but that for as many movies to fail the Bechdel Test as we see happening is a sign of a real problem in how people (especially women) are portrayed in the media.
Meh.
1. If the show had an equal number of strong male and female characters, or even a sizable number of male characters, it's highly probably that two female characters will talk about them, or will engage in a conversation with one of them.
2. Most important people in history were men. While this was unfair due to the circumstantial, you can't really change the past.
Overall, I think passing the RBT is a worse indicator than failing the Bechdel test. Saying the Bechdel test is useful sounds kind of separatist.
1. The Bechdel Test doesn't say women are NEVER allowed to talk about men. It just says that
at least one conversation has to be about something else. There is a difference.
2. But how does this change the fact that there are entire movies in which women never discuss ANYTHING other than a male character, or men in general? Even Lucille Ball talked about things other than men with Ethel, on a show that portrayed the ideal woman as a stay-at-home housewife. She talked about Ricky too, but that doesn't keep
I Love Lucy from passing the Bechdel Test.
3. There is nothing separatist about the Bechdel Test or the RBT. It simply acknowledges that both men and women have wants, dreams, and desires beyond dating and sex.
Again: Women can talk to each other about men a whole lot during a movie and still pass the Bechdel Test; the requirement is that they
also talk about something else, even if it's in the same conversation, for a noticeable amount of time.
Reverse Bechdel Test: Men must, at some point, talk to each other about something other than women. Again, they're allowed to talk about women, they just have to
also talk about something else.
In re: comic books, the problem isn't that women are wearing "sexy" or revealing clothing. Not at all. The problem is that, in addition to this, female superheroes are drawn in unnatural poses and with physically impossible waistlines. Meanwhile male superheroes are drawn in reasonable fighting poses, and actually have a variety of body types. The "boobs and butt" pose (both breasts AND both asscheeks turned toward the viewer) is only possible for me because I have mild scoliosis, and it
hurts. Yet superheroines are CONSTANTLY drawn in the boobs-and-butt pose. (
Case in point.)