This week in class we watched a movie called Pride and explored the Bechdel test. The Bechdel test is a way of evaluating a film to see if it can be categorized as sexist or not. To pass the test a film must have atleast two women in it that speak to each other and their conversation must be about something other than a man. What surprises me most about this is how many movies do not make the cut. Even the film Pride, had very little women speaking to other women. However, the movie pride sends a powerful image about discrimination. The Bechdel test may be fun to try on different films, but it has no real validity.
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The Movie Pride (The Movie DB, 2014)
The movie Pride is about a group of Gay and Lesbian Activists who decide to raise funds and support a group of miners that are on strike. The Gay and Lesbian group wants to help them because they feel a connection through their shared outsider experiences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khbz4ncVY9o
 There are many women within this movie. Many of the board members are women as well as the Lesbians in the film. Although this film does not pass the Bechdel test I beleive it is a 'feminist movie'. In an article our class read called Why the Bechdel Test Fails Feminism , Anna Waletzko explains that there are flaws in the test. She points out that the Bechdel test often just tests the superficial aspect of the film (Waletzko, 2015). This is true in the case of Pride; The women in the movie are portrayed as strong. Not only are these women taking care of there community but they stand up for there new friends. If that's not a feminist, what is?

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Hooray for feminism! (Badame, 2014)
       Some movies are feminist without passing the Bechdel test, such as this one. Another example of a feminist friendly movie that does not pass the Bechdel test is the Blind Side. The main female character is Sandra Bullock and she does a great job portraying herself as a strong and moral women. This movie does not support inequality but it does not pass the Bechdel test because the Sandra Bullocks character only speaks to other women about the other main character, Michael Oher. This is one of my favorite movies and I would never have classified it as non - feminist because it has a powerful message of poverty, privilege and acceptance. To me this means that a film does not always have to be the perfect representation of women; it can still have a good message without meeting standards such as the Bechdel test.
 
                                                        
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The Blind Side shows the contrast between living in poverty and having privlige (MeMe, 2018).
         In conclusion, the Bechdel test does not truly define what is and what isn't a good film. In my opinion it is a neat trick to analyze certain movies but should always be taken with a grain of salt.  There are 'non-feminist' movies that pass the test and great movies that do not. Legally Blonde is probably not considered a feminist friendly movie, yet it passes the Bechdel test. This is true with one of my favorite movies House Bunny as well. Even better than the Bechdel test is our own opinions, so if you do not agree with a movies lack of women representation don't watch it. I understand that we do not want movies to be bad role models for women but movies are also made for consumers. Often times silly comedy movies like Ted, Step Brothers and Mean Girls are  the most popular because they make us laugh. Just because I identify myself as a feminist does not mean I will stop watching these types of movies and shows. At the end of the day a movie is just a movie and if you enjoy it you should watch it!                                    


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Keep watching what makes you happy (freepik, 2017)
                                      



Bibliography

Badame, E. (2014, September 24). Pride and Prejudice: Andrew Scott leads a stellar UK cast in the new '80s activist dramedy. Retrieved from ciniplex: https://www.cineplex.com/News/Pride-and-Prejudice-Andrew-Scott-leads-a-stellar-UK-cast-in-the-new-80s-activist-dramedy
freepik. (2017, November 1). Laughing Friends at Movie Free Photo. Retrieved from Freepik: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/laughing-friends-watching-a-movie_1419757.htm
MeMe. (2018). The Blind Side Memes. Retrieved from Me.Me: https://me.me/i/never-had-one-before-what-aroom-to-yourself-a-bed-the-8992507
The Movie DB. (2014). Pride (2014). Retrieved from The Movie DB: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/234200-pride
Waletzko, A. (2015, April 27). Why The Bechdel Test Fails Feminism. Retrieved from HuffPost: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-waletzko/why-the-bechdel-test-fails-feminism_b_7139510.html



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