Storytelling tip: the Bechdel test

Next time you read a book or watch a film, try this simple test. Answer three questions about women in the story.

 

1. Are there two or more women with a name in the story?
2. Do they speak one with the other?
3. About something different than a man

 

If the answer is Yes to all three questions, the script has passed what has been defined as the Bechdel test.

 

You will be surprised by how many actually fail to pass it. Why should a good script consider these three points?

 

Simple statistics. Unless the story demands it, any story having sense should respect the ratio in the human population: 50% male and 50% female. And guess what, in the real world girls have names and talk of other stuff besides boys.

 

Shocking, I know.