Passes the Bechdel test
Bamboozled
2000. Directed by Spike Lee, written by Spike Lee.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 200. -
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 1 out of 3.
The film
Dark, biting satire of the television industry, focusing on an Ivy League educated black writer at a major network. Frustrated that his ideas for a "Cosby Show"-esque take on the black family have been rejected by network brass, he devises an outlandish scheme: reviving the minstrel show. This is the hook: Instead of white actors in black face, the show stars black actors in even blacker face. The show becomes an instant smash, but with the success also come repercussions for all involved.
- Released
- 20 Oct 2000
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Music
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 10 nominations
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Delacroix 315 lines, man
- Sloan 142 lines, woman
- Mantan 119 lines, man
- Dunwitty 90 lines, man
- Cheeba 60 lines
- Big Black 50 lines, woman
- Manray 45 lines, man
- Sleep 'N Eat 42 lines, man
- Honeycutt 29 lines, man
- Junebug 25 lines, man
Full cast, 78 people
- Damon Wayans as Pierre Delacroix
- Savion Glover as Manray / Mantan
- Jada Pinkett Smith as Sloan Hopkins
- Tommy Davidson as Womack / Sleep'n Eat
- Michael Rapaport as Thomas Dunwitty
- Thomas Jefferson Byrd as Honeycutt
- Paul Mooney as Junebug
- Gillian White as Verna
- Susan Batson as Orchid Dothan
- Yasiin Bey as Mau Mau: Big Blak Afrika
- MC Serch as Mau Mau: 1 / 16th Blak
- Gano Grills as Mau Mau: Double Blak
- Canibus as Mau Mau: Mo Blak
- DJ Scratch as Mau Mau: Jo Blak
- Charli Baltimore as Mau Mau: Smooth Blak
- Craig muMs Grant as Mau Mau: Hard Blak
- Dormeshia Sumbry as Pickaninny: Topsy
- Tyheesha Collins as Pickaninny: Aunt Jemima
- Cartier Williams as Pickaninny: Lil'nigger Jim
- Baakari Wilder as Pickaninny: Sambo
- Sekou Torbet as Pickaninny: Rastus
- Questlove as Alabama Porch Monkeys: Levi - Musical Director
- Tariq Trotter as Alabama Porch Monkey
- James 'Kamal' Gray as Alabama Porch Monkey
- Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard as Alabama Porch Monkey
- Kyle 'Scratch' Jones as Alabama Porch Monkey
- Christopher Wynkoop as Massa Charlie
- Jani Blom as Jukka Laks
- Dina Pearlman as Myrna Goldfarb
- Imhotep Gary Byrd as Himself
- Al Sharpton as Himself
- Matthew Modine as Himself
- Mira Sorvino as Herself
- Arthur J. Nascarella as Police Chief
- Liza Jessie Peterson as Ruth (Casting Director)
- Don Ezzard Peavy II as Auditioning Dancer
- Tony Arnaud as Auditioning 'Digeroo-Doo Player'
- Tuffy Questell as Auditioning Singer
- David Wain as Bunning
- Ron Lawrence as Mau Mau's Engineer
- Al Palagonia as Bobby
- Mildred Clinton as Louise
- Ephraim Benton as Tre
- Tanesha Marie Gary as Stacy
- Shannon Walker Williams as Young Black Woman
- Matthew Cole Weiss as Young White Man
- Coati Mundi as Papo
- Caridad 'La Bruja' De La Luz as Cuca
- Rodney "Bear" Jackson as Stage Security Guard
- Rafael Osorio as Stage Security Guard
- Anna Hsieh as Joan
- Kris Park as Fish
- Cheryl Lynn Bowers as Mona
- Julie Dretzin as Beth
- Steven McElroy as Seth
- Stephen Kunken as David
- Katie MacNichol as Anna
- Joshua Weinstein as Kirk
- A.D. Miles as Aaron
- Daniel Milder as Peter
- Jason Winther as Jeff
- Ed Onipede Blunt as CNS Security Guard
- Renton Kirk as CNS Security Guard
- Kim Director as Starlet
- Conni Freestone as Starlet
