The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Bechdel Test

This post is a continuation in a series where I determine if a film has passed the Bechdel Test. My original post about the Bechdel Test can be found here.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the Millennium Series of which it is the first novel, are very dark books. There is a great deal of violence, most of it sexual and directed at women. For these reasons, I was very interested to see how the new version of the film would hold up against the Bechdel test. 

As a reminder, the Bechdel Test determines whether a movie is worth seeing based on three rules:

1. The movie must have at least two female characters.

2. The female characters must speak to each other. 

3. The female characters must speak to each other about something other than a man,

So, how does The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fare? There are many female faces in the film, and several named characters. The woman with the most screen time is Lisbeth Salander, so I will base the answers to the second question on her interactions. Lisbeth speaks to more than one character in the film, and rarely  talks to either of them about a man. In fact, the only time she mentions a man to another woman at all is when reminding a secretary that her boss has given Salander permission to do what she needs to do to collect evidence. 

Clearly, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, which is extremely interesting for several reasons. First and foremost, this film is, at its core, about the way women are treated as "less than" in society by men who act as though women exist solely for their sexual needs. The character of Lisbeth Salander is a reminder that women can (and do!) fight back against the men who try to reign in their strength and power. 

The next reason this is so interesting revolves around the marketing for the film. The first movie poster featured an entirely nude Lisbeth Salander with Mikael Blomkvist's arm around her protectively. The reasons why this poster is completely incongruent with the story warrant their own post, but let it suffice to say that the poster does not lead you to believe the film will pass the Bechdel Test.

Dear John - Bechdel Test

Recently I watched to movie "Dear John". In this movie a young woman meets a young man while he is home on leave. The fall in love in two weeks, and write eachother letters while he is deployed. Their relationship continues when he comes home, and then write letters when he is deployed once again.

So let's see how "Dear John" fairs against the Bechtel Test:

The movie must have at least two female characters: Yes, but they do not have names, so I am going to say no.
The female characters must speak to each other: Yes
The female characters must speak to each other about something other than a man: Nope.


Sadly, "Dear John" Fails the Bechtel Test.

"Penelope" VS The Bechtel Test

Last week I watched the movie "Penelope". From IMDB, Penelope is "A modern romantic tale about a young aristocratic heiress born under a curse that can only be broken when she finds true love with 'one who will love her faithfully'. Let's see how the movie performed against The Bechtel Test:

1. The movie must have at least two female characters: Check! There was Penelope, her mother, the matchmaker, and Penelope's friend. 
2. The female characters must speak to each other: Check! Penelope talked to everyone above, and most of them talked to each other.
3. The female characters must speak to each other about something other than a man: Check! They talked about beer, a scarf, a postcard, etc. 

The final Verdict? Penelope passed with flying colors! This is remarkable given that the movie was about a girl that needed to find a man to accept her and love her for who she was. And this wasn't a chicks-only movie. There were plenty men in the movie, and they talked to the women, as well. 

Great job by the producers and writers!

The Bechdel Test

I would like to start an ongoing project in this little blog. Ever since my friend Erica told me about it, I have been fascinated with The Bechdel Test. The test was popularized by Alison Bechdel's comic, "Dykes to Watch Out For" and was published in 1985. You can read more background about the comic strip in question here.

The Bechdel Test determines whether a movie is worth seeing based on 3 simple Rules:

1. The movie must have at least two female characters
2. The female characters must speak to each other
3. The female characters must speak to each other about something other than a man

These rules seem pretty easy to follow, but once you start thinking about it, you'll be shocked by how few movies actually pass. You can see the original comic strip below. Let me know what you think in the comments!