The Bechdel Test and Women in the Media

I was perusing Facebook the other night, and I followed this link one of my friends had shared asking if the movie I was about to watch passed the Bechdel Test.
Intrigued, I read through the short comic which detailed the rules of this test.  Essentially, in order for a movie to pass the Bechdel Test it must meet the following criteria:

1. There must be at least two female characters
2. They must talk to one another
3. And the subject of their discussion can not be a man

At first I thought the Bechdel Test would be similar to those pictures you see on Facebook asking you to "Name a state without the letter 'S' in it" that normally follow with a caption along the lines of, "It's harder than you think" when it's actually incredibly simple.  This test, however, was not quite as easy to pass.

The Bechdel Test - Films and TV Shows that Pass

Rather than turn this post into a listing of art that passes the Bechdel Test, I want to highlight a couple that pass with flying colors.  The film Matilda was released in 1996 and is based from the Roald Dahl book of the same name.  If follows a young girl who, unlike the rest of her family, has a passion for books and knowledge.  She battles her overbearing and chauvinistic father and despicable principal--all with the power of her mind.  Okay, so she has magical powers, but those powers originate in her mind, right?  Hocus pocus aside, this film teaches young children that their dreams, aspirations, and intelligence matter much more than a pretty face ever will.

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Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is a television show which goes above and beyond to satisfy the Bechdel Test.  SVU follows five New York City detectives who work to solve cases which are sexually explicit.  It is important to not that not every single episode of this show pass the Bechdel Test.  Given that the show predominantly centers around rape, men tend to be involved in 90 percent + of conversations.  However, the lady detectives on SVU are the farthest from weak women that I can think of.  There was a recent episode in which Detective Amanda Rollins' sister betrayed her in the worst ways imaginable, and Detective Rollins broke down.  Yes, she had an emotional breakdown, but she also gathered enough strength to hold her sister accountable.  The women on this show are not perfect, nor are they portrayed as superheroes compared to their male counterparts, but they are genuine.  They are real.  They aren't simply women who fight crime, rather they are people who fight crime, and just happen to have a vagina.

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The Bechdel Test - A Good Starting Point

The Bechdel Test is generally a fantastic tool to determine if a film or television show are worth watching, but it isn't a comprehensive dictator of the feminism present (or absent).  The point of the Bechdel Test shouldn't center around passing, but rather about demanding dimensional characters.  The old adage is that art imitates life, and if this is the case, media has a lot of catching up.  Men and women alike are not measured by the words they mutter about the other, but by the people they are.  I'm not looking to watch stereotypes about my gender or about my boyfriend's gender.  I am looking for writers, producers, directors, etc. to create multi-faceted people who just happen to be either male or female.  A strong character isn't created by gender.  A strong character is created by flaws and strengths.  If we are the inspiration, then I think we deserve to be portrayed accurately.

The Bechdel Test - Further Reading

If you want to learn more about the Bechdel Test and its implications in modern media, I encourage you to check out the following links.

Bechdel Movie Test
Bechdel and Me
Bechdel Test (Wikipedia)