Comments on: How the Bechdel Test could save the Oscars

By: The Bechdel Test « Chimaera

The Bechdel Test « Chimaera — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:41:53 +0000

[...] by katz A while ago I found myself discussing the Bechdel test with some friends. The Oscars didn’t fare so well. The test, in case you’re not familiar with it, is a way of evaluating the role of women in [...]

By: Kyle Albasi

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:27:33 +0000

I think part of the problem is that a lot of these movie executives don’t know or don’t care what a good movie is and the only effort they put into it are in areas directly related to financial success. Terminator Salvation had a budget of $200 million and I know freshman film students that could write a better script.

By: danila

danila — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:01:42 +0000

I don’t want movies to be more diverse to improve society. I want filmmakers to use minorities and women in a way besides props because that will make better movies.

And of course this point can be extended: Writing minority and female characters as real humans makes for better movies…and treating minorities and women as real humans in real life makes for a better society.

By: danila

danila — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:57:53 +0000

You’ve hit upon something very key that a lot of people don’t seem to realize. It’s boring to have a story with only a few “fully human” characters surrounded by a bunch of caricatures, proxies, and tools. This is also why tokenism doesn’t work. Just adding female characters or minority characters doesn’t make the story any better if they aren’t going to have any substance to them. In fact, it makes the problem even worse, because now you’ll have people thinking that this is how women or people of color really are.

By: pictures of matchstick men | Kills Me Dead » Blog

pictures of matchstick men | Kills Me Dead » Blog — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:02:06 +0000

[...] This has been getting lots of linkage today, but I thought I’d share it anyway in case you’ve missed it: How the Bechdel Test could save the Oscars [...]

By: Brian Donovan

Brian Donovan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I agree that all parts should be written better. I think men are given more chances to be writers and to sell their work, so the stories they create inevitably focus more on characters like themselves. They write secondary characters poorly because they don’t know them as well, and because of probably some combo of laziness/lack of skill/lack of interest.

I guess I’m just reluctant to prescribe them malevolent intent. It’s really really hard to write a good movie, especially one that will sell like a good movie. Those tasks are so massive that I think some of disrespect paid to minorities in film is a result of that enormity and not any intended slight.

As David notes below, you make a sensitive and intelligent movie about a variety of cultures and people and you get “The Visitor.” An outstanding film, but one that Hollywood on the whole is not at all receptive to. It’s a battle to get those movies produced, so it’s understandable that writers instead often create something more simplistic.

By: Anne Smith

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:17:38 +0000

Besides, I thought film-makers were supposed to be artists. What good is an artist who can only do paint-by-numbers?

By: Anne Smith

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:15:56 +0000

Yeah but formulaic movies suck. People only see them because they’re given so few alternatives.

By: Anne Smith

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:13:41 +0000

With your point about Obama and Clinton, you reminded me of this post I read at the Hathor Legacy that was written by a former film student. When she was in film school, her instructors were always telling her to change female or non-white characters to white male characters because white male characters are more “relatable.” And it wasn’t that they, the instructors, were narrow-minded, it was the people out there, the viewing public. That’s how it was always explained.
I couldn’t agree more that this way of doing things makes movies boring and predictable. Of the nominees, the only thing that’s seemed deserving so far has been ‘Precious’ and ‘The Hurt Locker.’

By: kalender

kalender — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:33:13 +0000

I’d suggest studying the concept of privilege, Mr. Donovan.

The reality isn’t that filmmakers are concerned with telling a good story and that doing such just magically means that nearly every story is about white men. The reality is that white men are seen as the standard, all else deviation. Therefore, they either don’t even consider making movies about anything else, or they think such movies won’t do well, because EVERYONE wants to see the same stories over and over again about white dudes, amirite?

The point is that, in being so privileged (that is, in thinking that everyone relates to, cares about and is interested in the same stale old stories about white men over. and. over. and. over. again), they are churning out films that are getting worse and worse.

Try putting the shoe on the other foot.