Passes the Bechdel test
Boyz n the Hood
1991. Directed by John Singleton, written by John Singleton.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 118. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Writer and Director John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles, California takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together in the "hood". Half-brothers Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the "All-American" athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while Doughboy succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor. Between these two is their friend Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who is lucky to have a father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), to teach him to have the strength of character to do what is right and to always take responsibility for his actions.
- Released
- 12 Jul 1991
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 12 wins & 29 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tre 199 lines, man
- Furious 102 lines, man
- Dough Boy 93 lines, man
- Ricky 70 lines, man
- Reva 43 lines, woman
- Brandi 35 lines, woman
- Chris 30 lines, man
- Crump 18 lines, man
- Mrs. Olaf 16 lines, woman
- Monster 14 lines, man
Full cast, 44 people
- Cuba Gooding Jr. as Tré Styles
- Laurence Fishburne as Furious Styles
- Ice Cube as Doughboy
- Morris Chestnut as Ricky Baker
- Angela Bassett as Reva Styles
- Nia Long as Brandi
- Tyra Ferrell as Mrs. Baker
- Regina King as Shalika
- Meta King as Brandi's Mom
- Whitman Mayo as The Old Man
- Hudhail Al-Amir as S.A.T. Man
- Lloyd Avery II as Knucklehead #2
- Miya McGhee as Female Club Member
- Lexie Bigham as Mad Dog
- Kenneth A. Brown as Little Chris
- Nicole Brown as Brandi Age 10
- Ceal as Sheryl
- Darneicea Corley as Keisha
- John Cothran as Lewis Crump
- Na'Blonka Durden as Trina
- Susan Falcon as Mrs. Olaf
- Jessie Lawrence Ferguson as Officer Coffey
- Dedrick D. Gobert as Dooky
- Regi Green as Chris
- Kareem J. Grimes as Ice Cream Truck Kid
- Tammy Hanson as Rosa
- Valentino D. Harrison as Bobby Age 10
- Desi Arnez Hines II as Tré Age 10
- Baha Jackson as Doughboy Age 10
- Dee Dee Jacobs as Renee
- Kirk Kinder as Officer Graham
- Leanear Lane as Gangster #2
- Donovan McCrary as Ricky Age 10
- Don Nelson as Gangster #1
- Jimmy Lee Newman Jr. as Kid
- Malcolm Norrington as Knucklehead #1
- Alysia Rogers as Shanice
- Esther Scott as Tisha's Grandmother
- Leonette Scott as Tisha
- Vonte Sweet as Ric Rock
- Baldwin C. Sykes as Monster
- Raymond D. Turner as Ferris
- Yolanda Whitaker as Yo-Yo
- John Singleton as The Mailman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 118
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 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 23 | 20 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 8 | 29 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 25 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 17 |
| 25 to 27 | 3 | 16 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 40 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 21 |
| 34 to 36 | 15 | 56 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 33 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 4 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 25 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 14 | 14 |
| 55 to 57 | 2 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 7 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 47 |
| 64 to 66 | 8 | 18 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 10 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 30 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 14 | 24 |
| 79 to 81 | 6 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 16 | 33 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 13 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 10 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 15 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 4 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 4 |
| 118 to 118 | 0 | 13 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
SHANICE: Yeah, but you will. BRANDI: See you tonight. Bye y'all.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 19 are women's.
139 lines from women, 588 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 17 men in the cast. 8 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 80 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 (2,302), men 78% (8,375). Women have 19% 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
6
Two men
59
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 7 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Singleton (man)
- Written by
- John Singleton (man)
- Produced by
- Steve Nicolaides (man)
- Shot by
- Charles Mills (man)
- Edited by
- Bruce Cannon (man)
- Music by
- Stanley Clarke (man)
- Cast by
- Jaki Brown (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 7 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 2 men
-
Art
1 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Nia Long 20, Regina King 20, Tyra Ferrell 29, Angela Bassett 32
Men
Ice Cube 22, Morris Chestnut 22, Cuba Gooding Jr. 23, Laurence Fishburne 29, Whitman Mayo 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6.5 million
- Box office
- $57.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 118 scenes and 780 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
