By: Kelsey R. Price
Halloween
is coming, and for many people that means two things: candy and scary movies.
Alas, not all of these films are created equal and feminists have to search through
a bunch of titles to find anything descent. How do you judge whether a movie is
female-friendly? Well, a great place to start is the Bechdel test. It does not
determine the film as “feminist” or “high quality,” but it does point out
issues in women’s representation.* All a person has to do to is ask themselves
three questions: (1) are there two women in the film, (2) do they speak to each
other, and (3) do they talk about something besides men.* Likewise, some people
like to impose name and minimum time requirements for their discussions as
well. One would think that such simple and minute standards would broaden your
selection of films, but this is often not the case. The majority of popular
films fail the test or scrape by with just one scene. The Grudge (2004), for
example, is an example of the latter. There are multiple named women in the
film, but they barely interact with each other and most of their communication
is non-verbal. Conversations that bare any weight on the plot involve men. It passes
because of an exchange between the protagonist and her elderly patient.* The
whole incident is short and easy to miss. A film that unanimously passes the
test is Disney’s Hocus Pocus (1993), a cult classic and nostalgic romp for many
a college student. Not only are there several named women in the film, but they
are at the very center of the plot. The three witches speak the most frequently
to each other about a variety of subjects, including children, modern
technology, Satan, spell ingredients, etc. Even the DVD jackets tend to place
them above the movie’s protagonists in their artwork and when describing the
plot. In conclusion, when sorting through your favorite Halloween movies this
Friday, it might be worth taking a few extra minutes to reexamine them with the
Bechdel test. Who knows, you might just discover a feminist’s dream film in
your pile.
*Other Holiday Films & the Bechdel Test:*
The Skeleton Key- Passes
Halloweentown- Passes
Monster House- Passes (one descent length discussion)
The Nightmare Before Christmas- Fails
The Addams Family- Passes
Beetle Juice- Passes
Halloween- Passes (brief)
Carrie- Passes (no matter what year)
Ghost Busters- Debatable (one scene- could be argued that they’re talking about men)
Sleepy Hollow- Passes (primarily because of one longer scene in the climax)
The Exorcist- Passes (brief)
The Haunting (1999)- Passes
Night of the Living Dead- Passes (but weak)
Interview With the Vampire- Fails (but could be considered debatable)
*I retrieved this information from http://bechdeltest.com/ and Feminist Frequency’s video “The
Bechdel Test for Women in Movies” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s).
