Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I've been reviewing all of the Harry Potter series, with just two films remaining (not counting the yet-to-be-released Deathly Hallows, Part II). So far, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix passed both the Original and Reverse Bechdel tests. Sorcerer's Stone passed OB-2, while Goblet of Fire only passed OB-1. All five films passed the Reverse Bechdel. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released in 2009. It made $933 million worldwide, a $5 million drop from the previous movie, Order of the Phoenix.

The first woman with lines in the movie is the waitress at the train station. The first man is Harry Potter.

The second man in the movie is Dumbledore. He meets Harry at the train station, and tells him that he's been reckless this summer. Harry says he likes riding the trains because it takes his mind off things. Dumbledore says to take his arm, then teleports him away from the station, after which they both have a couple lines about the teleportation, then a couple more in front of Horace's house. Half-Blood Prince easily passes all three levels of the Reverse Bechdel by the 5-minute mark. Dumbledore also speaks with Horace about Harry and the Death Eaters. Horace and Harry also talk to each other, although mostly about Harry's mother.

The second woman in the movie is Ginny Weasley. She sees Harry's owl and his other stuff in their house. She calls out to her mom, who is the third woman in the movie. Mrs. Weasley says, "Ginny, what is it?" Ginny replies, "I was only wondering when Harry got here." Mrs. Weasley says, "Harry who?" Ginny tells her it's Harry Potter; Mrs. Weasley insists he's not there, but Ginny says that all of his stuff is. Mrs. Weasley, "seriously doubts that." Ron trades some lines with Ginny, then Hermione shows up, and asks if that was an owl she heard. Ginny asks her if she's seen Harry, who she thinks is wandering about the house. Hermione only replies, "Really?" Both conversations-- between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley and between Ginny and Hermione, satisfy OB-2. However, both conversations are also about Harry, so neither one satisfies OB-3.

On the train to Hogwarts, Luna offers a Quibbler to Ginny, who accepts, and asks what it's about. Luna says it's about invisible creatures who fly into your ears and make your brain fuzzy. Unlike the other Harry Potter movies, Half-Blood Prince easily passes the Original Bechdel early in the film (with two hours left in the movie).

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In case anyone hasn't noticed from the previous entries, on my way to reviewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, I'm reviewing all preceding Harry Potter movies. So far, I've reviewed Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. While Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban passed both the Original and Reverse Bechdel tests, Sorcerer's Stone failed OB-3 and Goblet of Fire failed OB-2. Goblet was also the first movie reviewed here at Reverse Bechdel to fail the second level of either test.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in 2007. It made $938 million worldwide, a 4.8% improvement over the previous movie, but still worse than the first movie of the series, Sorcerer's Stone.

The first "man" is a disembodied male voice, apparently giving the weather forecast on radio or an unseen television. The first woman is a mother at a playground telling her son it's time to go home.

The second male is the first woman's son, a boy at the playground who asks whether they have to go home, before the camera zooms in on Harry Potter.

A group of male bullies approaches Potter, who asks them if they've beaten up another ten-year-old. The leader, Dudley, replies that this one deserved it. Harry remarks that it would've been five against one. Dudley then teases Potter, who apparently has been having nightmares about the death of Cedric Diggory from the previous movie. Harry tells Dudley to shut up, but Dudley then teases Potter about his mother being dead. Order of the Phoenix easily passes RB-2 within a few minutes, but it's not clear that it has passed RB-3. Only Dudley has any lines about Cedric, or even Harry's mother. Harry's only lines are about an unnamed, unseen ten-year-old of unspecified gender.

The second woman in the movie is Mrs. Fig, one of Harry's neighbor's who walks him back to his house. Miss Fig only talks to Harry. The third woman is Aunt Petunia. The fourth woman... er... the letter from the Ministry of Magic was written by a woman, Mafalda Hopkirk, and the envelope speaks with Mafalda's voice. I don't know whether that counts as a woman, but Harry is the only one who the envelope talks to anyway (and he doesn't even respond). The fifth woman is Nymphodora Tonks, who breaks in and rescues Harry along with Professor Moody and some others.

