Fails the Bechdel test

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Name: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Released: 1996

1996. Directed by Mike de Seve and Geoffrey Johnson and Mike Judge, written by Mike Judge and Joe Stillman and Brian Mulroney.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 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 1 out of 3.

Poster for Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

The film

Our intrepid adolescent heroes wake up to find their beloved television stolen, and embark on an epic journey across America to recover it, and, who knows, maybe even score. On the way they encounter a murderous smuggler of a deadly virus and his treacherous wife, an FBI agent with a predilection for cavity searches, a couple of rather familiar looking ex-Motley Crue roadies, Mr. Van Dreesen singing "Lesbian Seagull", a little old lady and of course Mr. Anderson and his trailer. Can the Great Cornholio save the day? Uh-huh. Huh-huh.

Released: 20 Dec 1996
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 64 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Butt-Head 166 lines, man
Beavis 152 lines, man
Flemming 57 lines, man
Muddy 32 lines, man
Bork 30 lines, man
Dallas 28 lines, woman
B&B 27 lines
Beavis/Cornholio 25 lines, man
Tom 23 lines, man
Martha 20 lines, woman

Full cast, 25 people

Mike Judge as Beavis / Butt-Head / Tom Anderson / Van Driessen / Principal McVicker (voice)
Bruce Willis as Muddy (voice)
Demi Moore as Dallas (voice)
Cloris Leachman as Old Woman On Plane and Bus (voice)
Robert Stack as Agent Flemming (voice)
Jacqueline Barba as Agent Hurly (voice)
Pamela Blair as Flight Attendant / White House Tour Guide (voice)
Eric Bogosian as Ranger at Old Faithful / Press Secretary / Lieutenant at Strategic Air Command (voice)
Kristofor Brown as Man on Plane / Man in Confession Booth #2 / Old Guy/Jim (voice)
Tony Darling as Motley Crue Roadie #2 / Tourist Man (voice)
John Doman as Airplane Captain / White House Representative (voice)
Francis Dumaurier as French Dignitary (voice)
Jim Flaherty as Petrified Forest Recording (voice)
Tim Guinee as Hoover Guide / ATF Agent (voice)
David Letterman as Motley Crue Roadie #1 (voice)
Toby Huss as TV Thief #2 / Concierge/Bellboy / Male TV Reporter (voice)
Sam Johnson as Limo Driver / TV Thief #1 / Man in Confession Booth #1 / Petrified Forest Ranger (voice)
Richard Linklater as Tour Bus Driver (voice)
Rosemary McNamara as Flight Attendant #2 (voice)
Harsh Nayyar as Indian Dignitary (voice)
Karen Phillips as Announcer in Capitol (voice)
Dale Reeves as President Clinton (voice)
Michael Ruschak as Hoover Technician / General at Strategic Air Command (voice)
Gail Thomas as Flight Attendant #3 / Female TV Reporter (voice)
Greg Kinnear as ATF Agent Bork (voice) (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 179

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 4	3	14
5 to 8	0	19
9 to 12	0	15
13 to 16	0	43
17 to 20	14	36
21 to 24	0	18
25 to 28	0	2
29 to 32	0	14
33 to 36	2	1
37 to 40	8	11
41 to 44	2	7
45 to 48	9	3
49 to 52	8	14
53 to 56	1	4
57 to 60	0	18
61 to 64	0	8
65 to 68	0	3
69 to 72	1	8
73 to 76	1	0
77 to 80	0	17
81 to 84	0	0
85 to 88	0	0
89 to 92	1	5
93 to 96	0	5
97 to 100	0	9
101 to 104	0	3
105 to 108	0	9
109 to 112	0	14
113 to 116	0	18
117 to 120	0	27
121 to 124	0	33
125 to 128	0	11
129 to 132	1	11
133 to 136	2	12
137 to 140	1	5
141 to 144	4	18
145 to 148	0	0
149 to 152	0	11
153 to 156	0	6
157 to 160	0	5
161 to 164	0	9
165 to 168	0	8
169 to 172	0	17
173 to 176	0	45
177 to 179	0	18

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, 9 are women's.

58 lines from women, 554 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

7 women and 18 men in the cast. 3 women and 28 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 13 of 719. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 155 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (582), men 90% (5,265). Women have 9% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Mike Judge (man)
Written by: Mike Judge (man), Joe Stillman (man)
Produced by: Mike Judge (man), Michael Blakey (man), Abby Terkuhle (woman), Patrick Worlock (man)
Shot by: David J. Miller (man)
Edited by: Neil Lawrence (gender not listed), Terry Kelley (gender not listed), Gunter Glinka (gender not listed), Dave Hughes (man)
Music by: John Frizzell (man)