Fails the Bechdel test
Clerks
1994. Directed by Kevin Smith, written by Kevin Smith.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Dante Hicks is not having a good day. He clerks in a small convenience store and is told to come into work on his day off. Dante thinks life is a series of down endings and this day proves to be no different. He reads in the newspaper that his ex-girlfriend Caitlin is getting married. His present girlfriend reveals to have somewhat more experience with sex that he thought. His principal concerns are the hockey game he has that afternoon and the wake for a friend who died. His buddy Randal Graves works as a clerk in the video store next door and he hates his job as much as Dante hates his.
- Released
- 09 Nov 1994
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 10 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dante 583 lines, man
- Randal 342 lines, man
- Veronica 122 lines, woman
- Caitlin 86 lines, woman
- Jay 65 lines, man
- Customer 50 lines, man
- Activist 32 lines, man
- Trainer 32 lines, man
- Heather 22 lines
- Old Man 18 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Brian O'Halloran as Dante
- Jeff Anderson as Randal
- Marilyn Ghigliotti as Veronica
- Lisa Spoonauer as Caitlin
- Jason Mewes as Jay
- Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
- Scott Mosier as William the Idiot Manchild / Angry Hockey-Playing Customer / Angry Mourner
- Scott Schiaffo as Chewlie's Rep
- Al Berkowitz as Old Man
- Walt Flanagan as Woolen Cap Smoker / Egg Man / Offended Customer / Cat-Admiring Bitter Customer
- Ed Hapstak as Sanford / Angry Mourner
- Lee Bendick as #812 Wynarski
- David Klein as Hunting Cap Smoking Boy / Low I.Q. Video Customer / Hubcap Searching Customer / Angry Mourner / Angry Crowd at Door
- Pattijean Csik as Coroner
- Ken Clark as Administer of Fine / Orderly
- Donna Jeanne as Indecisive Video Customer
- Virginia Smith as Caged Animal Masturbator
- Betsy Broussard as Dental School Video Customer
- Ernest O'Donnell as Trainer
- Kimberly Loughran as Alyssa's Sister Heather
- Gary Stern as Tabloid Reading Customer
- Joe Bagnole as Cat-Watching Customer
- John Henry Westhead as Olaf the Russian Metalhead
- Chuck Bickel as Stuck in Chips Can
- Leslie Hope as Jay's Lady Friend / Angry Crowd at Door
- Connie O'Conner as 'Happy Scrappy' Mom
- Vincent Pereira as Hockey Goalie / Engagement Savvy Customer
- Ashley Pereira as 'Happy Scrappy' Kid
- Erix Infante as Bed-Wetting Dad / Cold Coffee Lover
- Melissa Crawford as Video Confusion / Candy Confusion Customer / Angry Crowd at Door
- Thomas Burke as Blue Collar Man
- Dan Hapstak as Door Tugging Customer
- Mitch Cohen as Leaning Against Wall / Angry Crowd at Door
- Matthew Banta as Burner Looking for Weed
- Rajiv Thapar as Cut-Off Customer
- Mike Belicose as Customer with Diapers
- Jane Kuritz as Customer with Vaseline and Rubber Gloves
- Grace Smith as Milk Lady
- Frances Cresci as Little Smoking Girl
- Matt Crawford as Angry Crowd at Door
- Sarla Thapar as Angry Crowd at Door
- Brian Drinkwater as Hockey Player
- Bob Fisler as Hockey Player
- Derek Jaccodine as Hockey Player
- Matthew Pereira as Angry Smoking Crowd
- Frank Pereira as Angry Smoking Crowd
- Carl Roth as Angry Smoking Crowd
- Paul C. Finn as Angry Smoking Crowd
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 65
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 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 43 |
| 19 to 20 | 26 | 45 |
| 21 to 22 | 67 | 81 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 30 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 8 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 58 |
| 29 to 30 | 5 | 11 |
| 31 to 32 | 12 | 21 |
| 33 to 34 | 1 | 73 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 60 |
| 37 to 38 | 14 | 63 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 50 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 111 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 38 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 71 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 92 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 9 |
| 53 to 54 | 46 | 94 |
| 55 to 56 | 19 | 17 |
| 57 to 58 | 17 | 47 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 53 |
| 61 to 62 | 6 | 58 |
| 63 to 64 | 10 | 10 |
| 65 to 65 | 0 | 46 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 16 are women's.
229 lines from women, 1196 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 10 men in the cast. 2 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 85 of 1,517.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 329 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (2,624), men 82% (12,116). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
57
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 8% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kevin Smith (man)
- Written by
- Kevin Smith (man)
- Produced by
- Kevin Smith (man), Scott Mosier (man)
- Shot by
- David Klein (man)
- Edited by
- Kevin Smith (man), Scott Mosier (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 24 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lisa Spoonauer 21, Marilyn Ghigliotti 33
Men
Jason Mewes 20, Scott Mosier 23, Brian O'Halloran 24, Jeff Anderson 24, Kevin Smith 24, Walt Flanagan 26, Scott Schiaffo 30
Exhibit G: the money
It made 114.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $27,575
- Box office
- $3.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 65 scenes and 1,517 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
