Hey there movie fans, ever heard of the Bechdel test?

Richie Benson LGBTQ+ relationships, TV and media

The Bechdel Test allows you to play a small part in giving women fairer representation on screen

What is the Bechdel test?

It’s pretty common knowledge that Hollywood is a male-dominated world. But through the Bechdel test (pronounced beck-del) we, as viewers, can help to change that. It’s basically a test which can be applied to any movie and other forms of fiction to evaluate whether women are being fairly represented.

So, how does it work?

The Bechdel test asks three questions:

Does it has to have at least two women in it?
Do those two women talk to each other?
Do they talk to each other about something besides men?

If the answer is YES to all three of those questions, then the movie passes the test. If there’s a NO in there, then it fails. It’s as simple as that.

Next time you’re watching a film, ask yourself those three questions and see if the film passes the test.

So, what does this mean?

It means that you the viewer, through the small act of putting a film you’re watching through the Bechdel test, can play a part in shaping the future of cinema. You can be an active supporter of fairer representation of women on screen. You can highlight films that fail the test and champion those that pass it.

You might be surprised by some of the films that fail the test. And *spoiler alert* some of them might be your favourite films. A bunch of some of the bigger titles to fall short of passing are in this YouTube video. So far, almost 10,000 movies have been put through the test with a pass rate of just 57%!

So go on, try it out for yourself. Before you pick the next film you watch, have a look on the Bechdel test site and see if it passes the test or not. If you watch films that pass the Bechel test, that sends a message to directors in Hollywood that they need to more fairly represent women in cinema.

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