As Harry and his rescuers are leaving the Dursley house, both Moody and Kingsley trade a few lines with Harry about his expulsion from Hogwarts. Harry has two lines with Moody, who has a line in between, and Kingsley has two lines with Harry, who himself has a line in between. Both conversations satisfy RB-3. Order of the Phoenix passes the Reverse Bechdel test completely before passing the second level of the Original Bechdel. Will it do better than Goblet of Fire on that count?

The sixth woman in the film is Mrs. Weasley, who keeps Harry out of the adults' meeting. The seventh is Hermione; the eighth is Ginny. Ginny is the first female to even talk to another; close to the 15-minute mark, Ginny says, "Hi mom," on her way down the stairs to eat dinner. At the dinner table, Tonks is making faces-- turning her face into that of a pig, then a duck-- and Ginny is laughing, but neither of them actually speaks.

The ninth woman is Amelia Bones, who speaks up at Harry's hearing. Shortly after, Mrs. Fig begins her testimony at the hearing, and Bones asks her, "Please describe the attack. What did they look like?" Mrs. Fig describes the boys, rather than the dementors, and Fudge corrects her. Since each woman has only one line, this does not strictly fit the definition of "conversation" that I've been using here at Reverse Bechdel, but more than twenty minutes into the movie, it's the closest we've gotten.

The tenth female is Dolores Umbridge; the eleventh is Luna Lovegood. Hermione introduces her to the others, then says, "What an interesting necklace." Luna replies, "It's a charm, actually." Again, each girl has just one line spoken to the other.

In their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Hermione raises her hand while the books are being passed out. Dolores Umbridge says, "Yes?" Hermione asks, "There's nothing in here about using defensive spells?" Umbridge replies, "Using spells? Haha! Why, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom." Although the exchange is short, Order of the Phoenix passes OB-3 not long after the half-hour mark.

About fifteen minutes later, there is a longer one-on-one conversation between Dolores Umbridge and Professor McGonagall about the disciplinary methods used on Potter. Potter himself is not mentioned, although it is clear that Umbridge's treatment of Potter was the trigger for the conversation. Towards the end, Umbridge talks about loyalty to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and that he will want to take immediate action at Hogwarts. Even though this conversation probably does not pass OB-3, it clearly passes OB-2.

A few minutes after that, Umbridge has dismissed Professor Trelawney, and there is a confrontation in the courtyard between Trelawney, Umbridge and McGonagall. No one else is involved until Dumbledore appears halfway through, and the conversation between the three women easily passes OB-3.

The movie overall is male-dominated, but there is far more of a female presence than the previous film. The six students who went to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius Black were split half-and-half-- Hermione, Ginny and Luna are all girls, while Harry, Ron and Neville are all boys. The Order of the Phoenix includes at least three women-- Mrs. Weasley, Tonks and Mrs. Figg. There are also women on the bad side, like the escaped Death Eater Bellatrix and Dolores Umbridge, who worked for the Ministry. Even though the leaders of all three groups are male (Dumbledore, Voldemort and Fudge, respectively), and the movie is, after all, primarily about Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had far more female presence and interaction than any of the previous four Harry Potter movies.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

On my way to reviewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, I'm reviewing all preceding Harry Potter movies. Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban are the three reviews prior to this one. All three movies easily passed the Reverse Bechdel. While the first failed the Original Bechdel, the second and third passed. Will the fourth pass as well?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released in 2005. It was the first movie to do better than the previous Harry Potter movie, bringing in over $895 million, 12.6% better than Prisoner of Azkaban and 1.9% better than Chamber of Secrets, but still 10% worse than the original, Sorcerer's Stone.

The first man in the movie is the old gardener at the Riddle house, whose first and only line is "bloody kids." The second man with lines is Voldemort himself, although he speaks off-camera. The third man with lines, and the second on-camera, is Peter Pettigrew. We also see David Tennant.

The three men (not including the old gardener), are having a conversation about Voldemort's plans, and apparently about Harry Potter ("the boy"), and whether Voldemort's plans can go forward without him. Goblet of Fire passes RB-3 before a single woman is seen on-screen.

We first see Hermione immediately after the gardener is killed. Ginny Weasley is seen on the way to the Quidditch World Cup, and has a single line: "Look!" Ginny says her line to Hermione, who laughs in response-- not quite enough to pass OB-2.

