Passes the Bechdel test
Dead Poets Society
1989. Directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 106. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His roommate, Neil Perry, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each does so in his own way, and is changed for life.
- Released
- 09 Jun 1989
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 20 wins & 19 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Neil 163 lines, man
- Keating 147 lines, man
- Charlie 140 lines, man
- Knox 102 lines, man
- Todd 83 lines, man
- Cameron 55 lines, man
- Meeks 48 lines, man
- Chris 46 lines, woman
- Mr. Nolan 45 lines, man
- Pitts 41 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
- Robin Williams as John Keating
- Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry
- Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson
- Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet
- Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton
- Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron
- Allelon Ruggiero as Steven Meeks
- James Waterston as Gerard Pitts
- Norman Lloyd as Mr. Nolan
- Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Perry
- Carla Belver as Mrs. Perry
- Leon Pownall as McAllister
- George Martin as Dr. Hager
- Joe Aufiery as Chemistry Teacher
- Matt Carey as Hopkins
- Kevin Cooney as Joe Danburry
- Jane Moore as Mrs. Danburry
- Lara Flynn Boyle as Ginny Danburry
- Colin Irving as Chet Danburry
- Alexandra Powers as Chris Noel
- Melora Walters as Gloria
- Welker White as Tina
- Steve Mathios as Steve
- Alan Pottinger as Bubba
- Pamela Burrell as Directing Teacher
- Allison Hedges as Actor / Fairy
- Christine D'Ercole as Titania
- John Cunningham as Mr. Anderson
- Debra Mooney as Mrs. Anderson
- John Martin Bradley as Bagpiper
- Charles Lord as Mr. Dalton
- Kurt Leitner as Lester
- Richard Stites as Stick
- James J. Christy as Spaz
- Catherine Soles as Stage Manager
- Hoover Sutton as Welton Professor
- James Donnell Quinn as Procession Alumnus
- Simon Mein as Welton Vicar
- Ashton W. Richards as Phys. Ed. Teacher
- Robert Gleason as Father of Spaz
- Bill Rowe as Dormitory Porter
- Robert J. Zigler III as Beans
- Keith Snyder as Russell
- Nicholas K. Gilhool as Shroom
- Jonas Stiklorius as Jonas
- Craig Johnson as Dewey
- Chris Hull as Ace
- Jason Woody as Woodsie
- Sam Stegeman as Sam
- Andrew Hill as Senior Student
- Kate Kearney-Patch as Mother in Opening Scene (uncredited)
- Jamie Kennedy as (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 106
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 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 6 | 25 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 65 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 41 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 to 24 | 10 | 62 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 72 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 27 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 25 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 42 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 13 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 44 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 34 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 46 |
| 55 to 57 | 9 | 59 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 47 |
| 61 to 63 | 4 | 17 |
| 64 to 66 | 15 | 38 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 14 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 28 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 46 |
| 76 to 78 | 6 | 9 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 26 |
| 82 to 84 | 13 | 21 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 20 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 8 | 29 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 29 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 8 |
| 103 to 105 | 1 | 12 |
| 106 to 106 | 0 | 42 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
TINA: We're not gonna slip, are we? GLORIA: Uh-oh. GLORIA: Hi.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 8 are women's.
86 lines from women, 961 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 22 men in the cast. 5 women and 17 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 395 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 5% of the words (530), men 95% (10,000). Women have 8% 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
2
Two men
73
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Weir (man)
- Written by
- Tom Schulman (man)
- Produced by
- Tony Thomas (man), Steven Haft (man), Paul Junger Witt (man)
- Shot by
- John Seale (man)
- Edited by
- William M. Anderson (man)
- Music by
- Maurice Jarre (man)
- Production design by
- Wendy Stites (woman)
- Costumes by
- Nancy Konrardy (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 6 men
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Men: 30 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Josh Charles 17, Ethan Hawke 18, Dylan Kussman 18, Allelon Ruggiero 18, Robert Sean Leonard 20, James Waterston 20, Gale Hansen 29, Robin Williams 37, Kurtwood Smith 45, Norman Lloyd 74
Exhibit H: the money
It made 14.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $16.4 million
- Box office
- $236 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 1,072 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
