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Passes the Bechdel test

Dances with Wolves

1990. Directed by Kevin Costner, written by Michael Blake.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 6 scenes out of 276.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

Poster for Dances with Wolves

The film

Lt. John Dunbar is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Sioux tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Sioux tribe. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and they learn from each other and befriend each other.

Released
21 Nov 1990
Genres
Adventure, Drama, Western
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
8 / 10
Metascore
72 / 100
Awards
Won 7 Oscars. 55 wins & 41 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Dunbar 121 lines, man
  2. Dances With Wolves 91 lines, woman
  3. Kicking Bird 69 lines, man
  4. Stands With A Fist 65 lines, woman
  5. Wind In His Hair 43 lines, man
  6. Ten Bears 38 lines, man
  7. Fambrough 20 lines, man
  8. Smiles A Lot 20 lines, man
  9. Elgin 19 lines, man
  10. Timmons 18 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
  • Kevin Costner as Lieutenant Dunbar
  • Mary McDonnell as Stands With A Fist
  • Graham Greene as Kicking Bird
  • Rodney A. Grant as Wind In His Hair
  • Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman as Ten Bears
  • Tantoo Cardinal as Black Shawl
  • Robert Pastorelli as Timmons
  • Charles Rocket as Lieutenant Elgin
  • Maury Chaykin as Major Fambrough
  • Jimmy Herman as Stone Calf
  • Nathan Lee Chasing Horse as Smiles A Lot
  • Michael Spears as Otter
  • Jason R. Lone Hill as Worm
  • Tony Pierce as Spivey
  • Doris Leader Charge as Pretty Shield
  • Tom Everett as Sergeant Pepper
  • Larry Joshua as Sergeant Bauer
  • Kirk Baltz as Edwards
  • Wayne Grace as Major
  • Donald Hotton as General Tide
  • Annie Costner as Christine
  • Conor Duffy as Willie
  • Elisa Daniel as Christine's Mother
  • Percy White Plume as Big Warrior
  • John Tail as Escort Warrior
  • Steve Reevis as Sioux #1 / Warrior #1
  • Sheldon Peters Wolfchild as Sioux #2 / Warrior #2
  • Wes Studi as Toughest Pawnee
  • Buffalo Child as Pawnee #1
  • Clayton Big Eagle as Pawnee #2
  • Richard Leader Charge as Pawnee #3
  • Redwing Ted Nez as Sioux Warrior
  • Marvin Holy as Sioux Warrior
  • Raymond Newholy as Sioux Courier
  • David J. Fuller as Kicking Bird's Son
  • Ryan White Bull as Kicking Bird's Eldest Son
  • Otakuye Conroy as Kicking Bird's Daughter
  • Maretta Big Crow as Village Mother
  • Steve Chambers as Guard
  • William H. Burton Jr. as General's Aide
  • Bill W. Curry as Confederate Cavalryman
  • Nick Thompson as Confederate Soldier
  • Carter Hanner as Confederate Soldier
  • Kent Hays as Wagon Driver
  • Robert Goldman as Union Soldier
  • Frank P. Costanza as Tucker
  • James A. Mitchell as Ray
  • R. L. Curtin as Ambush Wagon Driver
  • Justin as Cisco
  • Teddy as Two Socks
  • Buck as Two Socks
  • Michael Horton as Captain Cargill

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 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 276

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 600
7 to 12014
13 to 1802
19 to 24033
25 to 30016
31 to 36010
37 to 42016
43 to 4805
49 to 5407
55 to 6003
61 to 6603
67 to 72225
73 to 78018
79 to 8409
85 to 9016
91 to 9604
97 to 102021
103 to 108820
109 to 11495
115 to 12005
121 to 12601
127 to 13221
133 to 13822
139 to 144022
145 to 15003
151 to 15604
157 to 1621428
163 to 1683314
169 to 174110
175 to 180106
181 to 186155
187 to 19256
193 to 19800
199 to 20400
205 to 2101212
211 to 2161014
217 to 222822
223 to 228105
229 to 2341125
235 to 240615
241 to 246014
247 to 25200
253 to 25852
259 to 264713
265 to 27023
271 to 27605

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.
STANDS WITH A FIST: Dances With Wolves? DANCES WITH WOLVES: I'm here.
DANCES WITH WOLVES: You go for water? STANDS WITH A FIST: Yes. DANCES WITH WOLVES: Let us take you.
DANCES WITH WOLVES: How did you get your name? STANDS WITH A FIST: I was not very old when I came to be with the people... I was made to work. STANDS WITH A FIST: I worked every day... very hard... there was a woman who didn't like me. She called me bad names... sometimes she beat me. One day she was c… DANCES WITH WOLVES: I would not think so.
BLACK SHAWL: You are not talking today? STANDS WITH A FIST: No, I'm not.
DANCES WITH WOLVES: Nothin'. STANDS WITH A FIST: Nothin'.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

183 lines from women, 444 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 29 men in the cast. 5 women and 37 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 123 of 642. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 122 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,468), men 77% (4,931). Women have 29% 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

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Kevin Costner (man)
Written by
Michael Blake (man)
Produced by
Kevin Costner (man), Jim Wilson (man)
Shot by
Dean Semler (man)
Edited by
Neil Travis (man), William Hoy (man), Steve Potter (gender not listed), Chip Masamitsu (man)
Music by
John Barry (man)
Production design by
Jeffrey Beecroft (man)
Costumes by
Elsa Zamparelli (gender not listed)
Cast by
Elisabeth Leustig (woman), Jory Weitz (man), Rene Haynes (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    1 women, 17 men, 11 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 11 men, 12 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 8 men, 13 not listed

  • Art

    3 women, 5 men, 12 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    6 women, 1 men, 13 not listed

  • Production

    7 women, 6 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men, 4 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 39 on average. Men: 41 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Mary McDonnell 38, Tantoo Cardinal 40

Men

Rodney A. Grant 31, Kevin Costner 35, Robert Pastorelli 36, Graham Greene 38, Charles Rocket 41, Maury Chaykin 41, Jimmy Herman 50, Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman 54

Exhibit H: the money

It made 19.3 times what it cost.

Budget
$22 million
Box office
$424 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 276 scenes and 642 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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