The third woman with any lines is the trolley lady on the train to Hogwarts, but just as in the first movie, she only talks to Harry and Ron. Cho asks the trolley lady for two candies, but the trolley lady gives them to her without a word, before turning back and speaking to Harry.

While Hogwarts is a co-ed magical school, the two other schools participating in the Tri-Wizard Tournament include one girls-only school and one boys-only school. However, none of the girls from the girls-only school are seen talking directly to each other, except in the background. When the three champions are selected, Viktor's and Cedric's friends all loudly congratulate them, but when Fleur's name is annouced, all the girls from her school are bizarrely silent. After Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, McGonagall gets a few lines, trying to convince Dumbledore not to let Harry compete.

The first time we even get close to passing OB-2 is more than half an hour into the movie, when the journalist Rita Skeeter talks to the four Tri-Wizard Tournament champions, who happen to include Fleur Delacour. Fleur, however, does not respond. Similarly, when Rita takes a picture of Harry and Hermione talking, Rita talks to the both of them, but Hermione is (for once) speechless. In fact, the first time two women even talk near each other is more than an hour into Goblet of Fire, when the twins Padma and Parvati say, "Hi Harry" in unison, as they pass him.

Right after Padma and Parvati's line, a couple girls including Cho are shown talking to each other across the room from Harry. None of what they say is audible, so once again, it does not count for OB-2. Similarly, after McGonagall's dance lesson, some girls are seen talking to each other in three different groups, but most of what they say is inaudible, and the rest is just fragments of lines with no audible responses.

After Ron asks out Fleur, he enters the Gryffindor room with Ginny and some others. Harry asks, "What happened to you?" Ginny answers, "He just asked Fleur Delacour out," to which Hermione responds with a shocked, "What?" Hermione is addressing Ginny, but Ginny was addressing Harry, and the next line is Harry's, addressed to Ginny. Ginny and Hermione aren't actually talking to each other here, but 71 minutes into the movie, it's the closest we've gotten to passing OB-2.

In fact, this small exchange is the closest Goblet of Fire ever gets to passing OB-2. An hour-and-a-half into the movie, when Harry rescues Fleur's sister, Fleur says something in French to her sister as she comes out of the water, but her sister doesn't respond.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire never passes the second level of the original Bechdel test-- while there are lots of women with lines in the movie, none of them speak directly to each other for more than a single line. Goblet of Fire is the first movie reviewed here at Reverse Bechdel to fail the second level of either test.

Moreover, Goblet of Fire's failure is not because of the setting, or a lack of opportunity. There are multiple times in the movie where a few lines between women would have been natural, even expected. Whether it's the trolley lady giving Cho the silent treatment, or Fleur and Hermione not responding to Rita, or other cases, at times the movie feels like it was written with conversations between women that were later written out, but the circumstances of the conversations kept. Goblet of Fire could have and should have passed OB-2, it just didn't.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

On my way to reviewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, I'm reviewing all preceding Harry Potter movies. My review of Sorcerer's Stone can be found here, and Chamber of Secrets can be found here. Both movies easily passed the Reverse Bechdel, and the first failed the Original Bechdel, while the second passed. Now it's time to see how the third measures up. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 2004, and was the sixth-highest domestic-grossing movie of the year. It brought in over $795 million, 9.5% less than Chamber of Secrets and 18.3% less than Sorcerer's Stone. It was also my personal introduction to the Harry Potter series.

The first man in the movie is Harry Potter, repeatedly chanting a light spell so that he can read a magic book in his dark bedroom. The first woman is Aunt Marge saying "Harry, Harry, open the door."

In the first two minutes, Harry asks Uncle Vernon to sign a paper. Vernon asks what it is, and Harry says it's "school stuff." Vernon says he might sign it later, if Harry behaves. Harry says he will, "...if she does." Everything up until the last three words counts as "something besides a woman" and Harry and Vernon each have two lines, back and forth. Prisoner of Azkaban passes the Reverse Bechdel very quickly.

Harry also has male-to-male conversations with the triple-decker conductor, the Minister of Magic (partly about Aunt Marge, but also about Sirius Black and Harry's return to Hogwarts), Mr. Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Hagrid and Professor Lupin, among others. There are also quite a few male-to-male conversations that don't include Harry, including Professor Lupin and Neville.

