Hollywood is setting a Standard for Women

     For my Blog this week I will be talking about how women are portrayed in movies.  I will be referring to the video above along with some other articles if found from my research.

     My initial idea for this week's Blog came from watching the third Transformers movie. I noticed that the supporting women in the movie had very little lines or was ditsy and hopeless after initially being introduces to be a strong and smart. In the movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,”  I also noticed the other female actors failed to be well rounded.

           After doing some research I realized that this is a reoccurring theme in a lot of Hollywood movies. There is this thing called the Bechdel test for women in movies. "The Bechdel Test is a simple way to gauge the active presence of female characters in Hollywood films and just how well rounded and complete those roles are."found with YouTube video. The test has three questions that when answered can show rather it has has passed or not. 
The three questions are:

 Are there at least two or more women in it? (they have to have names)

Do the they talk to each other?

Do they talk to each other about something other than men?

     I was shocked to find that in addition to the transformers movie there is an overwhelmingly long list of movies that did not pass the Bechtel Test. The following will be a few examples found on BuzFeed.com and filmschoolrejects.com in articles named 11 Movies In 2013 That Failed The Bechdel Test and 10 Famous Films That Surprisingly Fail The Bechdel Test :

AVATAR

   The movie Avatar fails because there are few moments where females actually speak to each other. There is one scene where Neytiri and her mother hold a real conversation only to be about the about Jake, who as we all know is a man.

THE PURGE

The Purge movie fails because  there are two or more women in the movie but they only talk about men.

21 & OVER

The movie  21 & over fails because the was only one female in the movie

   Even though there is an overwhelming number of movies that do not pass the Bechdel test, that doesn't mean that there aren't any good movies that do pass the test. The following will be a few examples found on totalfilm.com in an article named 50 Greatest Films That Pass The Bechdel Test:

Toy Story 3 (2010)

How It Passes: In their efforts to console a sobbing Barbie (Jodi Benson) over her abandonment by owner Molly, Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) offer her reassurance and comfort. Awww.

Best Female Character: Badass cowgirl, Jessie doesn’t take lip from no-one. A special edition toy, she’s even blessed with her very own sniffling backstory montage. To Sarah Maclachlan.

 

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

How It Passes: Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and her assistant, Jen (Juno Temple) spar back and forth following the liberation of Gotham - and whether or not the fallout was what Selina truly wanted.

Best Female Character: The wily Catwoman herself, Selina Kyle - she can burgle with the best of ‘em, harness the thunderous Batcycle and of course, play a double agent with ease.