Comments

1
I've never heard of it either.
2
Maybe she was confused because the preferred nomenclature is the "Bechdel-Wallace Test".
4
Nor me.
5
@2: Ha! No.
6
@1 & @4) The MPA uses the test this way: if your film fails it is a blockbuster. If it passes, it needs more post-production.
7
@2 That was my first thought - too ;)
8
So many tests, so many judgements, such narrow boundaries these days that we frame our expression in fear of immediate scolds and censure.
Gravity didn't pass the Bechdel test either...
9
Test
10
"We're glad to present this information as a public service to a major American filmmaker." Whatever, Sofia Coppola's work, her art, speaks for herself and she doesn't need to submit it to a gender portrayal test....Alison Bechdel's gentle comic criticism was never intended to be some political correctness litmus test...
11
that's white feminism for ya
12
Thank god GQ was able to man-mag-splain it to her... ;-)
13
Oh, I see, she didn't know because women are big dummies. Gotcha.
14
@1 and @4: Are you a major film director? The point is that SHE should know, being a film maker. The fact that she admitted she didn't study film explains a lot. I can't stand her vapid, magazine photo shoots passing as movies. I was outraged that she made a movie about Marie Antoinette that didn't include her execution! That's the whole payoff! I suffered through all that bubblegum fluff only to be denied seeing Barbie's head chopped off?!? And then to claim it's not political. Smh. I will definitely not be seeing her new film about yet another group of sad pretty rich girls.
15
i think she was just high.
16
Say "what" again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say "what" one more goddamned time!
17
It's interesting to watch PC-fearers' feelings play out in public.

Interviewer: I loved your movie, it's so feminist and yet doesn't pass the Bechdel test, haha. PC-fearers: she's being litmus-tested!

Blogger: people might benefit from knowing what the Bechdel test is. PC-fearers: we're being made to frame our expression to avoid censure! Like gravity! Gravity would never be discovered anymore, I shed hot tears.
18
I've vaguely heard of it, but I'm pretty sure it's not as big a deal as you think.
19
Couldn't the Stranger have enlisted one of its identified women bloggers to make fun of Coppola? There's something unseemly about a male local news blogger calling out an actual female and feminist filmmaker for her unfamiliarity with what is essentially blogger jargon.
20
A male local news blogger schools female and feminist filmmaker about what amounts to blogger jargon. It's a shame a professional filmmaker let you own, Chris. Maybe if Coppola gets woke to your standards some day she can retire to Seattle and work for the Stranger.
21
And I'm so smart I neither figure out how not to double post, nor how to delete.
22
Had. Sofia Coppola HAD never heard of the Bechdel Test. Now she has, since she was asked about it by GQ, who explained it to her.
23
Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of the Bechdel Test. Neither has the book world. Only a trace showing here: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?co…
24
Trying to shame people like this over some insignificancy in the grand scheme of things is exactly what the cultural divide that elected Trump into office is all about... fucking flaming self important city slickers...
The Stranger is shoulders deep in that shit.
25
Up to a certain age whenever straight women get together they invariably end up talking about their men, later on they will invariably talk about their children, and later still they will invariably talk about their grandchildren. It's time we ladies 'fess up to it. Mea culpa.
26
Lost in Translation was and is some of the finest minutes ever committed to film. Marie Antoinette was a disappointment. And Somewhere was a pretty insightful snapshot of how people of that ilk function - the type of person who can afford to live at the Chateau Marmont and can call down to the kitchen, without asking how much, for imgredients so that a visiting child can play cook in the suite's kitchenette.

Now, go away and leave me alone. I'll call you if I need you.
27
@25, Yes, but that's not what the Bechdel test is. It is whether the women in the film have at least ONE discussion that isn't about a man. Which really should not be a hard test to pass when your films feature female main or supporting characters.

From the interviews I've read about Coppola, it seems that she purposely tries to remove politics and characters that may be considered controversial from her films in order to avoid criticism over her handling of the subjects. This is why I've never enjoyed her films. They are visually pleasing, but don't tend to have strong points of view.
28
Hey artists, before you make your art, make sure it passes all the tests!
29
@28, Artists can make whatever art they want, and critics can criticize a film for having shallowly written characters. What about that is so difficult for you to wrap your head around?

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