The second woman is Aunt Petunia. Her first audible line occurs at the dinner table. Marge asks, "What is it the boy's father did, Petunia?" Petunia replies, "Nothing, he didn't work. He was unemployed." Marge says, "And a drunk too, no doubt." Harry interrupts at this point, but before Harry's interruption, the conversation does pass OB-2. Since it was about Harry's father, however, it does not pass OB-3.

Prior to arriving at Hogwarts, there are five female characters with lines: Petunia, Marge, the maid at the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley. Of these, only Hermione goes to Hogwarts, so I doubt the rest will be any help in passing OB-3. There seem to be a few girls in the Hogwarts choir, but they are only shown singing, not actually talking to anyone. Professor Trelawney is the second female character at Hogwarts, but she doesn't talk to Hermione. The same is true for McGonagall and the Fat Lady.

In Hogsmeade, Madame Rosmerta has a talk with Professor McGonagall about the Dementors. McGonagall explains that Dumbledore isn't happy about them either, and tells Rosmerta about Sirius Black's history with Voldemort, with Harry's parents, and with Peter Pettigrew. Cornelius Fudge is present (as well as Harry, beneath the invisibility cloak), but most of the conversation goes back and forth between McGonagall and Rosmerta, with more than enough back-and-forth to pass OB-2. However, since they are talking mostly about Black and Pettigrew, it does not pass OB-3.

The second time we see Trelawney's Divination class, Trelawney and Hermione talk directly to each other. Trelawney sits at the table with Hermione, Harry and Ron, but the two boys don't say a word. Trelawney asks, "What do we have here?" (in the crystal ball). Hermione asks if she can try; Trelawney agrees, and Hermione without looking suggests the Grim, the mark of death seen earlier in the tea leaves and the clouds. Trelaney responds with a very eloquent insult, and Hermione storms out. It takes more than 76 minutes to get there, but Prisoner of Azkaban finally passes the Original Bechdel test.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

On my way to reviewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, I'm reviewing all preceding Harry Potter movies. My review of Sorcerer's Stone can be found here. The first Harry Potter movie failed the Original Bechdel test. Will the second do any better? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released in 2002, and brought in over $878 million, a 10.8% drop from the previous movie. While Sorcerer's Stone was the #1 film the year it was released, Chamber of Secrets was only #4.

The first man teenage boy-wizard to speak is the eponymous Harry Potter; the second man is Uncle Vernon, yelling at Harry from downstairs. The first woman to speak is Aunt Petunia, to Harry and Vernon.

Initially, Vernon warns Harry to keep his (female) bird quiet, but then they start to talk about his friends, including Hermione, who haven't sent him any owl-letters all summer. This passes RB-2, but may not strictly pass RB-3.

Whether the above conversation passes RB-3, when Harry returns to his room, he meets Dobby the House-Elf. They have a long one-on-one conversation which easily passes RB-3, and is interrupted only by Vernon coming in to scold Harry, a conversation which also easily passes RB-3.

The second woman with lines is Mrs. Weasley. After she scolds her sons, she begins fixing breakfast for them. Ginny Weasley comes downstairs and says, "Mum, mummy, have you seen my jumper?" Mrs. Weasley replies "Yes, dear, it was on the cat." Ginny suddenly notices Harry, and doesn't reply, but just runs back upstairs.

Mrs. Sprout begins class by welcoming the new students, and saying, "...Today, we are going to repot mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of the mandrake root?" Hermione replies with their use, and the danger of the mandrake's cries. Mrs. Sprout says, "Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor." There's another similar conversation in Professor McGonagall's class, with Hermione asking about the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I've established a rule here at Reverse Bechdel that if any movie in the list to be reviewed is a sequel, I will first review the preceding movie(s), so that I'm not totally confused by the sequel. Of the top five movies in 2010, three of them were sequels: Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2 and Twilight: Eclipse. Toy Story and Twilight are both, for the moment, trilogies, each giving me two prior films to watch. However, now I've come to the first real test of this sequel rule. Why? Well...

The sixth-highest domestic-grossing movie of 2010, and the next on my list, is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I. Of the eight intended Harry Potter movies, this is #7. In order to catch up, I have six prior Harry Potter movies to watch. It might be weeks before I review a movie other than Harry Potter. We'll see how it goes, but there's nothing else to do except jump right in with #1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The first man in the movie is Dumbledore; the first woman is Professor McGonagall.