- Rayietta Hill as Hottie
- John Wallace as Dawg
- Arthur Thomas as Dawg
- Lisa Ferreira as Da Bomb Girl
- Kiki Haynes as Da Bomb Girl
- Judah Jacobs as Da Bomb Girl
- Light Eyes as Da Bomb Girl
- Chyna as Da Bomb Girl
- Luz Whitney as Da Bomb Girl
- Danny Hoch as Timmi Hillnigger
- Sarah Jones as Dot
- Bert Williams as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- O. J. Simpson as Self (archive footage)(uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 200
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 5 | 0 | 14 |
| 6 to 10 | 3 | 46 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 3 |
| 26 to 30 | 10 | 11 |
| 31 to 35 | 4 | 12 |
| 36 to 40 | 37 | 30 |
| 41 to 45 | 20 | 86 |
| 46 to 50 | 23 | 48 |
| 51 to 55 | 12 | 28 |
| 56 to 60 | 1 | 15 |
| 61 to 65 | 5 | 11 |
| 66 to 70 | 6 | 5 |
| 71 to 75 | 6 | 0 |
| 76 to 80 | 2 | 0 |
| 81 to 85 | 2 | 16 |
| 86 to 90 | 1 | 10 |
| 91 to 95 | 12 | 10 |
| 96 to 100 | 2 | 41 |
| 101 to 105 | 7 | 13 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 13 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 47 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 18 |
| 121 to 125 | 23 | 19 |
| 126 to 130 | 1 | 14 |
| 131 to 135 | 9 | 14 |
| 136 to 140 | 8 | 29 |
| 141 to 145 | 1 | 6 |
| 146 to 150 | 5 | 15 |
| 151 to 155 | 1 | 11 |
| 156 to 160 | 19 | 21 |
| 161 to 165 | 15 | 26 |
| 166 to 170 | 1 | 8 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 25 |
| 176 to 180 | 7 | 10 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 6 |
| 186 to 190 | 3 | 7 |
| 191 to 195 | 10 | 3 |
| 196 to 200 | 8 | 10 |
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.
JESSICA: Sorry I'm late. SLOAN: Hey, girl. This is my best friend, Jessica Grillo. I invited her down to celebrate with us.
SLOAN: Later for you. JESSICA: She has a lot of friends
SLOAN: Enough. JESSICA: I propose a toast. JESSICA: To the success of your show. Good luck. SLOAN: Excuse me.
BLACK BLACK: Check it, Black Black. SMOOTH BLACK: I'm Smooth Black, the lover in dis' piece.
VERNA: Hope to see you both after the taping. Congrats in advance. SLOAN: Divine inspiration?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
268 lines from women, 709 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 37 men in the cast. 14 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 49 of 1,122.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 48 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (2,640), men 78% (9,248). Women have 27% 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
15
Two men
45
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Spike Lee (man)
- Written by
- Spike Lee (man)
- Produced by
- Jon Kilik (man), Spike Lee (man)
- Shot by
- Ellen Kuras (woman)
- Edited by
- Sam Pollard (man)
- Music by
- Terence Blanchard (man)
- Production design by
- Victor Kempster (man)
- Costumes by
- Ruth E. Carter (woman)
- Cast by
- Aisha Coley (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 13 men
-
Art
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Gillian White 25, Jada Pinkett Smith 29, Susan Batson 57
Men
Savion Glover 26, Yasiin Bey 26, Michael Rapaport 30, Tommy Davidson 36, Damon Wayans 40, Thomas Jefferson Byrd 50, Paul Mooney 59
Exhibit H: the money
It made 25% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $2.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 200 scenes and 1,122 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
