Fails the Bechdel test
Bad Santa
2003. Directed by Terry Zwigoff, written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
Willie T. Stokes is a convicted con man who's led a miserable life. He drinks heavily and constantly embarrasses himself publicly. He only works once a year dressed as Santa. But then come Christmas Eve, he and his pint-sized helper dwarf Marcus stage elaborate robberies and take their department stores for everything they got. This time around, Willie gets distracted by large women, a bartender who is attracted to Santas, and a kid who's convinced he's the real deal. However, Marcus must once again put up with Willie's heavy drinking and a series of incidents that constantly shoot themselves in the foot. Will Willie and Marcus make it to next Christmas? Or will this be the year the dynamic duo finally face justice?
- Released
- 26 Nov 2003
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Willie 241 lines, man
- Marcus 120 lines, man
- Kid 87 lines, man
- Gin 58 lines, man
- Chipeska 31 lines, man
- Sue 31 lines, woman
- Troublemaker 11 lines, man
- Lois 8 lines, woman
- Santa 8 lines, woman
- Prisoner 6 lines
Full cast, 39 people
- Billy Bob Thornton as Willie
- Tony Cox as Marcus
- Lauren Graham as Sue
- Brett Kelly as The Kid
- Lauren Tom as Lois
- John Ritter as Bob Chipeska
- Bernie Mac as Gin
- Ajay Naidu as Hindustani Troublemaker
- Alex Borstein as Milwaukee Mom with Photo
- Lorna Scott as Milwaukee Mother
- Harrison Bieker as Milwaukee Boy
- Alexandra Korhan as Drum Set Girl
- Dylan Charles as Milwaukee Bratty Kid
- Billy Gardell as Milwaukee Security Guard
- Lisa Ross as Milwaukee Bartender
- Bryan Callen as Miami Bartender
- Tom McGowan as Harrison
- Grace Calderon as Big Booty Woman
- Christine Pichardo as Photo Elf
- Bucky Dominick as Nintendo Deer Hunter 3 Boy
- Georgia Eskew as Barbie Girl
- Hayden Bromberg as Fraggle-Stick Boy
- Max Van Ville as Skateboard Bully
- Briana Norton as Pinball Girl
- Octavia Spencer as Opal
- Hallie Singleton as Woman in Food Court
- Ryan Pinkston as Shoplifter
- Matt Walsh as Herb
- Natsuko Ohama as Pedicurist
- Dave Adams as Prison Guard
- Ethan Phillips as Roger Merman
- Joey Saravia as Pokemon Child
- Cody Strauch as Watching Boy
- Marshall Dvorin as Watching Boy
- Curtis Taylor as Phoenix Security Guard
- John Bunnell as Police Chief
- Janet Dey as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Cloris Leachman as Grandma (uncredited)
- Sarah Silverman as Santa Instructor (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 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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 6 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 31 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 41 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 29 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 53 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 13 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 21 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 15 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 15 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 26 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 17 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 9 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 13 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 51 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 53 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 5 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 5 |
| 94 to 96 | 5 | 33 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 20 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 20 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 5 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 2 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 14 |
| 118 to 120 | 2 | 28 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 3 |
| 124 to 124 | 0 | 6 |
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, 10 are women's.
63 lines from women, 564 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
12 women and 16 men in the cast. 6 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 662.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 123 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (479), men 91% (4,814). Women have 10% 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
0
Two men
31
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Terry Zwigoff (man)
- Written by
- John Requa (man), Glenn Ficarra (man)
- Produced by
- John Cameron (man), Sarah Aubrey (woman), Bob Weinstein (man)
- Shot by
- Jamie Anderson (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Hoffman (man)
- Music by
- David Kitay (man)
- Production design by
- Sharon Seymour (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Vernieu (woman), Felicia Fasano (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 23 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
7 women, 15 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
10 women, 10 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 13 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 9 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 0 men, 9 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alex Borstein 32, Lauren Graham 36, Lauren Tom 42, Lorna Scott 48
Men
Brett Kelly 10, Ajay Naidu 31, Tony Cox 45, Bernie Mac 46, Billy Bob Thornton 48, John Ritter 55
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $23 million
- Box office
- $76.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 124 scenes and 662 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