The second man is Hagrid, who shows up about two-and-a-half minutes into the movie. Hagrid greets both Dumbledore and McGonagall, and Dumbledore asks if there were any problems. Hagrid says no, the baby Harry Potter fell asleep while they were flying over Bristol. Dumbledore doesn't respond, and McGonagall jumps in, so this doesn't strictly fit the rules I've established, although it just barely falls short.

The second woman in the movie is Harry's adoptive mother, Aunt Petunia.

When Aunt Petunia uncovers Dudley's eyes to show him his birthday presents, Dudley turns to his father, Uncle Vernon and asks, "How many are there?" Vernon tells him 36, and Dudley complains that last year he had 37. Vernon says that some of this year's presents are much bigger, and Dudley says he doesn't care how big they are. The conversation ends when Aunt Petunia interrupts Dudley to promise him two more presents. In less than six minutes, Sorcerer's Stone passes the Reverse Bechdel test.

Sorcerer's Stone passes RB-3 many times throughout the movie. Uncle Vernon warns Harry not to cause trouble at the zoo, then punishes him afterwards. Hagrid has a few one-on-one conversations with Harry, including on his birthday, later about Voldemort, and at the end of the movie before Harry gets on the train. Harry and Ron also have a few one-on-one conversations, the first on the train to Hogwarts, another on Christmas Day, and elsewhere. Harry also has a one-on-one conversation with Oliver, who explains how Quidditch works, and again as they're about to go onto the field for Harry's first Quidditch match.

This movie raises an interesting question. A strange, large and hairy man breaks into your house after midnight, gives an 11-year-old boy some cake, and offers to take him away. What would your response be?

The movie's third woman is Doris Crawford, who introduces herself in the bar, but she only talks to Harry. The fourth is Ron's mother, who only talks to her sons and Harry. Ron's sister doesn't talk at all. The fifth woman is the stewardess on the train, who only talks to Ron and Harry. The sixth is Hermione, and we still haven't had any of them talk to each other.

More than an hour into the movie, Hermione has the first line from one female to another: "It's my fault, Professor McGonagall."

McGonagall: "Oh, Miss Granger?"
Hermione: "I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead."
McGonagall: "Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I would've expected more rational behavior on your part, and I am severely disappointed in you, Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment. As for you two gentlemen..."

Although Harry, Ron, Snape and Quirrell (all male) were all present, this exchange took place entirely between the two ladies, addressing each other by name in three of the four lines. Moreover, when McGonagall does begin to talk to Harry and Ron, she marks a clear boundary between her conversation with Hermione and her conversation with the two boys, turning to face them and saying, "As for you two gentlemen..."

The above conversation is the only one which passes OB-2. Immediately before that conversation, McGonagall faces Harry and Ron, demanding that they explain themselves. They stutter for a moment or two, before Hermione interrupts with her line, "It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." As far as McGonagall is aware, Hermione is explaining her own actions. It could be said that before the line, "If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me..." the conversation is not about any males, therefore passes OB-3. However, I think this is stretching the Original Bechdel test quite a bit. Although Hermione and McGonagall are talking to each other and the first part of their conversation appears to be about something other than a man, the entire point of those first few lines is to get Harry and Ron out of trouble. While the conversation appears to not be about a man, Hermione is really saying, "Don't blame the guys, blame me."

Inception

Inception was the fifth-highest domestic grossing film of 2010, and a personal favorite. It grossed over $292 million in the domestic market, and $823 million worldwide. I'll admit that I've already seen Inception multiple times, and I can say before reviewing it on this blog that it does pass the Reverse Bechdel, quite easily. But it may not pass the Original Bechdel; I remember Ariadne talking to Mal, but they may have just been talking about Dom. There's only one way to find out, so let's go deeper... (yeah, I couldn't resist, sorry).

The first man in the movie is Dom, although he doesn't immediately speak. The first person with lines is one of Saito's projections, which immediately raises the question: Do projections count as people for the purposes of the Bechdel test? They're certainly characters in the movie, but they're only real within the dream. My first instinct is to say that projections should only count when they reflect real people; for example, Dom's projection of Mal, and Fischer's projection of his dying father. However, I think it would be more interesting to keep track of both reality and projections, so that's what I'll do.

