Passes the Bechdel test
Burlesque
2010. Directed by Steve Antin, written by Steve Antin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
20 women characters. 13 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 10 scenes out of 130. -
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
The Burlesque Lounge has its best days behind it. Tess, a retired dancer and owner of the venue, struggles to keep the aging theater alive, facing all kinds of financial and artistic challenges. With the Lounge's troupe members becoming increasingly distracted by personal problems and a threat coming from a wealthy businessman's quest to buy the spot from Tess, the good fortune seems to have abandoned the club altogether. Meanwhile, the life of Ali, a small-town girl from Iowa, is about to change dramatically. Hired by Tess as a waitress at the Lounge, Ali escapes a hollow past and quickly falls in love with the art of burlesque. Backed by newfound friends amongst the theater's crew, she manages to fulfill her dreams of being on stage herself. Things take a dramatic turn though when Ali's big voice makes her become the main attraction of the revue.
- Released
- 24 Nov 2010
- Genres
- Drama, Music, Musical
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 47 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 21 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ali 360 lines, woman
- Jack 168 lines, man
- Tess 124 lines, woman
- Marcus 72 lines, man
- Sean 68 lines, man
- Nikki 37 lines, woman
- Vince 16 lines, man
- Loretta 14 lines, woman
- Coco 12 lines, woman
- Burlesque Girls 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 36 people
- Cher as Tess
- Christina Aguilera as Alice "Ali" Rose
- Cam Gigandet as Jack Miller
- Kristen Bell as Nikki
- Stanley Tucci as Sean
- Eric Dane as Marcus Gerber
- Peter Gallagher as Vince Scali
- Julianne Hough as Georgia
- Alan Cumming as Alexis
- Dianna Agron as Natalie
- David Walton as Mark DJ
- Glynn Turman as Harold Saint
- Terrence J as Dave
- Chelsea Traille as Coco
- Tanee McCall as Scarlett
- JaQuel Knight as Bartender
- Allison Kyler as Dancer
- Tyne Stecklein as Jesse
- Paula Van Oppen as Anna
- Isabella Hofmann as Loretta
- James Brolin as Mr. Anderson
- Stephen Lee as Dwight
- Denise Faye as Preacher
- Baldeep Singh as Ali's Hotel Manager
- Michael Landes as Greg
- Wendy Benson-Landes as Marla
- Tisha French as Loft Assistant
- Katerina Mikailenko as Brittany
- Katelynn Tilley as Ditsy Waitress
- Gwen Van Dam as Curler Woman at Grundy Bus Stop
- Catherine Natale as Curler Woman's Friend
- Jonathon Trent as Damon / Bumper Band Member
- Blair Redford as James / Bumper Band Member
- Corey Anderson as Bartender
- Rachele Brooke Smith as Dancer
- Melanie Lewis-Yribar as Main Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 130
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 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 29 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 13 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 10 | 7 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 1 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 34 | 15 |
| 37 to 39 | 20 | 21 |
| 40 to 42 | 31 | 1 |
| 43 to 45 | 7 | 4 |
| 46 to 48 | 17 | 21 |
| 49 to 51 | 16 | 14 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 7 |
| 55 to 57 | 32 | 9 |
| 58 to 60 | 13 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 15 | 13 |
| 64 to 66 | 25 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 26 | 17 |
| 70 to 72 | 12 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 26 | 21 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 14 | 18 |
| 82 to 84 | 24 | 11 |
| 85 to 87 | 11 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 20 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 10 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 15 |
| 97 to 99 | 10 | 12 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 2 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 12 | 10 |
| 109 to 111 | 10 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 12 | 16 |
| 118 to 120 | 12 | 10 |
| 121 to 123 | 20 | 26 |
| 124 to 126 | 8 | 0 |
| 127 to 129 | 40 | 10 |
| 130 to 130 | 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.
LORETTA: People around here wouldn't know talent if it bit 'em in the Danglies. Where you gotta go is Des Moines. They got karaoke bars where you can… ALI: Loretta-- when I get out of this butt-hole of a town, I sure as shit won't be heading for Des Moines. She hops up onto the bar, spins around…
LORETTA: You were real good to her, Ali. ALI: No, she was good to me. She rearranges the flowers resting on the plot, fixing it up. ALI: And she wasn't even my real Nanna. LORETTA: What...?
ALI: I'm not here to work. I'm leaving. LORETTA: You are? ALI: Yeah.
NIKKI: Didn't your Mama tell you it's not polite to stare? ALI: Sorry, you're just -- so DAMN beautiful.
TESS: You were off the whole second half. ALI: So, I was spot on the first half? Tess narrows her eyes at Ali. Then looks over at Nikki, Coco and Georgia. Georgia gives an effusive THUMBS… TESS: Oh, you're gonna be such a pain in my ass. Ali tries hard not to beam-- ALI: Do I have the job, or not?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 62 are women's.
591 lines from women, 361 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
20 women and 16 men in the cast. 13 women and 10 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 11 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 61% of the words (8,671), men 39% (5,537). Women have 62% 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
39
Two men
16
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steve Antin (man)
- Written by
- Steve Antin (man)
- Produced by
- Donald De Line (man)
- Shot by
- Bojan Bazelli (man)
- Edited by
- Virginia Katz (woman)
- Music by
- Christophe Beck (man)
- Production design by
- Jon Gary Steele (man)
- Costumes by
- Michael Kaplan (man)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
6 women, 14 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
2 women, 1 men
-
Art
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Julianne Hough 22, Dianna Agron 24, Christina Aguilera 29, Kristen Bell 30, Cher 64
Men
Cam Gigandet 28, Eric Dane 38, Alan Cumming 45, Stanley Tucci 50, Peter Gallagher 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $55 million
- Box office
- $89.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 130 scenes and 984 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
