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Passes the Bechdel test

Battle of the Sexes

2017. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, written by Simon Beaufoy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    19 women characters. 12 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 16 scenes out of 154.
  3. 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.

Poster for Battle of the Sexes

The film

In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women's movement, the 1973 tennis match between women's world champion Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men's-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.

Released
29 Sep 2017
Genres
Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.7 / 10
Metascore
73 / 100
Awards
3 wins & 24 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Billie Jean 240 lines, woman
  2. Bobby Riggs 176 lines, man
  3. Marilyn 93 lines, woman
  4. Larry 92 lines, man
  5. Gladys 71 lines, woman
  6. Priscilla 31 lines, woman
  7. Jack Kramer 30 lines, man
  8. Ted 27 lines, man
  9. Margaret Court 24 lines, woman
  10. Rosie 22 lines, woman
Full cast, 44 people
  • Emma Stone as Billie Jean King
  • Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs
  • Andrea Riseborough as Marilyn Barnett
  • Sarah Silverman as Gladys Heldman
  • Bill Pullman as Jack Kramer
  • Elisabeth Shue as Priscilla Riggs
  • Alan Cumming as Ted Tinling
  • Austin Stowell as Larry King
  • Eric Christian Olsen as Lornie Kuhle
  • Natalie Morales as Rosie Casals
  • Lewis Pullman as Larry Riggs
  • Jessica McNamee as Margaret Court
  • Martha MacIsaac as Jane 'Peaches' Bartkowicz
  • Wallace Langham as Henry
  • Mark Harelik as Hank Greenberg
  • Fred Armisen as Rheo Blair
  • Chris Parnell as DJ
  • John C. McGinley as Herb
  • Mickey Sumner as Valerie Ziegenfuss
  • Bridey Elliott as Julie Heldman
  • James Mackay as Barry Court
  • Tim Ransom as Jerry Perenchio
  • Frank Lui Geo as Bobby Zealot
  • Chip Chinery as Roone Arledge
  • Cooper J. Friedman as Bobby Riggs Jr.
  • Enuka Okuma as Bonny
  • Agnes Albright as Dana
  • Bob Stephenson as Bobby's Publicist
  • Nelson Franklin as TV Reporter
  • Amy Holt as Woman #1
  • Tom Kenny as Bob Sanders
  • Dinka Dzubur as Sports Reporter
  • Lauren Kline as Nancy Richey
  • Fidan Manashirova as Judy Tegart Dalton
  • Ashley Weinhold as Kristy Pigeon
  • Kaitlyn Christian as Kerry Melville Reid
  • Doug Dean as Jack Desmond
  • Jamey Sheridan as Ken Rosewall
  • Matt Malloy as Riggs' Therapist
  • Bill Blair as Sports Reporter / Fan (uncredited)
  • Eli Jane as Dancer (uncredited)
  • Karen Baxter as Mother of the Bride (uncredited)
  • Craig Reed as Hardware Store Manager
  • Alexandra Williams as Night Club Dancer

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 154

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 424
5 to 81730
9 to 124369
13 to 165310
17 to 201816
21 to 2454
25 to 28275
29 to 321311
33 to 362212
37 to 4070
41 to 443217
45 to 481026
49 to 523811
53 to 56201
57 to 60824
61 to 641513
65 to 6855
69 to 722317
73 to 76324
77 to 80204
81 to 8473
85 to 88174
89 to 921010
93 to 96134
97 to 1001323
101 to 10412
105 to 108118
109 to 11295
113 to 116176
117 to 1201318
121 to 124910
125 to 128013
129 to 1322520
133 to 13633
137 to 14000
141 to 14404
145 to 14824
149 to 15223
153 to 15434

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.
GLADYS: Have you seen this?? BILLIE JEAN: Hey, Gladys.
GLADYS: It’s a slap in the face, that’s what this is. BILLIE JEAN: Slap on the wrist, more like. How dare we girls do so well?! Better put us in our place! GLADYS: We can’t let them get away with it.
GLADYS: Progress! BILLIE JEAN: But no women.
BILLIE JEAN: We’ll boycott the tournament. GLADYS: Fact.
BILLIE JEAN: Not only will we boycott, we’ll set up our own tournament. GLADYS: Fact. BILLIE JEAN: At the exact same time as the Pacific Southwest. GLADYS: Um. Fact.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 54 are women's.

526 lines from women, 457 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

19 women and 23 men in the cast. 12 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 1,042. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 36 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 50% of the words (4,925), men 50% (5,010). 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Valerie Faris (woman), Jonathan Dayton (man)
Written by
Simon Beaufoy (man)
Produced by
Christian Colson (man), Danny Boyle (man), Robert Graf (man)
Shot by
Linus Sandgren (man)
Edited by
Pamela Martin (woman)
Music by
Nicholas Britell (man)
Production design by
Judy Becker (woman)
Costumes by
Mary Zophres (woman)
Cast by
Kim Davis-Wagner (woman), Justine Arteta (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    5 women, 16 men, 4 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    6 women, 1 men, 11 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 7 men, 8 not listed

  • Production

    4 women, 4 men, 7 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 5 men, 8 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 1 men, 6 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 2 men, 5 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 39 on average. Men: 48 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Emma Stone 28, Natalie Morales 32, Andrea Riseborough 35, Sarah Silverman 46, Elisabeth Shue 53

Men

Austin Stowell 32, Eric Christian Olsen 40, Alan Cumming 52, Steve Carell 55, Bill Pullman 63

Exhibit H: the money

It made 51% of what it cost.

Budget
$25 million
Box office
$12.6 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 154 scenes and 1,042 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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