What if only real people count?
(I am assuming for simplicity that people who seem to be real actually are.)

The first real person to speak is Saito, to Dom. He asks, "Are you here to kill me?" Dom does not respond in this time frame. The next scene takes us back to Dom's first infiltration of Saito's dream world, this time with Dom speaking.

Dom asks Saito, "What is the most resilient parasite? A bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm?" Arthur tries to interrupt, saying "Uh, what Mr. Cobb is trying to say..." Dom continues that the most resilient parasite is an idea, to which Saito responds by asking, "For someone like you to steal?" Arthur explains extraction, and Dom offers to help him defend himself. Inception thus passes the Reverse Bechdel test within the first four minutes of the movie, with real people (albeit, while in a dream).

The first real female is Dom's young daughter, Phillipa. She's shown on screen as a projection in the first minute, and seen around the sixteenth minute in a memory flash, but we also hear her real voice on the phone. Her first line is "Hi Daddy." The second female, heard but not seen, is "Grandma", telling the kids they've talked enough and to "say bye-bye." The kids don't audibly respond to this, so it doesn't count for OB-2. Ariadne, the film's third real female character, and the first to be seen speaking on screen, makes her first appearance 25 minutes into the movie.

In the entire movie, there are only six female characters with lines. Of these, one is a projection (see below), and one is actually the male Eames in disguise, leaving only four real female characters. These are Ariadne, the airline stewardess, Phillipa and Grandma. Neither Ariadne nor the stewardess talk to any other real woman, and the only "conversation" between Phillipa and Grandma isn't really a conversation at all (see above). If projections don't count, then Inception fails both OB-2 and OB-3.

What if projections count too?

The first three characters to speak in the movie are all Saito's projections, and all are men. One yells to another projection. The other two talk to Saito, but Saito does not audibly respond.

Inception passes RB-2 and RB-3 with real people before passing it with projections (see above).

The first woman in the movie is Mal, Dom's projection. There are no other female projections during the Saito job. Inception passes OB-1 around the 17th minute with real female characters (see above).

About half-an-hour into the movie, Mal kills Ariadne in Dom's dream, the first interaction between the two main female characters. However, Mal kills her wordlessly. It's not until 59 minutes into the movie that Mal talks to Ariadne, the first time two women talk to each other directly in Inception. Dom has been using the machine to dream every night, returning to his memories. Ariadne joins the dream, and visits the memory of the night Mal killed herself. She leaves Dom in a different memory to see it, so at first it's just Ariadne and Mal. Mal asks, "What are you doing here?" and they have a conversation:

Ariadne: "My name's..."
Mal: "I know who you are. What are you doing here?"
Ariadne: "I'm just trying to understand."
Mal: "How could you understand? Do you know what it is to be a lover? To be half of a whole?"
Ariadne: "No."
Mal: "I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where that train will take you?"

It could be debated whether this conversation passes OB-3. Aside from the issue that Mal is actually Dom (at least, his subconscious), it could be argued that Mal's lines about being a lover and about the riddle are about a man, to the extent that they are about her relationship with Dom. In asking what Ariadne is doing "here", Mal is also in effect asking what Ariadne is doing in Dom's dream. However, I think this is reading too much into it. "What are you doing here?" is a straightforward question. Although the line about being a lover is clearly about Dom and Mal together, the riddle is different. By telling Ariadne the riddle, Mal is trying to tell her about her own history. This is Mal's way of introducing herself. I believe that this scene counts, and Inception passes OB-3.

Conclusion

Inception is without question male-dominated. Of the six members of Dom's team, five are men. Ariadne is the only woman. Of course, if incarceration rates are anything to judge by, a five-to-one male:female ratio on a team assembled for an illegal job is higher than normal-- only 8.8% of prisoners in the United States are female (Arthur lives in the US, and Dom is trying to get back). That number is 3.7% in France (where Ariadne is from), 4.5% in Kenya (where Yusuf and Eames are working), 7.0% in Japan (where Saito is from) and 7.2% in Australia (where the plane leaves from, and presumably where Fischer lives). Ariadne's inclusion in the six-person team makes it 16.7% female.

