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Dec. 31, 2015
The Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, and already and many of tthemwhichthe nominees have been praised for their unique storytelling and captivating performances by some of the industry’s most beloved actors. From “Spotlight”’s poignant and profound characters to the ability of “The Revenant” to thrill and amaze usthrill and amazement of The Revenant, many of this year’s nominees tell wonderful, evocative tales. HBut where are the women in this year’s Oscar nomineesHowever, this crop of nominees has left many viewers asking, “ ‘Where are the women‘?“? Do this year’s Oscar nominees passt the Bechdel test? If you could look it up and tell us, that’d be awesome.
Yes, tThe Bechdel Test, is a test of gender equality in film, created by Alison Bechdel in her comic “Dykes to Watch Out For” in 1985, often tells an interesting tale about the state of feminism in the movies. For a filmmovie to pass the test, it needs to have at least two female characters who have a conversation at some point in the movie about a topic other than a man. Seems easy, right? We thought so too, but this year’s crop of movies surprised us. Or maybe didn’t surprise us. We are not entirely sure yet.
It’s 2016, people. The Oscars should be recognizing films with powerful female characters, and we really want to know if this year’s crop of Oscar nominees do. If you could watch the Oscar nominated movies for us and shoot an email to [email protected][email protected] with the ones that pass, that’d be so cool of you. Perhaps, if one comes really close, but still doesn’t pass, that would be useful information to know as well, and we can talk about how we are making progress but still not giving women sufficientmeaty, or even just adequate roles to play.
You know, I bet “Entertainment Weekly” or “Vox” already did something like this. Perhaps they talked about how the role of women in movies has changed over the past 50 years. That would be really good article too. Anyways, a google search of “Vox Bechdel Oscars 2015” could probably get the job done. Forward whatever you find out to the same email.
Maybe next year can be better. Or maybe this year was perfect in terms of gender equality and next year can’t be better. Who’s to say?Whatever the situation is, we’re definitely not the people to ask about it.
