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."

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.