Even so, there are only six female characters in the movie, as noted above, and one of them is a man in disguise. There are only two with any significant on-screen presence, and one of them is the movie's antagonist. Ariadne is said to be a better architect than Dom, but her purpose in the movie is to probe Dom's mind and find out why his subconscious is manifesting Mal in his dreams.

So what about that final scene? Different interpretations of the final scene could color the results of the Bechdel test. On the one hand, it could mean that every single character except for Dom is a projection; or maybe there are other real people within the dream, but some that we think are real are actually projections, and maybe some that we think are projections are actually real. On the other hand, if he is in the real world in the last scene, then the distinction between real and projection would follow the same lines that I've drawn in the sections above.

Ultimately, the final scene is the reason why I think the Bechdel test should include both real and dream characters. The movie is intentionally ambiguous as to the nature of reality here. To draw a definite distinction between "real" and dream characters for the Bechdel test presumes a certain interpretation of the final scene, and I don't think its appropriate to do that. It is better to interpret the Bechdel test with regards to film characters rather than "real" or "not real" people within the film, and leave the interpretation of the film itself to the viewer.

Since projections count for this reason, Inception passes both the Original Bechdel and Reverse Bechdel tests.

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 was the third-highest domestic-grossing film of 2010, with over $312 million in domestic revenue, and $620 million worldwide. My review of the first Iron Man can be found here.

Iron Man 2 starts out in Moscow, where an old man, Anton Vanko, is watching the newscast where Tony Stark declared to the world that he was Iron Man. Anton's son, Ivan, walks into the room and says he shouldn't be watching that. Anton says, "I'm sorry, all I can give you is my knowledge," and immediately dies. This satisfies the Reverse Bechdel test: two men talking about something other than a woman.

The first woman with any real lines is the U.S. Marshall who delivers a Congressional subpoena to Stark at the Expo. The second woman is Potts, who first appears at the Congressional hearing, but doesn't have any real lines until about twenty minutes into the movie.

Stark makes Potts the CEO of Stark Industries, and the first woman-to-woman line is from the notary, Natalie Rushman, to Potts. Since Potts doesn't audibly respond, I don't think this counts for OB-2. Stark is boxing when Rushman comes into the room, and invites her into the boxing ring. Potts protests, and Rushman says, "It's no problem." Potts replies, "I'm sorry, he's very eccentric." Since she's talking about Stark, the short exchange doesn't qualify for OB-3, and given that Stark and his male boxing partner are also present, and at least marginally involved in the conversation, it's not clear that this counts for OB-2 either. Similarly, when Christine Everheart, along with Justin Hammer, meets Stark and Potts at the bar, Everheart and Potts exchange one or two lines directly, but only as part of the larger conversation between all four characters.

The birthday party has the first real, unambiguous conversation between two women: Rushman and Potts, and even that only lasts a few lines. Potts begins to confront Natalie ("Oh don't you 'Ms. Potts' me, I know about you. Ever since you came here..."), only to have the conversation interrupted when Stark and Rhodes fall through the ceiling. It's short, but both women have at least one line, and it's not (yet) about a man, although Potts might have been about to mention Stark before they were interrupted.

In case anyone thinks the birthday conversation doesn't pass OB-3, there's another conversation between the two women in Potts' new CEO office. Rushman comes into the office and tells Potts her plane will be leaving soon, and Potts thanks her. While Stark is present, he is clearly not a part of the conversation. Indeed, Rushman makes it a point to not speak a word to him, not even in response to his direct questioning. Rushman only speaks to Stark when Potts tells her to, and even then, only after Potts has left the room.

Just like the first installment, Iron Man 2 is definitely male-dominated. On the other hand, women play a much larger role, and are generally portrayed more favorably than the men of the movie. While Stark is irresponsible to his core, Potts is the able business-woman, who only struggles to keep the company going because Stark's constant antics keep putting it in jeopardy. When Ivan takes over the drones, Justin Hammer struggles vainly to control the situation; when Rushman and Potts take control, the two women quickly figure out what needs to be done, and go about doing it. When the female Rushman and the male Hogan fight Hammer's agents, Rushman quickly and easily takes out a dozen or more while Hogan struggles to fend off just one.

I also couldn't help but notice this non-gender-related issue: When Hammer introduces his drones, he has versions for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines... but none for the Coast Guard. Maybe Ivan just didn't know about them?