Fails the Bechdel test
Altered States
1980. Directed by Ken Russell, written by Paddy Chayefsky.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In the late 1960s, just for a lark, graduate student Eddie Jessup, known for being unconventional, brilliant and slightly mad, conducts experiments with an isolation chamber, using himself as the subject. His experiences in the chamber cause him to hallucinate, much of the imagery being religious-based although he's not religious. Seven years later, he is a respected full professor in the Harvard Medical School. Believing he has lost his edge and fallen into an unwanted state of respectability, Eddie decides to resume his work with sensory deprivation, this time using hallucinogens, specifically untested ones used in mystical Mexican rituals, to enhance the isolation-take experience. After initial tests, he claims he entered an alternate physical and mental state. Although unbelieving of Eddie's claims, his colleagues Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish, as well as Eddie's wife Emily, herself a respected academic, are concerned for Eddie's well being. However, if Eddie's claims are indeed true, he could do irreparable harm to himself and others around him, especially if his altered states are uncontrollable.
- Released
- 25 Dec 1980
- Genres
- Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 1 win & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jessup 166 lines, man
- Emily 107 lines, woman
- Rosenberg 87 lines, man
- Parrish 68 lines, man
- Eccheverria 26 lines, man
- The Brujo 13 lines, man
- Hobart 9 lines, man
- Sylvia 8 lines, woman
- Narration 6 lines
- Ortega 6 lines, man
Full cast, 27 people
- William Hurt as Professor Eddie Jessup
- Blair Brown as Emily Jessup
- Bob Balaban as Arthur Rosenberg
- Charles Haid as Mason Parrish
- Thaao Penghlis as Echeverria
- Miguel Godreau as Primal Man
- Dori Brenner as Sylvia Rosenberg
- Peter Brandon as Hobart
- Charles White-Eagle as The Brujo
- Drew Barrymore as Margaret Jessup
- Megan Jeffers as Grace Jessup
- Jack Murdock as Hector Orteco
- Francis X. McCarthy as Obispo
- Deborah Baltzell as Schizophrenic Patient
- Evan Richards as Young Rosenberg
- Paul Larsson as Charlie Thomas
- John Larroquette as X-Ray Technician
- George Gaynes as Dr. Wissenschaft
- Hap Lawrence as Endocrinology Fellow
- John Walter Davis as Medical Technician
- Cynthia Burr as Parrish's Girl
- Susan Bredhoff as Eccheverria's Girl
- Ora Rubinstein as Young Medical Student
- Eric Forst as Mingus
- Adriana Shaw as Dr. Antonini
- Martin Fiscoe as Graduate Student
- Olivia Michelle as Veronica
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 124
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 16 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 to 9 | 10 | 8 |
| 10 to 12 | 7 | 9 |
| 13 to 15 | 17 | 44 |
| 16 to 18 | 6 | 21 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 25 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 20 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 11 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 18 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 12 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 22 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 5 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 23 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 16 | 21 |
| 58 to 60 | 9 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 2 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 11 | 18 |
| 91 to 93 | 7 | 13 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 3 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 4 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 14 |
| 118 to 120 | 4 | 10 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 0 |
| 124 to 124 | 11 | 13 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.
119 lines from women, 389 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 14 men in the cast. 3 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 38 of 543.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 173 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 19% of the words (2,155), men 81% (9,121). Women have 23% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
1
Two men
47
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ken Russell (man)
- Written by
- Paddy Chayefsky (man)
- From the novel by
- Paddy Chayefsky (man)
- Produced by
- Howard Gottfried (man)
- Shot by
- Jordan Cronenweth (man)
- Edited by
- Eric Jenkins (man)
- Music by
- John Corigliano (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Macdonald (man)
- Costumes by
- Ruth Myers (woman)
- Cast by
- Jeremy Ritzer (gender not listed), Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Drew Barrymore 5, Blair Brown 34, Dori Brenner 34
Men
William Hurt 30, Miguel Godreau 34, Bob Balaban 35, Thaao Penghlis 35, Charles Haid 37, Peter Brandon 54
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $19.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 124 scenes and 543 lines of dialogue. How the test works
