Write The Change
How creating Bechdel Test passing material and being a more aware writer can change the world & earn “billions” more than non-passing content
The what test? Bechdel Wallace Test — it’s a small hurdle to pass and a good beginning for creating content that will lead to the lessening of gender bias in entertainment. Films from 2013 that pass also earn billions more than those that don’t. Got your attention?
Here’s how you pass: you have to have two named women who talk to one another, about something other than a man. This “something other” can be: politics, finance, the economy, social issues, space, investing, sports, science, aliens, zombies, food, style, bicycles, pets etc.. See- easy like Sunday morning.
Lindsey Bahr says, “The Bechdel Test has become a cultural litmus test that’s a great conversation starter because it’s such an elegantly simple metric and designed with the best of intentions.” There are great criticisms of The Bechdel Test being too simple and that sexist projects may still pass it. We get it- but you have to start somewhere and hope that it may lead to a bigger overall change.
Felicity Morse discovered: “Virginia Woolf is attributed as being one of the first to talk about the themes covered by the Bechedel. In A Room of One’s Own, she writes: “And I tried to remember any case in the course of my reading where two women are represented as friends. […] They are now and then mothers and daughters. But almost without exception they are shown in their relation to men. It was strange to think that all the great women of fiction were, until Jane Austen’s day, not only seen by the other sex, but seen only in relation to the other sex. And how small a part of a woman’s life is that.””
It was just announced that the country of Sweden is giving A-ratings to Bechdel Test passing films in The Guardian. Every year during film awards season we hear cultural and academic reports on how so few nominated projects pass the test. You know what we need to do? Go upstream.
When I was a kid I saw a huge quill feather statue in Washington DC with the words :The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword. So, now we have keyboards. Let’s ‘Get Mighty’.
I started an initiative called The Bitch Pack (let’s face it, there are already dude-centric Wolf Packs out there). The Bitch Pack is men and women who promote screenplays that pass The Bechdel Test. After our campaigning, The Black List now has a little button you can click that identifies your spec script as “Passes Bechdel” and this week we learned from Franklin Leonard that over 20% of the projects on the site now have this mark, and he says that- of those that do- these screenplays have higher reader ratings than those that don’t. Just sayin’…
On Twitter, @MysteryExec has been championing #BeTheChange in Hollywood. We can also #WriteTheChange, #ProduceTheChange, #DistributeTheChange and #MarketTheChange. If Sweden can have a Bechdel Test film marathon on television, why can’t we, in the country that makes most of the films in the world, have festivals/networks/studios that dedicate a small portion of their time to take a look at changing the perception of women in visual entertainment?
There are an array of easy solutions— other than griping after the fact about the lack of numbers of female protagonists and female friendships portrayed on screens, etc. etc. (See above). Do put a little time and thought into making the change.
Everything Geena Davis does is fantastic and she is a true advocate for change. I have to respectfully disagree with her on one point in her 2-step fix for gender equality on screen. I don’t think you can just swap out genders of characters and “in one stroke” have things be fine. I think female characters have to be better thought out and crafted. There is dialogue that needs to be nuanced for particular characters and you can’t just snap your fingers and have things written for a male changed into what a female would say and have it be ok. Put thought into your female characters and what goes on in their minds and how they would react.
Lately there have been articles about 2013 being The Year of Black Film, leaving out Black female protagonists and also asking ‘Where are the Black Women in Hollywood?’. We must also ask ourselves where are the Asian/Latina/Native-American women in Hollywood too… The US isn’t just black and white.
I, as a writer, have my own fix- I have a screenplay about labor reform leader Lucy Parsons, mother of the sit-down strike. Her story directly reflects today’s fight for a living wage. Lucy is of African-American/Latina/Native American mixed heritage and stands for so much happening with the working man and woman of every race around the world today. Lucy’s tale is called 1886 and it passes The Bechdel Wallace Test and it’s why we have May Day that’s celebrated annually in 80+ nations. The women in it talk about protesting, better working conditions for everyone, ending child labor and other things. 1886 also does not feature the cliche “white savior” trope. In it a Person of Color endures and keeps alive messages of hope and equality.
What’re you writing and how will it help people #SeeTheChange or #HearTheChange ? Or will you simply just #WatchTheChange ?
If you liked this piece, please take a second to press the recommend button. Thank you for reading! Check out the hashtags #NotYourAsianSidekick #BlackPowerYellowPeril & #BlackPowerLiberAsian by Suey Park too.
