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Passes the Bechdel test

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

1992. Directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui, written by Joss Whedon.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    12 women characters. 9 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 10 scenes out of 124.
  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 Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The film

Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) has the lifestyle any young woman could want. Cheerleading, dating the Captain of the basketball team, and copious amounts of time spent shopping with friends. She had no idea of her true calling until a mysterious man named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) approached her and told her that she is the Slayer; one woman called to defend the world from vampires. Reluctant to concede to the fact, Buffy soon learns that Merrick speaks the truth and so begins to take her new life seriously while trying to maintain the sense of normality her life had once been. With her best friends slowly abandoning her, Buffy finds solace in the town outcast, Pike (Luke Perry), who knows very well the terrors that have arisen. Together, they combat the forces of the old and powerful vampire, Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has his eyes set on Buffy.

Released
01 Jul 1992
Genres
Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
5.7 / 10
Metascore
48 / 100
Awards
2 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Buffy 266 lines, woman
  2. Pike 112 lines, man
  3. Merrick 103 lines, man
  4. Kimberly 49 lines, woman
  5. Nicole 45 lines, woman
  6. Jeffrey 44 lines, man
  7. Lothos 44 lines, man
  8. Benny 34 lines, man
  9. Jennifer 30 lines, woman
  10. Andy 26 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
  • Kristy Swanson as Buffy Summers
  • Donald Sutherland as Merrick Jamison-Smythe
  • Paul Reubens as Amilyn
  • Rutger Hauer as Lothos
  • Luke Perry as Oliver Pike
  • Hilary Swank as Kimberly Hannah
  • Michele Abrams as Jennifer
  • David Arquette as Benny
  • Natasha Gregson Wagner as Cassandra
  • Thomas Jane as Zeph
  • Ricki Lake as Charlotte
  • Stephen Root as Gary Murray
  • Sasha Jenson as Grueller
  • Candy Clark as Buffy's Mom
  • Paris Vaughan as Nicole 'Nicki'
  • Randall Batinkoff as Jeffrey
  • Andrew Lowery as Andy
  • Mark DeCarlo as Coach
  • James Paradise as Buffy's Dad
  • David Sherrill as Knight
  • Paul M. Lane as Robert Berman
  • Toby Holguin as Vampire Fan
  • Eurlyne Epper as Graveyard Woman
  • Andre Warren as Newscaster
  • Bob Swanson as Referee
  • Erika Dittner as Cheerleader
  • J.T. Cole as Biker
  • Michael Kopelow as Student
  • Ricky Dean Logan as Bloody Student
  • Bobby Aldridge as Vampire
  • Amanda Anka as Vampire
  • Chino Binamo as Vampire
  • Al Goto as Vampire
  • Terry Jackson as Vampire
  • Mike Johnson as Vampire
  • Sarah Lee Jones as Vampire
  • Kim Robert Koscki as Vampire
  • Clint Lilley as Vampire
  • Chi Muoi Lo as Vampire
  • Jimmy N. Roberts as Vampire
  • David Rowden as Vampire
  • Kenny Sacha as Vampire
  • Ben Scott as Vampire
  • Kurtis Epper as Vampire
  • Sharon Schaffer as Vampire
  • Lincoln Simonds as Vampire
  • Ben Affleck as Basketball Player #10 (uncredited)
  • Alexis Arquette as Vampire DJ (uncredited)
  • Slash as DJ (uncredited)
  • Liz Smith as Self – Reporter
  • Eric DaRe as Biker (uncredited)
  • Seth Green as Vampire (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 124

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 302
4 to 6413
7 to 94411
10 to 12328
13 to 151010
16 to 184123
19 to 211731
22 to 245831
25 to 2797
28 to 3084
31 to 331315
34 to 362120
37 to 3900
40 to 4276
43 to 4532
46 to 4815
49 to 5101
52 to 5401
55 to 5702
58 to 60616
61 to 632733
64 to 66925
67 to 691531
70 to 7239
73 to 75912
76 to 78924
79 to 8108
82 to 84182
85 to 872015
88 to 9000
91 to 933828
94 to 9602
97 to 9910
100 to 10278
103 to 10501
106 to 10806
109 to 111712
112 to 11443
115 to 11710
118 to 12057
121 to 12343
124 to 12433

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.
KIMBERLY: What are we doing? BUFFY: Why don't we see a movie? KIMBERLY: Well, where? JENNIFER: Omniplex?
NICOLE: God! Take a chill lozenge. KIMBERLY: Like we don't have rights too? BUFFY: Ignore them.
BUFFY: Everyone get horribly killed except the blonde girl in the nightie, who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead. JENNIFER: Oh, my God. Is that true? BUFFY: Probably. What movie is this?
KIMBERLY: Try new Clue-flakes. BUFFY: It has to be, like a socially conscious theme. CASSANDRA: 'One that reflects the students' growing awareness of and involvement in the world around them.' BUFFY: I still say the environment. That's my suggestion.
NICOLE: Environment. That's cool with me. KIMBERLY: Okay. CASSANDRA: So, what are the most immediate threats to the world environment right now?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.

425 lines from women, 460 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 38 men in the cast. 9 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 10 of 895. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 21 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 42% of the words (3,385), men 58% (4,631). Women have 48% 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

5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Fran Rubel Kuzui (woman)
Written by
Joss Whedon (man)
Produced by
Howard Rosenman (man), Kaz Kuzui (man)
Shot by
James Hayman (man)
Edited by
Jill Savitt (woman), Camilla Toniolo (woman)
Music by
Carter Burwell (man)
Production design by
Lawrence Miller (man)
Costumes by
Marie France (woman)
Cast by
Johanna Ray (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    3 women, 4 men, 3 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 1 men

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men

  • Editing

    2 women, 0 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 22 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Hilary Swank 17, Natasha Gregson Wagner 21, Kristy Swanson 22, Michele Abrams 26

Men

David Arquette 20, Thomas Jane 23, Luke Perry 25, Paul Reubens 39, Rutger Hauer 48, Donald Sutherland 57

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.4 times what it cost.

Budget
$7 million
Box office
$16.6 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 124 scenes and 895 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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