A while Girlwithaonetrackmind, posted a tweet about tron legacy and after following the tweet, I found out about the Bechdel test…
The Bechdel Test, sometimes called the Mo Movie Measure or Bechdel Rule is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. The test was popularized by Alison Bechdel’s comic Dykes to Watch Out For, in a 1985 strip called The Rule. For a nice video introduction to the subject please check out The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies on feministfrequency.com.
Since I’ve been wondering if there was a way to do a similar thing for Black people in films? We usually get stereotyped and frankly typecasted in certain films, so would it work? I certainly think so…
So here’s my start…
- The film has to have at least 2 black people in it, who…
- Talk to each other calmly and not threatening, about…
- Anything except Drugs, Guns, Hiphop or Cash.
Sounds simple but trust me, now you’ve seen these rules… you will be surprised how many films fail on even point number one.
- Tron Legacy – Fails on all points
- The Social Network – Fails on all points
- Inception – Fails on all points
- Scott Pilgrim vs the World – Fails on all points
- Unstoppable – Passes on all points
- The Matrix series – Passes on all points
- I am Legend – Passes on all points
- Enemy of the state – Fails on all points
I can certainly think of a load more… Can you?
