One of the best parts of my Women and Gender Studies Minor is when I have a class discussion with like-minded people. I feel as though the world can be an isolating place a lot of the time. But, within my Women and Gender Studies class, I feel like my classmates really get me. One discussion we had that was absolutely thrilling was a discussion of the Bechdel test. For anyone that doesn’t know in order for a movie to pass the Bechdel test it must:
- Have at least two women with names in it…
- …Who talk to each other…
- …About something that isn’t a man.
- And that’s it!
It’s pretty simple but you’d be surprised about the number of movies that don’t pass this simple test. I did a bit of research and I was especially shocked to see that a lot of movies within my childhood didn’t pass the test. Here are a few!
- Ratatouille
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I was really surprised to see that my favorite Pixar movie didn’t make the cut! But I realized that there was only one named female character within the entire movie. Culotte is a really well-written character who acknowledges the challenge that she’s in a male-dominated field. But I still think there should be at least one other woman in the film.
- The Avengers
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This didn’t really surprise me. At all. I think Marvel is taking steps to fix the “diversity problem” within their movies but, the company still has a long way to go.
- The Original Star Wars Series
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Princess Leia is a feminist icon. It’s a shame that we had to wait for years before she could star in a film that passes the Bechdel test.
- The Princess Bride
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There’s a perfect movie in the world. It’s a pity failing the Bechdel test ruined this one.
- Finding Nemo
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Between Ellen’s fall from grace and the lack of female character in Finding Nemo, I’m disappointed tbh.
- Aladdin
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Princess Jasmine is the only named female character in the movie. It’s mind-blowing that I never noticed before.
- The Lion King
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I know. I was heartbroken too.
I think it’s so important to make sure that people don’t watch media passively. This is especially important for children’s media. In order to raise a generation of feminists, we have to surround them with media that is feminist. Creating films that pass the Bechdel test isn’t going to solve everything but I think it’s a pretty good place to start.