I’ve written about the Bechdel Test for films on this blog before, but I thought it was worth traversing the territory again in light of the Oscars
performance yesterday.
Of the nine films nominated for Oscars in 2013, not one of
them was able to clearly pass the Bechdel Test for films.
The Bechdel Test for films
is a simple equation set up to highlight the lack of women represented in film.
It goes like this:
Does the film
1. Have at least two named women in it?
2. Who talk to each other?
3. About something besides men?
If the answer to all three questions is yes, the film passes the test.
1. Have at least two named women in it?
2. Who talk to each other?
3. About something besides men?
If the answer to all three questions is yes, the film passes the test.
The test aims to prove that the film industry is structured
to make films about men for men.
Alison Bechdel introduced something called ‘the Rule’ to her
cartoon strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, in
1985. One of the characters in the strip decided she would only see a film that
met the three criteria above. She started a phenomenon. It is now a widely
studied and acknowledged rule with its website currently rating almost 4,000
movies.
Even the Oscar-nominated films with female protagonists,
namely Zero Dark Thirty and Beasts of the Southern Wild, aren’t clear-cut
Bechdel Test winners. While some people on the Bechdel site have voted them in
as passing, there is a strong debate going on, with many others disagreeing
that these two movies pass the test.
Silver Linings Playbook comes the closest to scoring a pass,
but even there, the conversation that happens between two women about something
other than men comes down to one scene at which two men are present. Many
disagree that this scene scores the film a pass, and so it is officially ranked
as ‘dubious’ – a title also given to host Seth MacFarlane’s decision to sing a
song about boobs as an opening number.
This is how far we’ve come, ladies and gentleman – just when
we get some female leads in film and female directors being nominated, our
roles have once again to be reduced to boobs. Just to keep us in our place. And
if you don’t laugh and see the joke, you’re just a big fat bore. And probably a
lesbian.
In the interests of not wasting my energy getting angry about things that others have already got angry about, I finish my rant here and offer these two brilliant reviews of Seth MacFarlane's Oscars performance:
From Jezebel: Sexism Fatigue: When Seth MacFarlane Is a Complete Ass and You Don't Even Notice
From the New Yorker: Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars' Hostile, Ugly, Sexist Night
(You might be happy to know that MacFarlance won't be coming back next year. But I think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler might be busy...)
In the interests of not wasting my energy getting angry about things that others have already got angry about, I finish my rant here and offer these two brilliant reviews of Seth MacFarlane's Oscars performance:
From Jezebel: Sexism Fatigue: When Seth MacFarlane Is a Complete Ass and You Don't Even Notice
From the New Yorker: Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars' Hostile, Ugly, Sexist Night
(You might be happy to know that MacFarlance won't be coming back next year. But I think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler might be busy...)
I thought it was worth reporting an exchange I had with my friend, Wendy. I asked if she thought we didn't need a revolution, and she replied, 'I think we do. I hear some rumblings but I'm not sure if that's just because I'm listening out for them!'
ReplyDeleteAll I could respond with was the this:
'Most days i am disbelieving that we're not in the midst of a revolution and then i hear women talking who have no idea how much they're being duped and i despair, i truly despair. they say how bitchy women are as though men are the most magnanimous creatures. or that women are rubbish bosses, as though they've never had a boss feel them up or make unpleasant passing comments. i mean, PULEASE! i gave up trying to tell my mum why she should be offended at the 'we saw their boobs' song at the oscars. sigh.'
As I said to Wendy, all we can do is keep pointing it out ad infinitum and try to retain a sense of humour while doing so. Hard work, but then women have always been the harder working sex. (With the best sense of humour, in spite of "not being funny". Lol)