Passes the Bechdel test
Amelia
2009. Directed by Mira Nair, written by Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan and Susan Butler.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
28 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 111. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Amelia Earhart, a Kansas girl, discovers the thrill of aviation at age 23, and within 12 years has progressed to winning the Distinguished Flying Cross for being the first woman to pilot a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean. At age 39, she sets out on an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, an adventure that catapults her into aviation myth.
- Released
- 23 Oct 2009
- Genres
- Adventure, Biography, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 37 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Amelia 397 lines, woman
- George 220 lines, man
- Gene 49 lines, man
- Fred 39 lines, man
- Bill 23 lines, man
- Announcer 18 lines
- Elinor 17 lines, woman
- Eorge 16 lines
- Melia 16 lines
- Bellarts 12 lines, man
Full cast, 55 people
- Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart
- Richard Gere as George Putnam
- Aaron Abrams as Slim Gordon
- Ewan McGregor as Gene Vidal
- Christopher Eccleston as Fred Noonan
- Joe Anderson as Bill Stultz
- Cherry Jones as Eleanor Roosevelt
- Mia Wasikowska as Elinor Smith
- Dylan Roberts as Leo Bellarts
- Scott Yaphe as William Dalten
- Tom Fairfoot as Balfour
- Jeremy Akerman as Sheriff
- Ryann Shane as Young Amelia
- Precious Chong as Gladys O'Donnell
- Danielle Bourgon as 2nd Woman at Opera
- Divine Brown as Torch Singer
- Gillian Ferrier as Student
- Eva Redpath as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Julia Juhas as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Andrea Ciacci as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Leanne Melissa Bishop as Amelia's Make-up Artist (uncredited)
- William Cuddy as Gore Vidal
- Elizabeth Shepherd as Frances Putnam
- Richard Donat as Gallagher
- Sarah Kitz as George's Secretary
- Keelin Jack as Student
- Derek Keurvorst as Minister
- Thomas Hauff as Man at Opera House
- Sarah Dood as 1st Woman at Opera
- Hamish McEwan as Paul
- Michael James Daly as Frank Cipriani
- Jeffrey Knight as Commander Thompson
- Paul Johnston as Thomas O'Hare
- Michael Richard as Reporter #1
- Daniel Janks as Reporter #2
- Ron Smerczak as Reporter #3
- Kerin McCue as Movie Tone Announcer
- Richard Lothian as Coastguard Man
- Elizabeth Saunders as Louise Thaden
- Kathryn Haggis as Powder Puff Aviator
- Duane Murray as Cleveland Reporter
- Joe Renzi as Welsh Singer
- Geoff Gillespie as Welsh Singer
- Alexandra MacLean as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Kristen Munro as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Jamie Holmes as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Brittany Gray as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Karissa Strain as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Katie Strain as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Valerie Saija as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Nina Strazzulla as Commodification Montage Dancer
- Amelia Earhart as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Gillian Ferrier as Student (uncredited)
- Scott Anderson as Parade Reporter
- Virginia Madsen as Dorothy Binney (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 111
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 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 to 6 | 23 | 23 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 18 | 15 |
| 16 to 18 | 14 | 9 |
| 19 to 21 | 7 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 11 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 12 | 14 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 18 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 15 | 8 |
| 40 to 42 | 15 | 23 |
| 43 to 45 | 17 | 10 |
| 46 to 48 | 6 | 8 |
| 49 to 51 | 12 | 5 |
| 52 to 54 | 17 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 6 |
| 58 to 60 | 22 | 35 |
| 61 to 63 | 17 | 3 |
| 64 to 66 | 9 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 24 | 13 |
| 73 to 75 | 19 | 10 |
| 76 to 78 | 32 | 31 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 10 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 10 |
| 85 to 87 | 10 | 15 |
| 88 to 90 | 16 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 7 | 8 |
| 97 to 99 | 22 | 22 |
| 100 to 102 | 5 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 7 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 15 |
| 109 to 111 | 6 | 5 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
AMELIA: It's so good to meet you. I've been following your career with a great deal of admiration. ELINOR: Um. Thanks, and. You, too. AMELIA: Feel like a drink?
ELINOR: To take Amelia's place as the number one female pilot. AMELIA: Well, good for you! I would have expected nothing less. You want a tip? ELINOR: I do. AMELIA: Keep doing what you're doing.
AMELIA: It's dual controls. No one will ever know. AMELIA: Don't you trust me? ELEANOR: Dear God. AMELIA: I feel like a Coke. Can I get you something?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 54 are women's.
442 lines from women, 379 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
28 women and 21 men in the cast. 7 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 927.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 53% of the words (5,185), men 47% (4,540). Women have 54% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: 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
6
Two men
6
Exhibit F: behind the camera
10 of the 17 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 42% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mira Nair (woman)
- Written by
- Anna Hamilton Phelan (woman), Ronald Bass (man)
- Produced by
- Ted Waitt (man), Lydia Dean Pilcher (woman), Kevin Hyman (man)
- Shot by
- Stuart Dryburgh (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Percy (man), Allyson C. Johnson (woman)
- Music by
- Gabriel Yared (man)
- Production design by
- Stephanie Carroll (woman)
- Costumes by
- Kasia Walicka Maimone (woman)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman), Anna Feyder (gender not listed), Leeba Zakharov (woman), Robin D. Cook (woman), Sheila Lane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 9 men, 24 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men, 33 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 3 men, 18 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 21 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 18 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mia Wasikowska 19, Hilary Swank 35, Cherry Jones 52
Men
Joe Anderson 27, Aaron Abrams 31, Dylan Roberts 37, Ewan McGregor 38, Scott Yaphe 39, Christopher Eccleston 45, Richard Gere 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 49% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $19.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 111 scenes and 927 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
