Passes the Bechdel test
Black Snake Moan
2007. Directed by Craig Brewer, written by Craig Brewer.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 135. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In rural Tennessee, Lazarus, a former blues musician who survives by truck farming, finds a young girl nearly beaten to death near his home. She lives a promiscuous life, molded by a past of sexual abuse at the hands of her father and verbal abuse from her mother, who seems to delight in reminding Rae of her mistake in not aborting her. Lazarus, who is also facing personal crisis at the dissolution of his marriage, nurses Rae back to health, providing her with gentle, fatherly advice as well as an education in blues music. Rae's boyfriend, Ronnie, goaded by the man who nearly beat Rae to death, misunderstands the relationship between Lazarus and Rae, and vows to kill him. Lazarus, exhibiting a street-smart understanding of violence and its motives, calls Ronnie's bluff, senses that he is as troubled as Rae, and becomes a guiding force in the young couple's resurrection.
- Released
- 02 Mar 2007
- Genres
- Drama, Music
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lazarus 278 lines, man
- Rae 192 lines, woman
- Ronnie 61 lines, man
- Angela 38 lines, woman
- Tehronne 34 lines, man
- Gill 33 lines, man
- Lincoln 19 lines, man
- Rose 19 lines, woman
- Jesse 12 lines, woman
- Sandy 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 31 people
- Christina Ricci as Rae
- Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus
- Justin Timberlake as Ronnie Morgan
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Angela
- John Cothran as Reverend R. L.
- David Banner as Tehronne
- Michael Raymond-James as Gill
- Adriane Lenox as Rose Woods
- Kim Richards as Sandy
- Neimus K. Williams as Lincoln
- Leonard L. Thomas as Deke Woods
- Ruby Wilson as Mayella
- Claude Phillips as Bojo
- Amy Lavere as Jesse
- Clare Grant as Kell
- Jeff Pope as Batson
- Charles 'Skip' Pitts as Charlie
- Willie Hall as Pinetop
- John Malloy as Gene
- T.C. Sharpe as Archie
- John Still as Herman
- Jared Hopkins as Auto Worker
- Tosh Newman as Conner
- Cody Block as Bryan
- Benjamin Rednour as Guardsman
- Carnell Pepper as Melvin
- David Chapman as Red
- Jo Lynne Palmer as Ella Mae
- John Pickles as Arty
- Kim Justis as Waitress
- Cedric Burnside as Self
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 135
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 | 9 | 14 |
| 7 to 9 | 21 | 17 |
| 10 to 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 8 | 18 |
| 16 to 18 | 26 | 4 |
| 19 to 21 | 6 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 5 |
| 25 to 27 | 3 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | 6 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 5 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 to 42 | 14 | 11 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 26 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 12 |
| 61 to 63 | 20 | 27 |
| 64 to 66 | 11 | 14 |
| 67 to 69 | 9 | 9 |
| 70 to 72 | 4 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 7 | 11 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 19 |
| 85 to 87 | 7 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 4 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 32 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 19 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 13 |
| 100 to 102 | 13 | 19 |
| 103 to 105 | 31 | 6 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 6 | 13 |
| 118 to 120 | 15 | 12 |
| 121 to 123 | 19 | 36 |
| 124 to 126 | 6 | 8 |
| 127 to 129 | 5 | 6 |
| 130 to 132 | 5 | 10 |
| 133 to 135 | 3 | 5 |
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.
RAE: If it weren't you could kiss my rebel cootch, ya faggot. SANDY: Cough drops or condoms? RAE: Didn't know you was workin' here now? SANDY: I just like dressin' up in these goddamn blue vests. Your money ticket get shipped today?
KELL: Good thing you can block, Conner, cuz you're dumb as a sack of shit. JESSE: You wanna go home? RAE: It gets worse there. Leavin' me to my own mind. That's just not good. JESSE: Here. Pound this and I'll join you.
JESSE: You just trying to get me outta my clothes. RAE: Be right back. RAE: It's not like I can't go out and have fun with my friends.
JESSE: What's so funny? RAE: Oh... I'm just on a water bed... And it's just... so... Goddamn... funny! RAE: Hi.
ANGELA: It's okay to breathe, honey. RAE: Yes, ma'am.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
295 lines from women, 452 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 12 men in the cast. 10 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 766.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 50 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (2,927), men 68% (6,342). Women have 39% 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
7
Two men
24
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Craig Brewer (man)
- Written by
- Craig Brewer (man)
- Produced by
- Stephanie Allain (woman), John Singleton (man)
- Shot by
- Amy Vincent (woman)
- Edited by
- Billy Fox (man)
- Music by
- Scott Bomar (man)
- Production design by
- Keith Brian Burns (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Paul A. Simmons Jr. (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Kimberly Hardin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
5 women, 12 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
3 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 5 men
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Christina Ricci 26, Kim Richards 42, Adriane Lenox 50, S. Epatha Merkerson 54
Men
Justin Timberlake 25, Michael Raymond-James 29, David Banner 32, Samuel L. Jackson 58, John Cothran 59
Exhibit H: the money
It made 73% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $10.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 766 lines of dialogue. How the test works
