Three Rules

                 There was once a comic strip.

Part of a larger series and fairly popular in its own right. But then...

One specific image was picked up and became a new standard to which movies were held. In a comic called Dykes To Watch Out For, Allison Bechdel outlined a rule with three parts that determined whether or not a movie was worth seeing. The rule is:

1. There must be two female characters (later versions clarify that the women should be named characters)
2. They must speak to one another
3. About something other than a man

Simple enough.

But here's the scary thing: It's pretty rare that a popular movie actually succeeds in meeting all three criteria.

I looked through the movies listed on the Bechdel test website, and I gotta admit, there were several I expected to pass that failed miserably.

Movies based on comics did especially poor. Of the 13 I could think of off the top of my head, only two passed. 

Iron Man 2 and The Dark Knight both passed while Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, X Men, The Amazing Spiderman, Dark Knight Rises, Adventures of Tin Tin, Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Watchmen, and American Splendor all failed.

Some failed because they only had one named female character (American Splendor, Captain America) while others satisfied the first test, but failed the second (most of the rest). Iron Man, Watchmen and The Amazing Spiderman satisfy the first two but fall on the third.

So what does this say about Hollywood?

The same thing it says about mainstream comics. The movies don't pass because female characters aren't central to the plot. Rare indeed is the comic with a female central protagonist. One of the few (Wonder Woman) continues to sell, but with lower and lower numbers each year. Of the few female characters that exist, most serve no higher function than providing someone for the protagonist to save or ,if they are unsaveable, someone to angst over.

And before this devolves into a rant, I'll just direct you here, and leave it alone.