In the past month, I’ve seen five movies and only one passed the Bechdel test. In case you don’t know, the Bechdel test (also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test) aims to assess the role of women in film, or more accurately, the lack thereof. There are three criteria a film needs to have to pass the test: 1) at least two women, with names, who 2) talk to each other 3) about something other than a man. It was also adapted by Alaya Dawn Johnson to work for people of color. The revised test follows a similar vein: a movie must 1) have at least two POC, who 2) talk to each other 3) about something other than a white person.
While the guideline works for movies, it fails to be an accurate assessment when applied to television programs. Because of the serial nature of television, shows are likely to fulfill the criteria of the test eventually. They often have a larger cast size as well as significantly more air time than any movie. If the average TV show lasts around five seasons (discounting the fact that most new shows don’t even finish their first season), then the average show amasses around 100 hours of screentime, around 50 times the length of most movies.
However, in no way does that mean that every TV show that fulfills the Bechdel test in a couple of episodes represents women well. Despite the increasing numbers of women and people of color presented on our television screens (or more likely our laptop screens), women still only account for approximately 30% of television writers and minority writers comprise around 14% according to the Writers Guild of America. If you’re talking movie directors, women occupy even fewer positions, constituting only 13% of directors for the top 700 films of 2015.
The Big Bang Theory, a popular CBS comedy whose viewership comes only second to the NFL, consistently fails the Bechdel test during its first two seasons due to its predominantly male cast. Two additional women were introduced in Season 3 and even with that addition not every episode passes the test. More recently, Empire, a musical drama that premiered in 2015, fares better. But its pilot episode still fails to pass the Bechdel test.
If you wanted to make a test evaluating a series as a whole rather than individual episodes, it should include: 1) at least two named women, who 2) talk to each other 3) about something other than a man 4) in 4.90% of episodes, a bar as ridiculously low as the original test with just as few successes. The same adjustments can be made to the test for people of color. Women are represented more frequently in television than they are in the film industry. However, television still lacks representation from complete and nuanced characters who aren’t straight white men. The Bechdel test shouldn’t be harder to pass than a chemistry final.
By: Camryn Kozachek