Why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the Bechdel test
Have you ever asked yourself why the film industry mostly caters only to men? Ever thought about stopping or changing it? Well, for a long time, women have had a difficult time surviving in the male-dominated film industry. Initially, even in movies that they watched themselves, women’s sidelining did not look like something big. However, women who have been in the film industry, especially those who have interacted with other players better, have understood that this is nothing to smile about; it is glaring female stereotyping. Alison Bechdel took it to herself to point out the industry’s rot by calling out the gender issues that were now blatantly displayed at mainkw. She came up with a test to gauge women’s active presence in Hollywood movies, mainkw and how good their roles were.
Bechdel credited Liz Wallace, her friend, for being the brain behind the test. However, we know that it grew out of Bechdel’s 1985 comic stipe ‘Dykes to Watch out For.’ It was a straightforward test that she wanted to use in shaping the future of the Hollywood industry.
Let’s take a closer look at the industry’s challenges and how effective this test has become.
Understanding the gender issue in the film industry
As mentioned earlier, gender discrimination in the film industry has been on focus for many years. Issues about the under representation of women and who they are have spurred many discussions. But why is women’s involvement in this industry such a big issue? In her article about why student screenwriters get taught not to write scripts that pass the Bechdel test, Jennifer Kesler explains her life as a screenwriting student. Her experiences in Film schools demonstrate why having women characters in most films has not been easy. She tells her story from an inside perspective, as she had interacted with renowned industry professionals.
In her story, she explains how her professors lauded her for her writing skills. She was a great writer who always gave her best when called out to write on different scenes. However, Jennifer’s writing was just one little problem – using multiple women’s names in her scripts. Although she didn’t see anything wrong with her scripts, her characters’ choice was unanticipated by her professors. It seemed like a rule of thumb to avoid using women characters actively in film scripts. Stunned about this, Jennifer started questioning why the idea of women playing roles in her writings was unwelcome.
So, why not use women characters in film scripts?
According to Jennifer, finding a straight answer to this was a problem as no one was willing to explain it. Later she would meet a professor who explained it all to her. He said that the audience could not watch a movie with women characters talking between themselves. Avoiding women characters in movie scripts is one of the rules of the industry. A further explanation for this was that it was one way to ensure the industry would remain profitable. The film industry players understood that their audience did not take any scene with female characters seriously.
During such scenes, the majority male audience finds something else to do. According to them, two women conversing in a film can only talk about nail polish, shoes, etc. That would mean removing such scenes altogether would make the movie more interesting. The best way to ensure that was by dismissing female characters in scriptwriting and replacing them with male ones. If two women get included in a script by any chance, they have to be talking about a man. Feeling irritated, Jennifer walked out of the film school and vowed never to be part of the industry again.
However, she called out gender discrimination loudly as she opted to fight the system from without. According to her, Hollywood was perpetuating their desires by dismissing women scenes in movies using the ‘target audience’ as a defence.
Check out how this test works.
This test is relatively straightforward than anyone would ever think. It aims to check how active and present women characters are in different movies using a checklist with three main requirements. So, how does a film pass the test and get considered gender-sensitive? First, a film has to have women characters in active speaking roles to pass the Bechdel test’s first step. Secondly, they must have names well brought out in different scenes. Lastly, they must be speaking about something else other than a man in their conversations.
Any film that ticks all the three things pointed out by Bechdel would have passed the female involvement test. Surprisingly, few movies can pass this test as women’s involvement in the film industry is just starting to pick up. The missing female characters in scripts and movies are not coincidental, as we can learn from Jennifer’s experience. It is not that there aren’t enough women to feature behind the cameras. It is what the industry players intended to do to remain profitable.
Bechdel, in this YouTube video, explains what the main objective of the test has been. According to her, the test aims at articulating something missing in popular culture. It is not all about feminism or pointing out the number of women behind the cameras.
She says that it is about the depth of the stories that women tell on screen. Having women express their concerns and talk about themselves without mentioning men gives them the power to excel in the film industry. This test inspired the development of more tests based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, and much more.
Ending gender discrimination in the film industry
There are various ways that the gender issue in the film industry can get solved. Using the Bechdel test helps to identify movies that do not give men and women equal chances. It helps to point out the rot in the industry and starts a conversation on ending it. It is also necessary to understand the origin of this test, and as mentioned earlier, the idea came from ‘The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For’ by Alison Bechdel. With a good background understanding, you can know what this test’s objective is as Alison insists that films failing the test are not bad.
Conclusion:
The film industry has long experienced gender issues, as already pointed out earlier. Scriptwriters have learned to avoid including women characters in scenes, especially when their conversation is not about a male character. The test has been helping to identify such films and point out the weakness in gender representation. Alison Bechdel’s comic script inspired the development of this test to help change the industry’s situation. You can check it out on Amazon to understand how the book inspired the test.
Feel free to leave a question on why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the test. As mentioned earlier, film producers did not want to lose their male audience by including scenes of women talking about themselves. Although they felt entitled to their stand on this, most people will disagree with them.
We can now see more films, including women, in their scenes compared to the 1980s. That means there are visible changes, and women are starting to feel more appreciated.
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