This joke has become very significant for any feminist movement come or gone since. It's a very good example of a joke that is more. And it's a fantastically scathing indictment of a male driven Hollywood. But it is still a joke and like most jokes, a bit broad to be taken too seriously. And I realize saying anything as a man in this area means taking a risk, but I'll try to make myself clear. The Bechdel rule is this: The movie must 1 have two women who 2 talk to each other about 3 something besides men. And to its credit, the rule has pointed out a massive lack of such a thing in the HISTORY of cinema.
I was unfortunate enough to have my first film Dreamer subjected to the Bechdel test by a friend who agreed it passed muster, only to be passed on to a critic at Feminist Blogspot who proceeded to tear it apart for it's machismo. It was a film about returning marines with post traumatic stress disorder who were not especially nice to the film's starlet. We made no bones about the fact that these were not perfect guys. And the film barely roots for them. Regardless, by standards like the Bechdel test, we were tossed aside by Feminist Blogspot for a movie we admittedly didn't make distinctly for women or about women. If that sounds cold, consider Bridesmaids, which did pretty well last year with a female cast who covered a broad range of topics in conversation but focused mostly on the bride and her best friend and their relationships. With men. Have a look at the film. Does it meet a reversed standard for the Bechdel test? Does it have 1 two men who 2 talk to each other about 3 something besides women?
It might, I didn't watch it that closely. But not a lot for sure. And that's okay. Because it's about WOMEN. And it was made for women. And a hell of a lot of men happened to enjoy it as well. And there should be more movies like this. And it deserves to be in no way criticized for failing this test.
Political correctness is the enemy of art. Most of this years Oscar nominees were shit for reasons completely outside the Bechdel test, but let's stay on course. The issue isn't that movies aren't being made for women. It's that they are being made by men who write what they know. The problem isn't a lack of consideration, it's a lack of women in pictures. There's a lot of speculation as to why only two women have ever won best director. The numbers don't lie. There simply aren't anywhere near as many. And the academy is overwhelmingly male.
Movies good and bad are made mostly by men who decided what they were going to do early in life and most of the good ones come from an era where it was a total boys club. The women who have flourished in such an environment deserve a standing ovation for doing so, especially considering no one ever told them they could be film makers and it was a decision they likely came to later in life and had to work a lot harder for.
So my risky male perspective on the Bechdel test is this: Support female film makers. Get off the big boy's backs because putting more girls in War Horse isn't going to make it not suck.
For your consideration, Phil Forsyth
Some favorites that more than meet the Bechdel test and are fantastic. Probably because they are written and/or directed by talented women:
WAITRESS written and directed by Adrienne Shelly
LOST IN TRANSLATION written and directed by Sofia Coppola [won best director]
JUNO written by Diablo Cody [won best original screenplay], directed by Jason Reitman
And some fantastic films by talented women that likely fail the Bechdel test.
TITUS directed by Julie Taymor
THE HURT LOCKER by Kathryn Bigelow [won best picture and best director]
And some great movies about women that probably all fail it:
Anything by Woody Allen
Anything adapted from Jane Austen
And what the hell some featuring men who do nothing but whine about women for two hours:
HIGH FIDELITY starring John Cusack
Anything by Woody Allen
Anything written by Charlie Kaufman
