Fails the Bechdel test
Dolemite Is My Name
2019. Directed by Craig Brewer, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.
- Released
- 25 Oct 2019
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- 30 wins & 66 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rudy 358 lines, man
- Lady Reed 52 lines, woman
- D'Urville 49 lines, man
- Jimmy Lynch 45 lines, man
- Jerry 38 lines, man
- Ben 36 lines, man
- Toney 35 lines, man
- Nick 23 lines, man
- Lawrence Woolner 12 lines, man
- Ricco 12 lines, man
Full cast, 96 people
- Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore
- Wesley Snipes as D’Urville Martin
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Reed
- Keegan-Michael Key as Jerry Jones
- Mike Epps as Jimmy Lynch
- Craig Robinson as Ben Taylor
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nick von Sternberg
- Snoop Dogg as Roj
- Barry Shabaka Henley as Demond
- T.I. as Walter Crane
- Luenell as Aunt
- Tasha Smith as Jimmy's Wife
- Tituss Burgess as Theodore Toney
- Ron Cephas Jones as Rico
- Chris Rock as Bobby Vale
- Aleksandar Filimonović as Joseph Bihari
- Ivo Nandi as Jules Bihari
- Michael Peter Bolus as Lester Bihari
- Kazy Tauginas as Saul Bihari
- B.J. Bingham as Dolphin Customer
- Claude Phillips as Hobo #1
- Arthur Fuller as Hobo #2
- Jill Savel as White Actress
- Baker Chase Powell as Steven Dodd
- Henry Monfries as White Boy #2
- John Michael Herndon as Middle Aged Actor / Warden
- Jernard Burks as Club Owner
- Monique StaTeena as D'Urville's Date
- Joshua Weinstein as John McCarthy
- Allen Rueckert as Allan Jon Fox
- Gerald Downey as Bob Brooks
- Bernadine Durham as Mom
- Bobby Milhouse as Boy's Father
- Lamar Edwards as Ben Taylor's Band - Keyboard
- Carlos McSwain as Ben Taylor's Band - Band Drums
- Brandon Owens as Ben Taylor's Band - Bass
- Chucc Hamilton as Ben Taylor's Band - Guitar
- James Ford III as Ben Taylor's Band - Trumpet #1
- Johnny Britt as Ben Taylor's Band - Trumpet #2
- Wendell Kelly as Ben Taylor's Band - Trombone
- Amy Keys as Ben's Revelation Funk Band Female Backup Singer #1
- Maiya Sykes as Ben's Revelation Funk Band Female Backup Singer #2
- Nayanna Holley as Ben's Revelation Funk Band Female Backup Singer #3
- Edward Rudell Johnson as Ben's Revelation Funk Band Male Backup Singer #1
- John Fluker as Ben's Revelation Funk Band Male Backup Singer #2
- Lamar Usher as Black DJ #1
- Akono Dixon as Agitated Young Man
- Milan Carter as Larry Munn
- deMann as Scott Still
- Kezii Curtis as Boy
- Krystian Alexander Lyttle as Lady Reed's Son
- Sade E. Moore as Stripper and Whore #1
- Chelsea Gilson as Carrie Mills
- Cheryl Francis Harrington as Box Office Lady
- Toni Duclottni as Crystal
- Garland Whitt as Theatre Manager
- Saudia Rashed as Chantel Apodaca
- Cole S. McKay as FBI Agent #1
- Dale Gibson as FBI Agent #2
- Phil Abrams as Lou Drozen
- Quartay Denaya as Pretty Girl
- Bobby Rush as Bobby Rush
- James Cornelison as Bobby Rush's Band - Guitar
- Lyndon Rochelle as Bobby Rush's Band - Drums
- Edwin Livingston as Bobby Rush's Band - Bass
- Damon Wilson as Bobby Rush's Band - Keyboard
- Jimmie Kirkpatrick as Bobby Rush's Band - Trumpet
- Gina Lohman as Irritable White Lady
- Nikol Davis as Woman in Tallahassee Juke Joint
- Bubba Ganter as Heavy Set Man
- Alfonso Christian Lover as Manager
- Dorothy Schock as Old Lady
- Demetrius Hodges as Movie Goer
- Eric Reed as Club Ebony Band - Keyboard
- Brandon Stewart as Club Ebony Band - Drums
- Budda Foster as Club Ebony Band - Mandolin
- Robert Amerson as Guitar Player Tallahassee
- Yena Kim as Sound Mixer
- Taylor Ellington as P.A.
- Megan McEwen as Script Supervisor
- Matthew Jablonski as FX Tech
- Justin Campbell as Drummer #1
- Sidney Hopson as Drummer #2
- Catrina Gaston as Fan #3
- Erik Kilpatrick as Street Guy #1
- Myles Williamson as Owen
- Rob Smith as Professional Engineer
- David B. Lyons as Commercial Engineer
- Tommie Earl Jenkins
- Leonel Claude as Smoo Ji
- Aaron Craven as Colton Silverman
- Li Eubanks as Donna
- Denise Milfort as Charline
- Jamaal Lewis as Dolphin Records Man
- Bob Odenkirk as Lawrence
- A.J. Tannen as Randall Spade
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 155
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 4 | 0 | 22 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 35 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 34 |
| 17 to 20 | 10 | 24 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 26 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 11 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 52 | 14 | 15 |
| 53 to 56 | 2 | 9 |
| 57 to 60 | 2 | 32 |
| 61 to 64 | 9 | 41 |
| 65 to 68 | 2 | 41 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 48 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 10 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 42 |
| 81 to 84 | 6 | 31 |
| 85 to 88 | 3 | 35 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 16 |
| 93 to 96 | 1 | 11 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 11 |
| 101 to 104 | 9 | 20 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 36 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 17 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 9 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 1 |
| 121 to 124 | 4 | 19 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 12 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 6 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 9 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 31 |
| 141 to 144 | 3 | 7 |
| 145 to 148 | 4 | 3 |
| 149 to 152 | 3 | 24 |
| 153 to 155 | 3 | 34 |
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, 10 are women's.
81 lines from women, 748 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 45 men in the cast. 6 women and 39 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 116 of 874.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 115 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (1,083), men 92% (11,793). Women have 10% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
78
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Craig Brewer (man)
- Written by
- Scott Alexander (man), Larry Karaszewski (man)
- Produced by
- John Fox (man), Eddie Murphy (man), John Davis (man)
- Shot by
- Eric Steelberg (man)
- Edited by
- Billy Fox (man)
- Music by
- Scott Bomar (man)
- Production design by
- Clay A. Griffith (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
12 women, 16 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Da'Vine Joy Randolph 33
Men
Kodi Smit-McPhee 23, T.I. 39, Craig Robinson 47, Snoop Dogg 47, Keegan-Michael Key 48, Mike Epps 48, Wesley Snipes 57, Eddie Murphy 58, Barry Shabaka Henley 65
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 155 scenes and 874 lines of dialogue. How the test works
