Passes the Bechdel test
Being the Ricardos
2021. Directed by Aaron Sorkin, written by Aaron Sorkin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 9 scenes out of 149. -
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.
The film
In 1939, Lucy Ball is contracted to RKO Pictures. She gets small parts in big studio productions, but featured mainly in low budget films. She meets one of the film's cast, charismatic 22-year-old Cuban singer Desi Arnaz, and the two fall for each other instantaneously. Months after filming, they marry and buy a house in Hollywood. Desi has a successful stint fronting the Desi Arnaz Orchestra that tours around the country, while Lucy continues her film career with little success. In 1948, she is cast in the radio show "My Favorite Husband", which becomes a success. The show draws interest from CBS and Philip Morris, but Ball only agrees if Desi plays her on-screen husband. By 1953, the show is renamed "I Love Lucy" and becomes a smash hit with nearly 60 million viewers each week. On the night of the live filming, a newspaper article deems Lucy a Communist. Lucy admits but Desi insists not to tell the truth. They are now facing a crisis that could end their careers--and their marriage.
- Released
- 21 Dec 2021
- Genres
- Biography, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 13 wins & 62 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lucy 601 lines, woman
- Desi 336 lines, man
- Jess 151 lines, man
- Frawley 116 lines, man
- Vivian 108 lines, woman
- Madelyn 89 lines, woman
- Bob 37 lines, man
- Howard 33 lines, man
- Donald 30 lines, man
- Koerner 27 lines, man
Full cast, 64 people
- Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball
- Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz
- J.K. Simmons as William Frawley
- Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance
- Tony Hale as Jess Oppenheimer
- Alia Shawkat as Madelyn Pugh
- Jake Lacy as Bob Carroll Jr.
- Linda Lavin as Older Madelyn Pugh
- Ronny Cox as Older Bob Carroll
- John Rubinstein as Older Jess Oppenheimer
- Clark Gregg as Howard Wenke
- Nelson Franklin as Joe Strickland
- Jeff Holman as Roger Otter
- Jonah Platt as Tip Tribby
- Christopher Denham as Donald Glass
- Brian Howe as Charles Koerner
- Ron Perkins as Macy
- Baize Buzan as Mary Pat
- Matt Cook as 1st AD
- Joshua Bednarsky as PA Bill
- Dana Lyn Baron as Miss Rosen
- Dan Sachoff as David Levy
- Max Silvestri as David Hart
- Renee Pezzotta as Italian Woman
- Breanna Wing as Chorus Girl Angie
- Caroline Anderson as Chorus Girl Daisy
- Jamie Miller as Chorus Girl Patty
- Gail Rastorfer as Dresser
- Russ Burd as Irwin Gotlieb
- Guido Cocomello as Italian Bellman
- John Funk as J. Edgar Hoover (voice)
- Angela Leib as Koerner's Secretary
- David Saenz as Musician Outside CIro's
- Stephanie Lesh-Farrell as Radio Show Katy
- Ron Ostrow as Radio Show Man
- Pamela Bell Mitchell as Radio Show Woman
- Lawrence Novikoff as Sam Stein
- Jack Benza as Security Guard Bobby
- Peter Onorati as Vittorio
- Evie Nicholson as Woman Outside Ciro's
- Rick Batalla as Tommy Wardrobe
- John F. Carpenter as Radio Show Announcer
- Melinda Sullivan as Ann Miller
- Gus Lynch as Camera B Focus Puller
- Allan Wayne Anderson as Camera C Focus Puller
- David Jonathan Fine as Boom Operator
- Val Chmerkovskiy as Ciro's Dancer
- Asiel Hardison as Ciro's Dancer
- Reina Hidalgo as Ciro's Dancer
- Will Loftis as Ciro's Dancer
- Noelle Marsh as Ciro's Dancer
- Leo Moctezuma as Ciro's Dancer
- Nayara Núñez as Ciro's Dancer
- Britt Stewart as Ciro's Dancer
- Eddie Torres Jr. as Ciro's Dancer
- Jenna Johnson as Ciro's Dancer
- James Patrick Duffy as Man #1
- Emily Marsh as Woman #1
- Cece Camps as Woman #2
- Daniel Armella as Stagehand
- Molly Meyer as Waitress
- Shiree Nelson as Studio Staffer
- Christian Roberts as Camera A Focus Puller
- Chris Wolfe as Announcer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 149
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 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 to 8 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 4 |
| 17 to 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 80 | 119 |
| 25 to 28 | 9 | 14 |
| 29 to 32 | 3 | 2 |
| 33 to 36 | 13 | 5 |
| 37 to 40 | 3 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 7 | 10 |
| 45 to 48 | 17 | 16 |
| 49 to 52 | 25 | 24 |
| 53 to 56 | 64 | 55 |
| 57 to 60 | 7 | 8 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 5 |
| 65 to 68 | 13 | 23 |
| 69 to 72 | 25 | 34 |
| 73 to 76 | 1 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 8 | 10 |
| 81 to 84 | 72 | 83 |
| 85 to 88 | 56 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 47 | 51 |
| 93 to 96 | 63 | 63 |
| 97 to 100 | 62 | 63 |
| 101 to 104 | 57 | 19 |
| 105 to 108 | 15 | 52 |
| 109 to 112 | 24 | 16 |
| 113 to 116 | 11 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 7 | 6 |
| 121 to 124 | 33 | 44 |
| 125 to 128 | 79 | 74 |
| 129 to 132 | 18 | 21 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 3 |
| 145 to 148 | 3 | 2 |
| 149 to 149 | 0 | 0 |
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.
MADELYN: Yeah. VIVIAN: Did you know little Rusty had to sign a loyalty pledge?
VIVIAN: I'm done. MADELYN: That? Right there? Was funnier than anything you've written so far this year.
VIVIAN: Jesus Christ. LUCY: You don't have to fuck off, but you do have to know that Danny does jokes and few people do it better. I do physical comedy.
LUCY: It's not a punch, I'm having a baby. MADELYN: What do we do now? LUCY: I know it seems like no one said congratulations, but that can not be, as these are three of our closest friends and colleagues.
LUCY: Why? MADELYN: We think it'd be nice to get off our set. LUCY: No, why do the Ricardos and Mertzes go to Italy?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 49 are women's.
836 lines from women, 854 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 34 men in the cast. 6 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 1,741.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 52% of the words (8,713), men 48% (8,116). Women have 49% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
28
Two men
66
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Aaron Sorkin (man)
- Written by
- Aaron Sorkin (man)
- Produced by
- Todd Black (man), Jason Blumenthal (man), Steve Tisch (man)
- Shot by
- Jeff Cronenweth (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Baumgarten (man)
- Music by
- Daniel Pemberton (man)
- Production design by
- Jon Hutman (man)
- Costumes by
- Susan Lyall (woman)
- Cast by
- Kathy Driscoll-Mohler (woman), Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 1 non-binary, 10 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Non-binary
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 52 on average. Men: 60 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alia Shawkat 32, Nina Arianda 37, Nicole Kidman 54, Linda Lavin 84
Men
Jake Lacy 35, Tony Hale 51, Javier Bardem 52, J.K. Simmons 66, John Rubinstein 75, Ronny Cox 83
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $450,000
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 149 scenes and 1,741 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
