Shrek Forever After

Shrek Forever After was the eighth-highest domestic-grossing film of 2010. I've already reviewed the first three Shrek movies here, here and here. The original Shrek passed only one level of the Original Bechdel, while the second and third passed all three levels. Will the fourth pass the Original Bechdel too?

The first man to speak is Rumpelstiltskin, who gives the opening narration. The second man is the King (not yet turned into a frog), who recoils when a mime blows a kiss at him. Soon after, he turns to the Queen and expresses his doubts about their plan.

The Queen is the first woman in the movie, who reassures her husband about going through with the plan.

When we first see Rumpelstiltskin on screen, he promises to release Fiona from the curse in exchange for the entire kingdom of Far Far Away. He speaks with the King about the deal, which passes RB-2, but not RB-3, since the conversation is about Fiona.

Rumpelstiltskin is going mad, ripping the pages out of the fairy tale book telling the story of how Shrek saved Fiona (and prevented Rumpelstiltskin from taking over Far Far Away). Pinocchio says, "Uh, sir? You're going to have to pay for that." Rumpy offers to make a deal, calling Pinocchio "Little boy" and Pinocchio says, "Oh, I'm not a real boy." Rumpy again tries to make a deal, but Pinocchio kicks him out of the store. (Even though Pinocchio is not a "real boy" and even though he was wearing ladies' underwear in the second movie, I think he does count as a "male character" for the purposes of the Reverse Bechdel.) Like so many other movies, Shrek Forever After passes the Reverse Bechdel within the first five minutes.

The second woman in the movie is Fiona, who talks with Shrek during the montage of his day-to-day activities. The third woman is the Ugly Stepsister, but none of them talk to each other before Shrek's deal with Rumpy. (Speaking of which, Shrek and Rumpy have a nice long talk with other before the deal that easily passes RB-3.)

The fourth woman to speak is one of the witches, who says to the other witches, "Ogre! We got another one, ladies!" Then another says, "Looks like a troublemaker!" and after they capture him, "Nice job, ladies!"

Once Shrek is in the wagon, two witches argue about what Donkey should sing. One says, "I hate this song" and the other replies, "Yeah, I'm driving, so uh, I'm in charge of the music." Donkey has the next line, so it doesn't quite pass OB-2 as I've defined it.

Throughout the rest of the movie, no two women talk audibly to each other at all. Some witches are seen apparently talking in the background, and some laugh in a group, but no two women actually talk to each other. In the ogre camp, there are dozens of men, but only two women, who are never even seen together. Of course, one of those women is the alternate Fiona, the ogres' leader, but she is the only main character who is female.

Indeed, in terms of main characters, Shrek Forever After follows much the same pattern as the original Shrek. The supporting characters built up over the franchise play only very small roles in the fourth movie. Most of the dialogue is between Shrek and Donkey or Shrek and Fiona, with some extra dialogue between Shrek and Puss-not-in-Boots. The only other character with significant lines is Rumpy, the villain.

Shrek the Third

Shrek Forever After was the eighth-highest domestic-grossing film of 2010. I've already reviewed the original Shrek here and Shrek 2 here. This is the review for Shrek the Third, which was released in 2007, and was the secong-highest domestic-grossing film of its year, after only Spider-Man 3. The original Shrek passed only one level of the Original Bechdel, while Shrek 2 passed all three levels. What can we expect for the third installment?

The first man to speak is Prince Charming, acting on stage at a dinner theatre. The second man to speak is the Gingerbread Man, complaining about the dinner theatre. He says he hates it, and Pinocchio says, "Me too" (before his nose grows longer). Gingerbread Man doesn't respond, so it doesn't count as a conversation yet. Similarly, heckling from the Gingerbread Man and another man (credited as "Heckler"), although aimed at Prince Charming, doesn't count as a conversation.

The first woman to speak is the actress playing Fiona in the dinner theatre. The second woman to speak is Fiona herself.

Once Donkey comes into Shrek & Fiona's bedroom, Fiona doesn't say anything, but Donkey, Shrek and Puss-in-Boots all have lines. Donkey sings "Good morning" and remarks how children "grow up so fast." Shrek replies, "Not fast enough." Puss-in-Boots says, "You have a very full day filling in the for King and Queen. There are several functions which require your attendance, sir." (The first sentence appears to be directed at both Shrek and Fiona, while the second sentence is directed only at Shrek.) Shrek replies, "Great, let's get started!" and hides under his blanket. Donkey pulls the blanket off of him and recoils when he finds out Shrek isn't wearing anything underneath. None of these exchanges strictly satisfy the criteria for a one-on-one conversation, but since Fiona doesn't say a word, I think this qualifies as a conversation between the three men.

