Movies I watched in 2008 that passed the Bechdel test.
A lot of people blog about the Bechdel Test for movies (a film passes if two women talk to each other about something other than a man), but I’ve had a hard time finding lists of movies that pass or fail.
I watch movies that fail, but last year I kept track to be aware of the basic gender decency of my media consumption. (I count lots of things. I am surprised how far away from gender equity I get if I don’t make a conscious effort to read women authors and listen to music by women. This is also a stirring game with race, sexuality, languages…) Since I had a list, I thought I’d post it online.
Titles in bold are films I’m glad I watched.
- Made In Secret (women talk about porn, collective process, film projects)
- Right At Your Door (women talk on the phone about a bioterrorist attack, their feelings)
- No Country For Old Men (women talk briefly about how they annoy each other)
- Aliens (talking about the monsters, feelings, whatnot)
- Eagle vs. Shark (women talk about family and business, if I recall.)
- Qallunaat! (women joke about colonial literature, white culture)
- Malcolm X (just barely… women talk about race and poverty in a conversation about a man)
- Paris is Burning (trans women talk about voguing, their bodies)
- The Golden Compass (talking about adventures)
- Short Circuit (talking about pets)
- The Big Lebowski (barely… we see Maude’s side of a phone conversation about art with her friend Sandra, who we don’t hear and never meet.)
- Labyrinth (talking about curfew, making a junk heap)
- Chicago (talking about careers, fame, each other)
- Notting Hill (dinner conversation about themselves)
- Heat (talking very briefly about finding barrettes)
- Dostana (talking about careers… but I disqualify this movie for raging homophobia.)
- Lord of the Rings with commentary (the women writer-directors talk about women actors and crew, production choices)
- Hannah and her Sisters (talking about sisters)
- Eastern Promises (I’m pretty sure women talk about a baby girl)
- Dangerous Liasons (women talk about other women, sex)
- Knocked Up (women talk about careers, abortion, their bodies)
- Half Nelson (mother-daughter chatting)
- Gone Baby Gone (I’m pretty sure women talk about a missing girl)
I watched 83 movies in 2008 and less than a third had women talking to each other. In 2009 I should keep track of women directors and really shock myself.