of the Dead 1978. In one of the opening scenes when Fran is in the television newsroom, she interacts with many characters and none of the dialogue refers to men. The best way to fix it I can think of it when the one of the crew tells Fran they are shutting down later so it is okay if she leaves, the cameraman could easily be changed to a female and then given a name with simple dialogue like Fran responding “You sure Jen?” or “ok Ruth” or something simple like that.
What can we do about this? We can always make a few more female centered films, which would not only solve this problem but the simple bigger problem that not many films still today are female centered.
In addition, I challenge you to:
Go watch your favorite film and see if it passes
If you are a film lover like me, own a ton of DVD’s that you have seen countless times, and think you can remember without re-watching them if they pass, go thru your collection and see how many out of how many pass.
Determine which films that fail, regardless of how great they are, could not be altered to pass the test such as NCFOM.
Feel free to report back with your findings and leave them in your comments.
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ReplyDeleteI imagine you would get more responses from other members of the class if your WP posts were a little more concise.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate, however, your observation about the paucity of substantive women's roles in almost any genre of film. This is not new, of course, but it surprises many people that it has not really improved a whole lot since we began observing it in the 1960s.
it's the Bechdel test, not Beckdale. consider editing your post.
ReplyDelete