Fails the Bechdel test
Clerks II
2006. Directed by Kevin Smith, written by Kevin Smith.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
20 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
A calamity at Dante and Randal's shops sends them looking for new horizons, but they ultimately settle at Mooby's, a fictional fast-food restaurant. Free from his dead-end job and lodged in a new one, Dante begins to break free of his rut, planning to move away with his clingy fiancée. He is ready to leave the horrors of minimum-wage New Jersey behind, but Randal, always the more hostile of the two, starts to become overwhelmed by his own rancor.
- Released
- 21 Jul 2006
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 65 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Randal 316 lines, man
- Dante 245 lines, man
- Becky 104 lines, woman
- Elias 84 lines, man
- Jay 77 lines, man
- Emma 46 lines, woman
- Lance 16 lines, man
- Driver 15 lines, man
- Customer 14 lines, man
- Wife 13 lines, woman
Full cast, 69 people
- Brian O'Halloran as Dante
- Jeff Anderson as Randal
- Rosario Dawson as Becky
- Jason Mewes as Jay
- Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
- Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Emma
- Ben Affleck as Gawking Guy
- Trevor Fehrman as Elias
- Scott Mosier as Concerned Father
- Jason Lee as Lance Dowds
- Jake Richardson as Teen #1
- Ethan Suplee as Teen #2
- Harley Quinn Smith as Kid in Window
- Kevin Weisman as Hobbit Lover
- Wanda Sykes as Wife
- Zak Knutson as Sexy Stud
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Cop
- Walt Flanagan as Pack-o-Smokes Guy
- Earthquake as Husband
- Grace Smith as Milk Lady
- Ryan Thomas as Dancer
- Rebecca Lin as Dancer
- Christopher Martinez as Dancer
- Tracy Phillips as Dancer
- Joel Manning as Dancer
- Rachel Larratt as Counter Girl with Ear Guy
- Shannon Larratt as Ear Guy
- Sarah Ault as Catholic Schoolgirl
- Lalida Sujjavasin as Catholic Schoolgirl
- Gail Stanley as Elias' Mom
- Bruce Macintosh as Elias' Dad
- Steven Rau as Diner #1
- Mike Tsucalas as Diner #2
- Joey Figueroa as Customer #1
- Mike Cecconi as Customer #2
- Ethan Jensen as Tumbling Customer
- Edward Janda as Fireman
- Byron Stanley as Bank Manager
- Aurorah Allain as Dancer
- Carol Conners as Dancer
- Daveione Williams as Dancer
- Jason Beitel as Dancer
- Jason Yribar as Dancer
- Kenny Wormald as Dancer
- Marty Kudelka as Dancer
- Michael Higgins as Dancer
- Nancy O'Meara as Dancer
- Reshma Gajjar as Dancer
- Caroline A. Rice as Dancer
- Bobbie Bates as Dancer
- Bryan Anthony as Dancer
- Carey Ysais as Dancer
- Cheryl Baxter as Dancer
- Desi Jevon as Dancer
- Gordon Hart as Dancer
- Jenna Stewart as Dancer
- Kelly Cooper as Dancer
- Ken Baldwin as Dancer
- Kevin Whitaker as Dancer
- Michelle Elkin as Dancer
- Misha Gabriel as Dancer
- Susan Carr George as Dancer
- Jimmy Federico as Dancer
- Katie Malia as Dancer
- Anthony Marciona as Dancer
- Hannah Feldner-Shaw as Dancer
- Shawn Breathwaite as Dancer
- Malcolm Ingram as Fat Guy Dancing in Bathroom (uncredited)
- Robin Prough as Young Girl (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 71
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 | 1 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 24 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 40 |
| 15 to 16 | 33 | 48 |
| 17 to 18 | 2 | 33 |
| 19 to 20 | 9 | 50 |
| 21 to 22 | 12 | 58 |
| 23 to 24 | 24 | 27 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 34 |
| 27 to 28 | 10 | 73 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 15 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 4 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 53 |
| 37 to 38 | 31 | 58 |
| 39 to 40 | 16 | 14 |
| 41 to 42 | 2 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 5 | 2 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 1 | 8 |
| 51 to 52 | 1 | 45 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 27 |
| 55 to 56 | 8 | 40 |
| 57 to 58 | 1 | 5 |
| 59 to 60 | 7 | 17 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 77 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 2 | 4 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 1 |
| 71 to 71 | 0 | 7 |
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, 17 are women's.
165 lines from women, 789 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
20 women and 29 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 111 of 975.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 144 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (2,120), men 83% (10,044).
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
4
Two men
48
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kevin Smith (man)
- Written by
- Kevin Smith (man)
- Produced by
- Scott Mosier (man)
- Shot by
- David Klein (man)
- Edited by
- Kevin Smith (man)
- Music by
- James L. Venable (man)
- Production design by
- Robert Holtzman (man)
- Costumes by
- Roseanne Fiedler (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 3 men
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Rosario Dawson 27, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith 35
Men
Trevor Fehrman 25, Jason Mewes 32, Ben Affleck 33, Kevin Smith 35, Scott Mosier 35, Brian O'Halloran 36, Jeff Anderson 36, Jason Lee 36
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $27 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 71 scenes and 975 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