If there's any doubt that this passes the Reverse Bechdel, a few minutes later Shrek says, "Hey you, come here. What's your name?" The man replies, "Uh, Fiddlesworth, sir." Shrek says, "Oh ho ho ho, perfect." There's also a longer and more plot-relevant conversation between Shrek and the King shortly thereafter, about who is next in line for the throne.

The third woman to speak is the Queen, Fiona's mother, but she only speaks to the dying King. There are a few more women at the tavern where Prince Charming rallies support, including the singing witch, Mabel (the ugly stepsister) and the Wicked Witch (from Snow White), although none of them talk to each other.

When Puss-in-Boots says goodbye to his lady-friends before boarding the ship, none of them speak English or walk on two legs like he does, although some apparently get into a cat fight off-screen. When Donkey says goodbye to Dragon, he can apparently understand what she is saying, even though she's not speaking English. I'm not sure whether she should count as a woman with lines, but since she only speaks to Donkey anyway, it doesn't really make a difference.

When Shrek arrives at Worcestershire high school, he walks to up to two high school girls who were talking to themselves. One (Gwenivere) says to the other, "So then I was all like, I'd rather get the Black Plague and lock myself in an iron maiden then go out with you." The other girl replies, "Uh, totally." Shrek interrupts and says, "Pardon me..." but Gwenivere says, "Eeaugh, totally eww-eth" and the second says, "Yeah, totally." Since Shrek has a line in between, it doesn't quite pass OB-2.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, the various princesses hold a baby shower for Fiona. Rapunzel, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are all there and have lines with Fiona. Like the first conversation between Shrek, Donkey and Puss-in-Boots, there aren't any one-on-one exchanges. However, each of the five women has at least one line, and they're talking amongst each other, not to any men. They talk about Fiona's pregnancy, the baby shower gifts, and whether or not babies poop, without mentioning any men at all.

Like the first two Shrek films, Shrek the Third is male-dominated, with most of the action and character development happening between Shrek, Donkey, Puss-in-Boots and Arthur Pendragon. Again, considering the title character of the franchise, this isn't too surprising. That said, it's the women who lead the escape from the jail cell, and they also lead in retaking the castle. Shrek the Third has more female presence, and stronger female characters, than either of the previous two Shrek movies.

Shrek 2

Shrek Forever After was the eighth-highest domestic-grossing film of 2010. I've already reviewed the original Shrek here. This is the review for Shrek 2, which was released in 2004, and was the top domestic-grossing film of its year. The original Shrek passed the Reverse Bechdel within five minutes, but only passed one level of the Original Bechdel. Will its sequel fare any better?

The first man is Prince Charming, with the opening narration.

The second "man" is the Big Bad Wolf. I'm assuming he counts as a man, since he speaks with a man's voice. On the other hand, he is consistently seen in grandma's outfit, but that's a separate issue (even the Fairy Godmother later calls him "gender-confused"). Prince Charming climbs Fiona's tower to rescue her and finds the Big Bad Wolf there instead, who tells Charming that Fiona is on her honeymoon. Since they're talking about Fiona, it doesn't RB-3, but it does pass RB-2.

I'm not sure whether it should count or not, but the first woman with any audible lines is the mermaid who takes Fiona's spot kissing Shrek when the waves crash over them. Fiona drags her away, and the mermaid cries out, "Ow, ow, ow!" before being tossed into the sea (and apparently eaten by sharks).

When Shrek and Fiona go back to Shrek's place, they find Donkey. Shrek and Donkey exchange a few lines about Donkey staying there, and how he hasn't sorted the mail, watered the plants or fed the fish. Shrek tries to get Donkey to leave, but...

...Fiona interrupts with her first actual line, the second line by a woman in the movie, asking whether Donkey should get back to Dragon. About the six-minute mark, Shrek 2 has passed RB-3 and OB-1, which is the same level as the original Shrek reached for the entire movie. A third woman speaks up when they reach Far Far Away, and can be heard saying, "Hey, everyone look..." when Fiona passes by in her horse-drawn onion. The fourth woman is Fiona's mother the Queen, who gets her first lines when Fiona and Shrek arrive at their castle, talking with Fiona's father the King.

