Comments on: Bechdel-Wallace test

By: Carbonel

Carbonel — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:24:57 +0000

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that rumours of the show’s cancellation have been much exaggerated. Phew!

Way to give your Faithful Reader heart failure–!

Does the test apply to “two girls” not just “women”? If so, just about all the Walden Media Films pass. Except Holes of course.

Come to think of it, if you let the wossname test keep you from reading (or watching) Holes, you’ve let ideology rot your brain.

So never mind…

By: claire

claire — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:11:03 +0000

ha! i was just doing a blog post on this a couple of weeks ago.

wanna hear the weirdest film that passed the test (with flying colors)? it was “pitch black” the first vin diesel “riddick” movie. weird, huh?

it’s because riddick wasn’t the protagonist of the first film, it was the radha mitchell character. and there’s also an essentially transgender character in the flick.

i’ve always LOVED that movie but didn’t realize any of this stuff about it until i applied the bechdel test to it. the awesome power of the bechdel test!

By: Serafina Zane

Serafina Zane — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:10:38 +0000

Hmmm…I think books are a lot more likely too than movies, because books just generally tend to have more subplots and characters where movies get simplified a lot (unfortunately).

I’ve only seen about one episode of The Middleman but I’d really like to catch up, because it seems so awesome.

By: Maud Newton: Blog

Maud Newton: Blog — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:44:56 +0000

[...] you reckon the percentage of literary novels meeting the Bechdel-Wallace test has increased since it was codified in [...]

By: Julia Rios

Julia Rios — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:10:29 +0000

I meant to thank you for recommending this show a while ago. We started watching it after I read your previous post praising it, and I completely agree with what you’ve said here. It’s great! Lacey and Dub Dub talk to each other, Dub Dub has all kinds of agency, there are non-white characters who are real people and not stereotypes, and it is also totally hilarious. So thanks for clueing me in.

By: janet

janet — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:57:02 +0000

Was this just a case of synchronicity, or were you reminded of the rule by this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94202522

It’s a great rule. And once when Matt started to explain it to someone, they said “Hmmm…. Let’s see, there’s Alien.”

By: alisa

alisa — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:13:54 +0000

so, you are the one who addicted me to middleman, thanks for that! i’m behind on episodes, but i am relieved it’s not being canceled.

was thinking about the test – been familiar with it for awhile and i realized that my wip passes the test in the first chapter. but, yeah, movies? not so much.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:09:53 +0000

No spoilers, just want to say that the season finale is awesome and I am jealous that you still have an episode left that you haven’t seen, because “new” Middleman episodes are a treat. Fingers crossed for another season!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:26:57 +0000

In a standard Romance novel, how many guys are there?

By: Rachel Green

Rachel Green — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:08:19 +0000

*middlelove*

Happily, all my novels pass the test. Phew!

By: Andrew M Butler

Andrew M Butler — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:58:26 +0000

What depresses me about Hollywood films is how few of the big blockbusters have a second woman to be talked to. In Dark Knight it looked as if it shouldn’t be a surprise that there was a love triangle as at times it looked like there was only one woman in Gotham City. Not quite true – there was a wife-and-mother for one character, and a female cop, but that’s probably it for named characters. Iron Man did have two but … sheeesh. Don’t get met started. It still feels like the woman is there primarily to give an alibi for the close nature of the male buddy bond.

By: cat

cat — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:57:29 +0000

Thanks…I was so worried that The Middleman was going to be cancelled. I have not been able to watch too many episodes because everytime it is on I get called out to work. I gave up and decided to wait for the DVD then I heard rumors that is was going to be cancelled. I am happy to hear that will not be happening. The writing, acting, and characterization are great. I love the rapid fire and intelligent dialogue. It is a must see. Glad you are out of the bunker and hopefully can catch up on this amazing show. I root for repeats! or DVD releases!!