Passes the Bechdel test
American History X
1998. Directed by Tony Kaye, written by David McKenna.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 143. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for brutally killing two black men who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his 14 yr old brother's, Danny Vineyard, narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
- Released
- 20 Nov 1998
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 62 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 15 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Derek 170 lines, man
- Danny 136 lines, man
- Seth 67 lines, man
- Doris 51 lines, woman
- Sweeney 44 lines, man
- Cammeron 43 lines, man
- Davina 38 lines, woman
- Murray 21 lines, man
- Dennis 20 lines, man
- Stacey 19 lines, woman
Full cast, 50 people
- Edward Norton as Derek
- Edward Furlong as Danny
- Beverly D'Angelo as Doris
- Jennifer Lien as Davina
- Ethan Suplee as Seth
- Fairuza Balk as Stacey
- Avery Brooks as Sweeney
- Elliott Gould as Murray
- Stacy Keach as Cameron
- William Russ as Dennis
- Guy Torry as Lamont
- Joe Cortese as Rasmussen
- Jason Bose Smith as Little Henry
- Antonio David Lyons as Lawrence
- Alex Sol as Mitch McCormick
- Keram Malicki-Sánchez as Chris
- Giuseppe Andrews as Jason
- Michelle Christine White as Lizzy
- Jonathan Fowler Jr. as Jerome
- Christopher Masterson as Daryl Dawson
- Nicholas R. Oleson as Huge Aryan
- Jordan Marder as Curtis
- Paul Le Mat as McMahon
- Thomas L. Bellissimo as Cop #2
- Cherish Lee as Kammi
- Sam Vlahos as Dr. Aguilar
- Tara Blanchard as Ally Vinyard
- Anne Lambton as Cassandra
- Steve Wolford as Reporter
- Richard Noyce as Desk Sergeant
- Danso Gordon as Buddy #1
- Jim Norton as Randy
- David Basulto as Guard
- Alexis Rose Coen as Young Ally
- Kiante Elam as Lawrence's Partner
- Paul Hopkins as Student
- Keith Odett as Random Skinhead
- Paul E. Short as Stocky Buddy
- Nigel Miguel as Basketball Player
- Darrell Britt as White Supremicist (uncredited)
- Robert 'Duckie' Carpenter as Skinhead (uncredited)
- Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston as Prison Gang Leader (uncredited)
- John Embry as Parking Lot Skinhead (uncredited)
- Maximillian Kesmodel as Young Danny Vinyard (uncredited)
- Allie Moss as Skinhead Girlfriend (uncredited)
- Barbie Marie as Student (uncredited)
- Selwyn Ward as Student Leaving Bathroom (uncredited)
- Sam Sarpong as Jail Inmate (uncredited)
- Denney Pierce as Arresting Officer (uncredited)
- Glendon Rich as Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 143
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 11 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 28 |
| 22 to 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 35 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 18 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 18 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 13 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 7 |
| 43 to 45 | 4 | 12 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 2 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 31 |
| 55 to 57 | 15 | 46 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 8 | 23 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 16 | 29 |
| 70 to 72 | 17 | 19 |
| 73 to 75 | 7 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 14 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 10 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 27 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 39 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 15 |
| 94 to 96 | 5 | 8 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 9 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 18 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 9 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 8 |
| 112 to 114 | 3 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 7 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 1 |
| 121 to 123 | 12 | 28 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 33 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 11 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 135 | 7 | 7 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 24 |
| 139 to 141 | 0 | 5 |
| 142 to 143 | 0 | 8 |
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.
DORIS: Let go of her hair and get out. DAVINA: I hate you, you fucking asshole!
DAVINA: You couldn't tell. DORIS: Find an apartment because I want you out of here.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 17 are women's.
122 lines from women, 608 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 38 men in the cast. 4 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 743.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 80 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (971), men 87% (6,261). Women have 17% 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
5
Two men
75
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tony Kaye (man)
- Written by
- David McKenna (man)
- Produced by
- John Morrissey (man)
- Shot by
- Tony Kaye (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Heim (man), Gerald B. Greenberg (man)
- Music by
- Anne Dudley (woman)
- Production design by
- Jon Gary Steele (man)
- Costumes by
- Doug Hall (man)
- Cast by
- Valerie McCaffrey (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
5 women, 17 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 15 men, 11 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 11 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 10 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Lien 23, Fairuza Balk 24, Beverly D'Angelo 46
Men
Edward Furlong 20, Ethan Suplee 22, Edward Norton 28, William Russ 47, Avery Brooks 49, Stacy Keach 57, Elliott Gould 59
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $23.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 143 scenes and 743 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
