Hey, it's Rowan, and today we we're gonna be talking about two film analysis
tests: the Bechdel test and the Mako Mori test.
So let's start with the Bechdel test. This is a test based on a conversation
that's had between characters
in Alison Bechdel's comic strip "Dykes to look out For". In order to pass the test a film needs to
do three things:
One: have more than one named female character. Two:
have these characters talk to each other and Three: have that conversation be about
something other than a man.
Now although this comic strip was released thirty years ago, the Bechdel Test
I think has come
more into the forefront for various reasons, one because it's widely used
online
in criticism and discourse and two because
Sweden introduced a Bechdel film rating system
where films that you would go in see would have a rating
for whether or not it passed the Bechdel Test. Now this gave it a kind of
authority which it hadn't had previously. I think many people were confused as to
what the test was meant to be showing, or what
the rating would actually do for a film. The test is often used to criticize
the film industry as a whole
by showing that a clear majority of films and even films very highly
critically regarded will often fail the test.
Here I have a short list of films from the IMDB top 250 films
which failed the test: District nine, Up Wall-e, The Diving Bell and the butterfly, The
Prestige, all three Lord of the Rings films, The Princess Bride,
Slumdog Millionaire, In Bruges.... But we also have some films
which fail the test but which have very strong female characters in them
often the female character being the sole protagonist and this becomes very
difficult if we're trying to critique a film from a
feminist point of view when using the Bechdel test because many people would argue
that these films are just as validly
feminist and have just as interesting female characters
even though they technically fail. So a very common example of this in the last
couple years has been Gravity,
and importantly for this video also Pacific Rim.
So this leads me on to the Mako Mori test. This is a test designed by tumblr user
chaila in 2013,
and this test came from a place where many people were acknowledging that
although Pacific Rim
had failed the Bechdel Test, Mako as a character
was interesting and dynamic and had a
strong story arc to the point where they felt that some
recognition of this film was needed in feminist criticism.
So for a film to pass the Mako Mori test it needs to do three things:
One: have at least one female character Two: have that female character have her own story
arc
and Three: have the story arc not be supporting a man's story arc.
So both these tests are tests we can use to analyze film and
other narrative media in order to have a look
at and examined the female characters. Please note:
I did not say that these tests were a measure of how feminist a film is,
because they're not.
They're not a measure of how feminist a film is, how good a film is,
or even how good the female characters are.
So what are the pros and cons of these tests and what can they actually show us?
Now of course the Bechdel Test literally shows us what films
have female characters talking about things other than men
but what we can gain from that is an idea of how complex the female friendships
and relationships are
with that film. As I said before it's also a good indication of the industry
as a whole...
it's all very well for individual content creator to be saying "You know it
doesn't really matter if MY film doesn't pass the test"
because we're also looking at the data of the industry as a whole and so yes it
might not matter to you in particular if you are creating something which doesn't
pass the test
but when you acknowledge that a majority of people are also not passing the test
then you start to see the problem. Another positive for the Bechdel Test is it is
very easy to apply.
The three criteria have pretty simple yes or no answers to them so it can be quite
useful as a test
to prompt people to acknowledge that there's a problem. So in that way I
would say probably one of the most important pros to the Bechdel test
is the way in which you can open up conversations. It's an important starting
point to say
"okay it might be that we have all these firms that fail the test but we consider
to be alsoolute masterpieces of cinema
so maybe let's examine why we think they're masterpieces of cinema, why they don't have have
any female characters in them,
why, if they don't have female character because, for instance, they're set in
a prison or in a military space, or somewhere women can't
be so it doesn't make sense for women to be there because of the narrative why are we
so invested in telling stories
in places where women aren't?" I'd lastly like to point out a nice application of the Bechdel
test is to look at the reverse Bechdel Test....
So to look at films and try and see if they have more than two named male
characters
that those two male characters have a conversation and they have a
conversation about something other than a woman
and you'll be interested to find how very many of the films
technically will pass that test, like pretty much across the board,
the reverse Bechdel Test gets a pass.
Many people have argued that it is not a mark of quality. I would say that it isn't meant
to be a mark of quality
and so I think that this criticism is a little bit troublesome.
I think the criticism relies on people misunderstanding what the test should be
used for in the first place.
Otherwise every bad lesbian porn film would pass the Bechdel Test and be
hailed as some kind of feminist vision.
It acknowledges good isolated female characters, as shown by its origins in
Pacific Rim
it can be a really important test for intersectional feminism in particular.
To have a single
Asian female character is a really important piece of representation
that shouldn't be overlooked just because she doesn't have conversations
with other women.
The Mako Mori test also acknowledges
women's story arcs and women's storylines. You actually are acknowledging the fact that
women should be going through the same sort of hero's journey as any
character should be.
Unlike the Bechdel Test
it's a little bit harder to implement: it relies a lot more on
subjectivity. The first point is pretty easy
but when you get to the second point, what exactly counts as a storyline? Does it
have to be a main storyline? Is it a small subplot?
Again there's the argument that it isn't a particular mark of quality,
I would argue again it's not meant to be a mark of quality, it is what it is. All
it's saying is that there's at least one woman who actually gets her
own storyline
in the film. It's not gonna say "okay this is what a good film needs"
or "this is going to be good film because it has this" The last criticism
I'd say would be
kinda based around the film that it's based on and the character it's based on.
You know that film had over 50 male
characters and three female characters and there is the danger that it starts to
perpetuate the quite dangerous idea of, you know, the one worthwhile woman
or the Smurfette principle... the idea that
for example it's enough for us to have one woman in an ensemble cast
and I have her have a story arc and not acknowledge that you also give seven
male characters story arcs as well.
That in and of itself isn't a problem but when that happens consistently over
and over again and becomes a trend or pattern
then you have to ask yourself, you know, is it really enough that
we only have this one female character and people can use the test in the film
and people who are misunderstanding the test as a mark of quality can nod their heads
and say
"Yes, this is what makes a good film".
So here's the thing, I know that the title of this video says "vs"
but looking at the tests, looking at thier criticisms, and how they can be
applied
I'd actually say the strongest way that they work
is together. The Mako Mori test isn't gonna let you get away with having two
throwaway female characters have a single conversation,
similarly the Bechdel Test isn't gonna let you get away with always just
having
one female character amongst a bunch of men.
What using these two tests in combination can do is
open up a narrative, get people talking about criticizing their own work. And it
might be that that person can say "Yeah actually here are the reasons" and they
can be totally valid.
But it might well be that that person hasn't really thought about the biases that
they hold.
It's these conversations that happen after we apply the test which are
important.
So do you have any other ideas of tests we can use to start these conversations?
Have you had discussions with people where these tests have managed to open their
eyes
to the biases the industry? Or do you have your head in the sand and you think
there are literally no problems with the way that women are being represented
in media at the moment? If you enjoyed this video or found it useful please
consider liking and subscribing.
And just reminded that the live stream book discussion is
this Sunday at 6 p.m. GMT. I will leave all the details in the description I hope to
see you there.
Until then, Bye!
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