Just before the 15-minute mark, Fiona says, "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet my husband..." Although this doesn't pass OB-2 since her mother doesn't respond, it is closer than the original Shrek ever got. Fiona and the Queen both have several lines during dinner (with Shrek, Donkey and the King also present), but only one of the lines is directly between the two women-- While the pig is in the air, Fiona says, "Mom..." but the Queen says, "Harold..."

Immediately after dinner, Fiona goes to her room and cries on her balcony. Her Fairy Godmother shows up and strikes up a conversation.

Fairy Godmother: "Oh my dear, look at you, you're all um... grown up."
Fiona: "Um... who are you?"
Fairy Godmother: "Oh, sweet pea. I'm you're fairy godmother."
Fiona: "I have a fairy godmother?"
Fairy Godmother: "Shush shush shush, now don't worry. I'm here to make it all better..."

Shrek 2 passes both Bechdel tests in a reasonable amount of time. However, most conversations before the arrival of Puss-in-Boots take place between people of both genders-- either Shrek and Fiona, the King and Queen, the King and the Fairy Godmother, the King and the Ugly Stepsister, or within some group, like the group at dinner, or the Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, the King and the female drive-thru worker at Friar's Fat Boy.

Even so, the film is still male-dominated (again, not surprising given the title character). The three main heroes are all male (Shrek, Donkey and Puss-in-Boots), and much of the dialogue of the movie takes place between the three of them. Although Fiona is the focus of everyone's attention, overall she is fairly passive, while those around her enact their different plots. In the end, she only avoids a life with Prince Charming because her father chose not to give her the love potion.

Still, considering that the original Shrek didn't even pass OB-2, Shrek 2 has a much stronger feminine presence. Of the eight main characters credited at the end of the movie (Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, the Queen, Puss-in-Boots, the King, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother), three of them are women-- that's as many female characters as the original Shrek had in the entire movie.

Shrek

Shrek Forever After was the eighth-highest domestic-grossing film of 2010. Since Shrek Forever After is the fourth movie in the Shrek franchise, I'll first review the original other three Shrek movies. The original Shrek was released in 2001, and was the third-highest domestic-grossing film of its year, behind only Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

The first man/ogre to speak is Shrek himself, who reads the fairy tale of Princess Fiona, and then uses the pages of the book as toilet paper.

The men from the village form a mob to kill Shrek. Hiding in the reeds near his house, one of the men wants to charge the house, but two others warn him about what ogres do to humans. Shrek shows up and scares them a bit by talking about what he likes to do to humans (squeezing the jelly out of human eyeballs and using it on toast, for example). One of them waves his torch and says, "Back! Back, beast! I warn you!" Then when Shrek extinguishes the torch by pinching it, the man says, "...Right." Shrek yells at them, and says, "This is the part where you run away." The original Shrek movie passes the Reverse Bechdel test within the first five minutes.

The first woman in the movie is Donkey's owner, who says to him, "Oh, shut up" and slaps him. She only has a few lines before Donkey escapes. When Donkey meets Shrek right after, they have a nice, long conversation that easily passes the Reverse Bechdel. There are some fairy godmothers camped outside Shrek's house, but they don't have any actual lines; they just scream and fly away.

The second woman with lines doesn't show up until about 25 minutes into the movie, during Shrek's wrestling match with Farquaad's champions. A woman in the stands cheers on Shrek and yells to "give him the chair!" which Shrek does by whacking the knight with a folding chair.

Shrek and Donkey have another nice, long, rambling conversation on the way to rescue Fiona. When they get to the castle, Donkey finds out that the dragon is "a girl dragon", but she doesn't have any lines. Fiona herself is the first, and only, woman with more than a single line, about the 36-minute mark.

Throughout the rest of the movie, Fiona only talks to men. There are some background female characters without lines, and of course the speechless dragon, but Shrek never passes the second level of the Original Bechdel test, because there are never two women who talk to each other. According to the IMDB cast list, there were some actresses in the film's choruses, but the only non-chorus actresses listed are for the three female characters that I've already noted above.

