Is The Bechdel Test Actually A Good Way To Judge A Movie?
The representation of women in film, though it has improved in recent years, still has a long way to go. Women, particularly non-White women, are often underrepresented in film and TV, and when they do show up, sometimes their portrayal is less than ideal. This has led to a lot of scholars and audiences using certain metrics to judge the feminist elements of a piece of media to determine whether or not it is progressive, and where it could be improved upon if not.
The Bechdel test is one of the most common ways that a movie or TV show's female representation can be judged. This test, put forth by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a comic strip from 1985, posits that a piece of media passes if it fulfills three basic requirements: that it has at least two named female characters, they talk to each other, and at some point they talk to each other about something other than a man. For a long time, this was used as one of the main metrics to judge how feminist a piece of media is, but a recent controversy online has people questioning whether or not it should be the be-all-end-all way to judge a film progressiveness.
The MCU Needs To Get Better At Writing Female Characters
The controversy in question came about when writer Hanna Rosin tweeted her criticisms about the new Hulu movie Fire Island that is essentially a queer, modern take on Pride and Prejudice centering around two gay Asian men. In Rosin's tweet, she said, "#FireIslandMovie gets an F- on the Bechdel test in a whole new way. Do we just ignore the drab lesbian stereotypes bc cute gay Asian boys? Is this revenge for all those years of the gay boy best friend?".
This was met with pretty immediate backlash online, with many pointing out that the movie is still progressive as
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