# Name your favourite movie - but it has to pass the test! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880 "2012-02-15T02:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/41 "2012-02-15T07:03:48Z")
Hmmm…is there a minimum length or content threshold I have to meet before I can consider it “talking to each other”? If not, _G.I. Joe: The Movie_ (1987) just barely qualifies—if you can count snarled, mid-brawl threats. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/42 "2012-02-15T08:44:46Z")
The Great Muppet Caper. Miss Piggy and Lady Holiday discuss work. Looking through the list, I see several Muppet movies. I don’t see A New Leaf, which is one of my favorites. Henrietta talks to a hostess about spilling wine on a rug, but I’m not sure if the hostess has a name. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/43 "2012-02-15T09:02:17Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > My favorite movie is “Rear Window” and there’s at least one conversation between Liza and Stella discussing how a certain (female) body might be buried. Granted, the conversation might refer to the husband of said female body - not 100% sure. > > Anyway, strikes me as kind of an arbitrary test! It is arbitrary, but it’s still fun. The arbitrariness starts to really shine when you think of a hypothetical horror movie with two female leads who spend the movie talking about the giant supernatural ghost trying to kill them. The arbitrariness comes in if you realize it’d be fine if the killer was a force of nature, alien blob or a woman, but as soon as it’s a man it’s disqualified. Nor does such a movie have to even have a particularly bad script, if most of the characterization is about a dead teenage friend (who happens to be male), or a dead father, or anything else. Aaaanyway, I realized one of my favorite movies doesn’t pass the test: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The only time I can think of with meaningful on-screen female conversation is when the secretary and her boss’ wife are talking about the boss. I don’t think Clem directly interacts with any female on screen. Therefore, my passing movie is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Which passes by the skin of its teeth, with minor conversations that are _technically_ not directly about the main character (it passes by letter more than by spirit). As well as one savior conversation where Knives tells Envy she loves her band. Though I guess it all depends on exactly what qualifies as a conversation as well. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/44 "2012-02-15T09:21:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I find that to be a highly dubious assertion. War, crime, sports, (vigilante) justice/revenge; how many movies have been made on these topics? Would you agree that they’re man-centric topics that lend themselves particularly well to the big screen? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/45 "2012-02-15T09:29:44Z")
Also, the definitions of “conversation” and “about” are a bit vague. Does the conversation have to be personal, meaning can a female be addressing a group with one or more males in it, so long as there’s also one or more females in it (assuming the female(s) participates in the conversation). What is the delineates conversations, if they talk about something, and then a guy comes up later in the conversation does that taint the whole thing? If they’re talking about, say, a magical car for 99% of the conversation and then the last line was “I know a guy who can drive it” was the conversation ABOUT the man because it mentioned him? What if a conversation is fundamentally about a war strategy, but a key general happens to be male, and occasionally the strategy conversation is peppered with “well, then we’ll have general Guy…” It’s not about him, it’s about the war, he just happens to be involved. What if the movie revolves around two kings in war? Is a conversation mentioning the war implicitly about the male kings since the undercurrent of the conversation is about the politics of the two kings, even if they’re never mentioned explicitly? I still thinks it’s amusing to think about, but I find questioning the exact rules of the test fun too :D. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/46 "2012-02-15T10:37:56Z")
How about Shakespeare in Love, for the conversations between the Queen and Viola? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/47 "2012-02-15T11:47:35Z")
**Lawrence of Arabia.** The tribesmen _thought_ the women on the cliffs were singing them off to battle, but actually ululation is a secret language they use when they want to talk shit. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/48 "2012-02-15T11:54:46Z")
_Seems Like Old Times_ - Goldie Hawn and her cook/housekeeper, Aurora, have conversations about the dogs (some are male - is that disqualifying?), about household issues, and about Aurora going to the doctor to get her feet scraped. OK, it’s not my \*favorite \*movie, but I like it enough to rewatch it on occasion… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/49 "2012-02-15T12:15:43Z")
**Black Narcissus** is my favorite film that passes the text, followed by _The Spirit of the Beehive, Persona_, and _Footlight Parade_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/50 "2012-02-15T13:38:55Z")
**Thelma and Louise**. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/51 "2012-02-15T13:40:50Z")
Aliens has already been mentioned, so I’ll add **Coraline**. More than half the characters are female, and they seldom talk about males. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/52 "2012-02-15T13:42:43Z")
My favorite movie, _A Tale of Two Cities_: Lucie and Miss Pross talk about Sydney a lot, mostly with Pross dissing him and Lucie defending him, but they also talk about other things, and Pross gives Madame Defarge a good verbal beatdown: “You might – from your appearance – be the wife of Lucifer; yet you shall not get the better of me. I’m an Englishwoman! I’m your match!” Go Pross! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/53 "2012-02-15T13:49:38Z")
_The Fisher King_. Man what a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/54 "2012-02-15T13:59:36Z")
My favorite movie of all time is _The Warriors_, for which I’ll have to wrestle the rules into a pretzel, but there are actually 3 women in the movie, although two of them are background characters (the prom dates in the subway at the end) – but they do, sort of, talk to each other. Of course, we have no idea what they are saying … and they aren’t named characters … and neither one speaks to the one woman character who does have name, but they kind of share an awkward glance with each other. So there you go … _The Warriors_. Best Bechdel movie of all time. Oh shit … I forgot about The Lizzies. There you go, wrestling match cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/55 "2012-02-15T14:01:47Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Kill Bill > > (first thing I thought of, may not actually be my favorite of them) ha ha… The movie I first thought of was Pulp Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/56 "2012-02-15T14:03:21Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > _The Fisher King_. Man what a great movie. It fails the test, though, doesn’t it? As do all of the _Lord of the Rings_ movies. No two women who speak even appear in a scene together, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/57 "2012-02-15T14:11:41Z")
Before reading the OP, my first thought was _My Cousin Vinny_. But surely that doesn’t pass the Bechdal test. But it’s on the list. Other than Marissa Tomei, the blind woman, and the “fry 'em” woman, who didn’t talk to each other, what other women were in that? As far as recent movies, I’m sure that _New Years Eve_ passes the test. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/58 "2012-02-15T14:14:57Z")
Airplane! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/59 "2012-02-15T15:04:57Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Airplane! Mentioned in post #33. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880/60 "2012-02-15T15:29:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > War, crime, sports, (vigilante) justice/revenge; how many movies have been made on these topics? Would you agree that they’re man-centric topics that lend themselves particularly well to the big screen? But how are you defining man-centric? Women are involved in war, crime, justice/revenge etc., too. Just because we’re so used to seeing men hog the limelight in these kind of movies doesn’t mean they are inherently “man-centric”. Even when you consider movies that don’t have stereotypical masculine themes, male characters tend to be fleshed out a lot more than female ones. One piece of glurge like this that I remember from the 90’s was **Grand Canyon**. Steve Martin (a big shot Hollywood producer who gets a new take on life after getting shot in the thigh), Kevin Kline (a middle-class yuppie who fawns over Danny Glover after being rescued from muggers), and Danny Glover (a tow truck driver who is dillusioned with the state of the world today) were given more depth and complexity to their characters than Alfre Woodard, Mary McDonnell, and Mary-Louise Parker, whose delimmas revolved around single parenthood in the ghetto, an abandoned baby, and seducing Kevin Kline. So as an addendum to Bechdal test, we should address how female characters often have to play mother figures too. A few movies that I’ve enjoyed that pass the Bechdal test: The Wiz, Monster, Bridesmaids, Eve’s Bayou, Gummo, Set It Off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favourite-movie-but-it-has-to-pass-the-test/612880.md?page=4)