Although Shrek fails the Original Bechdel test, it should also be noted that it has very few plot-relevant characters at all. Most of the movie is one-on-one interaction between Donkey and Shrek (who is, after all, the title character). Even so, since the dragon was also female, it would have been easy to give her a few lines, or even add a single scene where Fiona and the dragon talked. After all, both were trapped at that castle for who-knows-how-many years, and yet apparently they never got to know each other.

Twilight: Eclipse

The fourth-highest domestic-grossing movie in 2010 was Twilight: Eclipse. Unlike the first two movies, Eclipse does not open with Bella's narration. The first person to speak is Riley, who asks "Who's there?" and "What do you want?" and cries for help while Victoria is attacking him. After the attack, Bella begins her narration, and is seen on-screen shortly thereafter.

Edward is the second man to speak: he asks Bella, "Marry me" right after her opening narration is done.

About nine minutes into the movie, Jessica and Angela are talking with Mike and Eric about Jessica's valedictorian speech. They're joined by Bella and Edward, and later Jasper and Alice, and the conversation switches to a party at the Cullens' house. There are a handful of one-liners directed between two women or two men, but as a whole the conversation takes place between the entire group, so I don't think it really counts for either OB-2 or RB-2.

At the very end of the party conversation, Bella and Angela have a short exchange:
Bella: "Hey Angela."
Angela: "Yeah."
Bella:" Do you need some help with those?"
Angela: "No, actually..."
During Angela's last line, the sound fades away, and the focus is on Alice, who seems to be having a vision. However, this is a direct exchange between two women, and satisfies both OB-2 and OB-3. It's not clear what Bella is offering to help with, although it is clear that she's not offering to help with a man. Eclipse passes the Original Bechdel test within the first ten minutes of the movie.

If there's any doubt about OB-3, once Bella gets to Florida, she has a one-on-one conversation with her mother about the weather, and about where Bella will go to college. Her mother tries to convince her to move to Florida, but Bella will probably go to the University of Alaska. They talk about Edward for a bit, then her mother gives Bella a gift. The scene ends with Bella telling her mother that she misses her.

When Bella and Edward return from Florida, they find Jacob at the school. Jacob is there to warn Edward about vampires going on werewolf land, but this part of the conversation takes place between all three characters, Bella included. Edward then steps forward, and exchanges a few lines between Jacob about Bella. It's short, and it's about a woman, but it satisfies RB-2.

After Riley breaks into the Swan house, Jacob and Edward have a conversation, where Jacob says Riley's smell was all over the house, and he won't miss it if he finds it again. Jacob says the werewolves will take it from there, and Edward replies the vampires don't need the werewolves. Bella's present for the whole conversation, and ends it by interrupting, but it clearly takes place between the two men, and is more about Riley than about Bella. (Although it could be argued that every conversation between Jacob and Edward is really about Bella.)

Twilight: New Moon

Twilight: New Moon is the second movie in the series. I've already reviewed the first here, and I am working my way towards reviewing the third.

Once again, Bella is the first woman in the movie. The film opens with her narration as she runs through a crowd of people. At about the two-minute mark, Bella's grandmother is seen, although she doesn't speak-- and it turns out, it's actually Bella, in a mirror, in a dream. Edward has one line in the dream.

Charlie, Bella's father, wakes her up and says, "Happy Birthday" at the three-minute mark. Following Edward's line in the dream, Charlie is the second man in the movie.

The second woman in the movie with lines is Bella's friend Jessica, who reminds Bella of the Romeo & Juliet essay. Mike is the first to call Bella over to the group, and responds with his own lines right after the exchange between Bella and Jessica, so it could be debated whether Bella and Jessica are talking to each other, or talking as part of the group (which includes both Eric and Mike).

Regardless, once Edward and Bella go into the school, Alice approaches them and gives Bella a present. They exchange a few lines, and Alice invites Bella to the Cullens' house that night. Edward is present, but doesn't say a word, and Jasper is looking on, but at a distance. New Moon passes all three levels of the Original Bechdel within the first ten minutes.

In class, everyone is watching a film of Romeo & Juliet, while Edward and Bella quietly talk to each other. The male teacher, Mr. Berty, stops the movie, and says, "Now, who'd like to repeat the last few lines of iambic pentameter just to show they were paying attention? Mr. Cullen?" Edward replies, "Yes, Mr. Berty," and recites several lines from memory. Unlike the first movie, New Moon quickly passes both the Original Bechdel and Reverse Bechdel.

