Fails the Bechdel test
Back to the Future
1985. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 5 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean "time machine" invented by a slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make sure his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love to get back to the future.
- Released
- 03 Jul 1985
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 88 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 30 wins & 28 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Marty 264 lines, man
- Brown 122 lines, man
- George 80 lines, man
- Lorraine 70 lines, woman
- Biff 32 lines, man
- Suzy 13 lines
- Linda 11 lines, woman
- Lou 9 lines, man
- Stella 9 lines, woman
- Marvin 7 lines, man
Full cast, 53 people
- Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly
- Christopher Lloyd as Emmett Brown
- Crispin Glover as George McFly
- Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines
- Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker
- Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen
- Marc McClure as Dave McFly
- Wendie Jo Sperber as Linda McFly
- George DiCenzo as Sam Baines
- Frances Lee McCain as Stella Baines
- James Tolkan as Mr. Strickland
- J.J. Cohen as Skinhead
- Casey Siemaszko as 3-D
- Billy Zane as Match
- Harry Waters, Jr. as Marvin Berry
- Donald Fullilove as Goldie Wilson
- Lisa Freeman as Babs
- Cristen Kauffman as Betty
- Elsa Raven as Clocktower Lady
- Will Hare as Pa Peabody
- Ivy Bethune as Ma Peabody
- Jason Marin as Sherman Peabody
- Katherine Britton as Peabody Daughter
- Jason Hervey as Milton Baines
- Maia Brewton as Sally Baines
- Courtney Gains as Dixon
- Richard L. Duran as Terrorist
- Jeff O'Haco as Terrorist Van Driver
- Johnny Green as Scooter Kid #1
- Jamie Abbott as Scooter Kid #2
- Norman Alden as Lou
- Read Morgan as Cop
- Sachi Parker as Bystander #1
- Robert Krantz as Bystander #2
- Gary Riley as Guy #1
- Karen Petrasek as Girl #1
- George Buck Flower as Bum
- Tommy Thomas as Starlighter
- Granville 'Danny' Young as Starlighter
- David Harold Brown as Starlighter
- Lloyd L. Tolbert as Starlighter
- Paul Hanson as Pinhead
- Lee Brownfield as Pinhead
- Robert DeLapp as Pinhead
- Tony Pope as 1985 Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Charles L. Campbell as 1955 Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Huey Lewis as High School Band Audition Judge (uncredited)
- Hal Gausman as Mayor Red Thomas (uncredited)
- Deborah Harmon as TV Newscaster (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Wilbur (uncredited)
- Tom Tangen as Student (uncredited)
- Tom Willett as Pedestrian in Town Square (uncredited)
- Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 110
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 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 5 | 16 |
| 10 to 12 | 21 | 49 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 53 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 5 |
| 22 to 24 | 1 | 13 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 39 |
| 31 to 33 | 24 | 47 |
| 34 to 36 | 5 | 54 |
| 37 to 39 | 4 | 31 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 31 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 9 |
| 46 to 48 | 6 | 8 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 46 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 13 |
| 55 to 57 | 10 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 6 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 3 | 14 |
| 64 to 66 | 5 | 12 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 13 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 26 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 16 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 29 |
| 109 to 110 | 0 | 3 |
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, 15 are women's.
103 lines from women, 573 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
12 women and 36 men in the cast. 5 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 709.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 62 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (1,294), men 85% (7,443).
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
5
Two men
56
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Zemeckis (man)
- Written by
- Bob Gale (man), Robert Zemeckis (man)
- Produced by
- Bob Gale (man), Neil Canton (man)
- Shot by
- Dean Cundey (man)
- Edited by
- Arthur Schmidt (man), Harry Keramidas (man)
- Music by
- Alan Silvestri (man)
- Production design by
- Lawrence G. Paull (man)
- Costumes by
- Deborah L. Scott (woman)
- Cast by
- Mike Fenton (man), Judy Taylor (woman), Jane Feinberg (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 15 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 16 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Claudia Wells 18, Lea Thompson 24, Wendie Jo Sperber 26, Frances Lee McCain 40
Men
Crispin Glover 21, Michael J. Fox 24, Thomas F. Wilson 26, Marc McClure 28, George DiCenzo 45, Christopher Lloyd 46
Exhibit G: the money
It made 20.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $19 million
- Box office
- $392 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 110 scenes and 709 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
