I saw this video on Facebook today. It talks about how this year’s Oscar nominees for best picture measure up to the Bechdel Test, a test created by Alison Bechdel, the lesbian, feminist author of Dykes to Watch Out For. Basically, it’s about women’s under-representation in film. While I appreciate the test in principle, I do find some flaws in it. A movie passes the Bechdel test if it shows at least two women talking about something other than a man. While, in theory, this seems like a test that any good feminist (and I do consider myself one!) would appreciate, some of the reasons that a film fails this test bother me. For instance, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close fails because when two women talk they’re discussing the boy in the film who is dealing with the loss of his father in 9/11. The character is 9 years old and it’s his mother and sister discussing him. Women’s lives (of which the Bechdel Test is trying to measure Hollywood’s representation) is complex and includes valued males like husbands, brothers, fathers, sons and friends.
As a progressive single, I would suggest an alternate version: how about we judge a movie as passing if there are two people talking about something other than a coupled relationship. I think that probably a lot more movies would pass but I’m sure a lot would fail too! Perhaps we could amend the test further to say a movie passes this progressive singles test if a significant (a subjective term but I’m still working all of this out in my head) part of the plot involves something other than a coupled relationship. I still feel a bit muddled about all this but I hope it provides some food for thought, nonetheless!! I know I’ll consider it next time I watch a movie.
Solo Soul 