If there's any doubt about the in-class conversation between Edward and Mr. Berty, New Moon passes RB-2 again when Bella is lost in the woods. Charlie and some other men are standing outside, talking about trying to find her. One of the men says the Cullens have left town, and Charlie asks where they've gone. Another man says "good riddance" to them. There are no women present in the scene until Sam carries Bella back, so it clearly passes RB-2. It may also pass RB-3 since they talk about the Cullens, although since they only talk about the Cullens within the context of how to find Bella, this may not pass RB-3.

However, at the movie theater, Eric and Jacob talk about the movie Face Punch, including how Eric doesn't really like action movies, and Jacob isn't old enough to buy his own ticket. He mentions Bella (she's buying his ticket for him) but the conversation up to that point takes place between the two men males and is not about a woman. Easily enough to satisfy RB-3.

Twilight

The fourth-highest domestic-grossing movie in 2010 was Twilight: Eclipse. Following the pattern I've already established for sequels, I need to review the first two Twilight movies before getting to Eclipse. This is my review for Twilight, the original 2008 movie.

This is the first romance movie to be reviewed here at Reverse Bechdel. The results will be interesting. By definition, in a heterosexual romance movie, one of the two main characters will be a man and the other will be a woman. Most of the action, er... conversation will be between these two characters, and most conversation between other characters will be about those two and their relationship. We might not expect the average romance movie to pass the third level of either the Original Bechdel or the Reverse Bechdel test.

The first woman in the movie is the much-maligned Bella, who begins the movie with her narration. The first man with lines is Bella's mother's new husband (who says they have a plane to catch). Bella's mother does not have any audible lines. Bella's mother and her new husband are going "on the road" so Bella is going to live with her father "for awhile." Her father Charlie is the second man with lines, who talks to Bella in the car when they get to her new home.

About the four-minute mark, Charlie introduces (or rather, reintroduces) Bella to Billy White. Both Charlie and Billy talk to Bella, then Charlie says Billy is exaggerating. They move into the background to have a joke-fight, giving Bella time to meet Jacob. The audible comments from Charlie and Billy are also directed at Bella, so it's not clear that this counts as two men talking to each other, rather than two men talking next to each other. However, about a minute later when Bella and Jacob get into the truck, Billy says to Charlie, "I told you she'd love it, I'm down with the kids," to which Charlie sarcastically replies, "Oh yeah dude, you're the bomb." It's short, but it's enough to pass RB-2.

The second female with any lines is seen when Bella drives to school for the first time. A boy nearby criticizes the truck, and a girl says to him, "Nice one." I can't help but think that this is a huge high school for a town that supposedly has only 3,120 people.

In gym class, Bella meets Mike, then Jessica, who says, "Hey, you're from Arizona, right? Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be, like, really tan?" Bella replies, "Yeah, maybe that's why they kicked me out." Since Mike is there too, this conversation has the same issue as Charlie and Billy's first. However...

At lunch, Bella talks with Jessica and Angela about the school newspaper (and what they'll put on the front page if not Bella) and the Cullens kids, although mostly about the Cullens kids. This easily passes OB-2, and the part of the conversation before the Cullens come in also passes OB-3. If there's any doubt, a couple minutes later, Bella's mom gets her first lines, having called Bella from a pay phone.

When Bella comes to school after the security man is killed (and Edward returns), Eric and Mike have a conversation like Charlie and Billy did earlier-- initially, both talk to Bella, then they move to the background and seem to continue talking to each other, but inaudibly, as Bella goes to talk to Edward for the first time. After Tyler nearly hits Bella with his van, Charlie and Dr. Cullen exchange a few words about Bella-- enough to satisfy RB-2, but not RB-3.

When James and Victoria kill the man in the boat (Waylon), the three have a short conversation:

Waylon: (to Victoria) Hello.
James: Nice jacket.
Waylon: Who are you?
James: It's always the same inane questions. Who are you...
Victoria: ...What do you want...
James: ...Why are you doing this...

I don't think this counts for RB-3 for the same reason that Jessica and Bella's first conversation didn't count for OB-2. Laurent then appears and says, "James, let's not play with our food." This would be stretching the definition of a two-way conversation, so I don't think this counts either.

More than halfway through the movie, Billy and Jacob come over to visit Charlie and Bella. On the way into the house, Jacob and Bella move into the background, and Billy and Charlie exchange a few lines about the Waylon case. Twilight finally passes RB-3.