I was hesitant to count the Gaston song as “about” Gaston, the undercurrent of the song seemed to be primarily about why Gaston should get Belle, and the very into of the song (before the singing but after the music cues) talked about her IIRC. But this is where the wishy-washyness of the test’s rules start coming into play. Assuming I’m not off my rocker.
Definitely. I don’t think Juno’s Dad, Paulie Bleeker, or Jason Bateman (did his character even have a name?) ever even speak to each other. And if they do, it’s definitely about Juno.
I don’t recall any male-male conversations in Devil Wears Prada.
Wendy and Lucy qualifies.
Fantasia fails the reverse test, and while it’s a gimmick movie, it does almost sort of pass the regular Bechdel test: The only speech in the movie is a group of women, singing about another woman.
Given Gaston’s personality, I’d say a song he sings about how great he is really is about how great he is.
A chunk of the “Mob Song” sequence also involves Gaston, accompanied by Lefou and the male villagers, singing about how they’re going to kill the Beast. (Belle and the village women are present at the beginning, but are left behind when the men head for the woods.) I’d say this passes the looser version of the RBT, but I don’t think there’s 60 uninterrupted seconds of the all-male portion and it’s kind of iffy with the named character bit. Lefou is present and singing with the chorus, but the non-Gaston lines are mostly from the perspective of the anonymous villagers.
Doesn’t Mickey talk with conductor Leopold Stokowski at one point?
The Before Sunrise trilogy seems a good candidate for movies that would pass neither the BT or the RBT, since most of these movies are long conversations between a man and a woman. However, IIRC the recent Before Midnight passes both tests. The movie opens with Jesse talking to his son. Celine speak briefly (in French) to her daughters about buying food at a shop, and before the dinner party scene Celine speaks to the other women about food. At the same time, Jesse is talking about his writing with the other men.
It’s been years since I saw Before Sunrise, but I remember there is a brief scene where they meet some guys who invite them to see a play they’re involved with. I don’t remember this well enough to say whether it would count as a conversation between Jesse and these other guys or if Celine participates equally.
I’ve never seen Before Sunset and can’t comment.
Waiting to Exhale had several named male characters, but I don’t recall two of them ever having a conversation - they existed in the story only in relation to the women.
I don’t remember it very well, but I’m thinking of checking out Steel Magnolias. It might fail a reverse BT. Also, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood.
Educating Rita?
Yeah, Beauty and the Beast probably passes.
But I thought of one. What about Coraline? Do any of the male characters even talk to each other? Maybe the little boy and the dad?
Good call. There’s no conversation I can recall between Wybie and the dad, and even if there had been, it would have likely been about Coraline. And when Wybie meets the mouse circus guy, he’s the rat circus guy and Wybie is mute.
I think Out of Africa might fail… It’s been a while, but I think Streep’s character’s on-screen pretty much the whole time, and I don’t think there’s an entire minute where two men are talking about something other than her.
Thelma & Louise. The male supporting roles don’t talk to each other much, and if they do, it’s always about the protagonists.
The Joy Luck Club.
Tangled would come close to failing, I think, depending on how you counted the chase scene with the Stabbbington brothers. It’s over a minute, but it’s more chasing than talking.
Brave might work. There are lots of male-male conversations, but as best I can recall they’re all about competing for Merida.
I’ve been trying to think of movies set largely in all-female environments. I thought that Sister Act, set mostly in a convent, might not pass the RBT, but the
[quote list on the IMDB]
(Sister Act (1992) - Quotes - IMDb) turned up this exchange between the mobster and his lawyer:
Vince: How can you let them grill me there for six hours?
Larry: I can’t control how long they’re gonna question you.
Vince: Did you go to law school, Harry?
Larry: Yeah, I went to law school, Vince.
Vince: Did you graduate?
Larry: Hey, I’m a lawyer, of course I graduated.
It’s easy to forget about brief scenes like this when considering the BT or RBT.
I can’t recall there being any significant male-male conversations in “Bad Teacher”.
Touche! Completely forgot about that conversation. And Silberman ends up becoming a recurring character, so not just some name-tag.
I see I misunderstood the intention, but #3 threw me. If you’re talking about one conversation with women as the subject causing the movie to fail this test, then some of mine also fit – Key Largo have Bogart and Robinson discussing Claire Trevor; Casablanca has Rick and Renault talking about Ilsa. In The Big Sleep, Marlowe and Eddie Mars talk about Mrs. Rutledge.
I assume that American Pie, by its very nature would seem to have named characters talking about women all the time (haven’t seen it).
Play it Again Sam has Woody Allen and the Humphrey Bogart character constantly talking about women.
Hitch is nothing but conversations about women.
In Chicago, Billy and Amos have a conversation about Roxie, and the number “She Reached for the Gun” is all about Roxie in the form of an interview with male newspaper reporters (I’m assuming certain things in the stage musical that were neither confirmed nor denied in the movie).
As stated, #3 of the test is very confusing and seems to say any conversation by two men talking about a woman means the movie fails the test. That would include any movie where two buddies were discussing one guy’s girlfriend or love life – very common.