Thor is given that privilege, even though he has no relationship with Hela before the start of the film. As for that new study that shows the first four seasons of Doctor Who passing the Bechdel Test more than the recent seasons... five or six entire internets have been written about the relative strengths of Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added. ‘The Bechdel Test itself is totally silly, but there's power in its simplicity’ Corrina Antrobus is the founder of the Bechdel Test Fest, an ongoing series of feminist movie screenings and post-film discussions, panels and talks. Representation matters! It's the start of a process. So, let’s take a deeper look at four reasons why using the Bechdel Test in the classroom can be a great thing for helping students talk about representation in media! Not all cinema requires more than one female character, to be feminist. There have been previous attempts to define the parameters of the Bechdel Test in the rather tricksy gaming format where the emphasis is on experience, not story, and choice, rather than scenes. While the Bechdel Test is a very important observation, it does not serve as an indication for gender equality in cinema. Edge Of The Bechdel Test: Why Counting Box Office Is More Important Than Counting Interactions Some thoughts on the Bechdel Test, the Mako Mori Test and a proposed Elsa/Katniss Test… And given how many men are getting to direct huge movies based on experience as production designers (Robert Stromberg), cinematographers (Wally Pfister) and writers (Roberto Orci) — none of which really guarantee that you'll be an accomplished director — it would be nice to see Hollywood also giving directing opportunities to women who've come at it via unconventional paths. But yes — the Bechdel Test is just the start of a conversation about how marginal women still are (in front of the camera and behind). And as always, don’t forget to subscribe to our site for more info (in the top right of this window). About. I often use the section to also address how a movie interacts with other social issues, like the representation of minorities, and sometimes even to discuss how damaging male stereotypes are dismantled or reinforced. The Bechdel test is a list of criteria that evaluate the gender representation in a film. 2.2 BECHDEL TEST Bechdel test breakdown in action. The Bechdel Test is more important than most of us realize and, in fact, it has launched a dialogue about not only the lack of females in movies, but also the racial disparities we often see in cinema. Sometimes, when working with students, they’ll say something like, “But girls do just talk about boys all the time!” Maybe this remark will be to get a laugh from the class, maybe it really reflects the student’s opinion of what women do and don’t discuss, but that’s a fruitful place to talk about the way women speak with one another, and why it’s so rare to see women’s conversations represented in media. Not sure what the Bechdel test is and why it’s important? Let’s breakdown for the Bechdel. The Bechdel test is an irresistibly simple gauge of female representation and gender inequality in film. That said, it’s important to remind students that failing the Bechdel Test isn’t necessarily an indicator of a lack of quality in a text—it’s just one metric by which we can observe and comment upon trends in media. Asking a group of kids “how do you feel about the representation of women in media?” is an enormous question and can be overwhelming! 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