Passes the Bechdel test
Drop Dead Gorgeous
1999. Directed by Michael Patrick Jann, written by Lona Williams.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
24 women characters. 24 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 31 scenes out of 169. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
In a small Minnesota town, the annual beauty pageant is being covered by a TV crew. Former winner Gladys Leeman wants to make sure her daughter follows in her footsteps. Explosions, falling lights, and trailer fires prove that. As the Leemans are the richest family in town the police are pretty relaxed about it all. Despite everything, main rival (but nice) Amber Atkins won't be stopped. There could well be more death and disappointment to come.
- Released
- 23 Jul 1999
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 28 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Amber 128 lines, woman
- Gladys 86 lines, woman
- Loretta 52 lines, woman
- Becky 39 lines, woman
- Annette 37 lines, woman
- Iris 34 lines, woman
- Documentarian 23 lines, man
- Lisa 21 lines, woman
- Harold 19 lines, man
- Leslie 18 lines, woman
Full cast, 71 people
- Kirsten Dunst as Amber Atkins
- Ellen Barkin as Annette Atkins
- Denise Richards as Rebecca Ann 'Becky' Leeman
- Kirstie Alley as Gladys Leeman
- Allison Janney as Loretta
- Sam McMurray as Lester Leeman
- Mindy Sterling as Iris Clark
- Brittany Murphy as Lisa Swenson
- Amy Adams as Leslie Miller
- Laurie A. Sinclair as Michelle Johnson
- Shannon Nelson as Tess Weinhaus
- Tara Redepenning as Molly Howard
- Sarah Stewart as Janelle Betz
- Alexandra Holden as Mary Johanson
- Brooke Elise Bushman as Tammy Curry
- Matt Malloy as John Dough, Judge #1
- Michael McShane as Harold Vilmes, Judge #2
- Will Sasso as Hank Vilmes
- Lona Williams as Jean Kangas, Judge #3
- Nora Dunn as Colleen Douglas
- Adam West as Himself
- Seiko Matsuda as Tina / Seiko Howard
- Thomas Lennon as Documentarian (voice)
- Richard Narita as Mr. Howard
- Patti Yasutake as Mrs. Howard
- Richard Ooms as Pastor
- Amanda Detmer as Miss Minneapolis
- Claudia Wilkens as Iona Hildebrandt
- Casey Garven as Brett Clemmens
- Jacy King as Pregnant Fry Girl
- Mo Gaffney as Terry Macy, State Pageant
- Mary Gillis as Chloris Klinghagen
- Dale Dunham as Mount Rose Mayor
- Terry Hempleman as Cop #1
- Chris Carlson as Cop #2
- James Cada as Lisa Swenson's Father
- Kristin Rudrüd as Connie Rudrüd
- John T. Olson as Pat
- Ashley Dylan Bullard as Fry Girl
- Allyson Kearns as Candy Striper
- Tom Gilshannon as Lars Larson
- Eric D. Howell as Sound Recordist
- Matthew G. Park as Crew Guy
- Luke Ingles as Rocker Kid #1
- Nick Ingles as Rocker Kid #2
- Jimmie D. Wright as Doctor
- Peter Aitchinson as News Anchor
- Mary Rehbein as Reporter #1
- Jeany Park as Reporter #2
- Robert-Bruce Brake as Mr. Melchoir
- Bruce Linser as Ed
- Tiffany Engen as Tap Dancer
- Jennifer Baldwin Peden as Opera Singer
- Annalise Nelson as Violinist
- Samantha Harris as Miss Burnsville
- Kari Ann Shiff as Miss Duluth
- Mark Dahlen as COPS Crew Guy
- Jeff Tatum as Fireman
- Paul Cram as Beauty Pageant Fan (uncredited)
- Kregg Janke as Funeral Mourner (uncredited)
- Kayla Laursen as Pageant Audience (uncredited)
- Amy Lithander as Fry Girl (uncredited)
- Larissa Lowthorp as Julie
- Josh Minnie as Trailer Park Resident (uncredited)
- Jamie Olsen as Peter (uncredited)
- Don Patterson as Rowdy Guy (uncredited)
- Robb Ross as SWAT Cop (uncredited)
- Darla Rothman as Prom Queen (uncredited)
- Joel Thingvall as Beauty Pageant Fan (uncredited)
- David William Watts as Brett's Friend (uncredited)
- Lisa Woods as Beauty Pageant Fan (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 169
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 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 11 | 1 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 to 16 | 12 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 11 | 3 |
| 21 to 24 | 4 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 10 | 1 |
| 29 to 32 | 13 | 9 |
| 33 to 36 | 10 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 18 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 17 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 8 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 15 | 7 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 15 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 9 | 2 |
| 65 to 68 | 32 | 2 |
| 69 to 72 | 8 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 4 | 5 |
| 77 to 80 | 16 | 8 |
| 81 to 84 | 31 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 6 | 3 |
| 89 to 92 | 31 | 14 |
| 93 to 96 | 15 | 0 |
| 97 to 100 | 28 | 1 |
| 101 to 104 | 31 | 1 |
| 105 to 108 | 20 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 20 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 23 | 11 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 3 |
| 121 to 124 | 4 | 8 |
| 125 to 128 | 11 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 20 | 8 |
| 133 to 136 | 16 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 19 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 3 | 2 |
| 149 to 152 | 4 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 17 | 2 |
| 157 to 160 | 10 | 0 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 0 |
| 165 to 168 | 2 | 1 |
| 169 to 169 | 2 | 0 |
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.
GLADYS LEEMAN: Good God, Iris, you taped your shows over it. IRIS: Sorry. GLADYS LEEMAN: Now ladies, the rest of the tape - which is now gone forever - goes on about startin' this great American journey we call American Teen Prin… GLADYS: Showtime.
IRIS: Oh, there's a parking space over there. Oh, no, that's just a compact. Sorry. GLADYS: You'd think they'd build the parking lot of America to go with the Mall of America! IRIS: It's a two-hundred dollar fine! GLADYS: I said I'd move if a cripple came. Let's just run in the store and pick out some outfits.
GLADYS: Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! I just thought of the theme. IRIS: Oh! What is it? GLADYS: "Proud...to be...an...American."
GLADYS: Well, you know, I think everyone's doing really well considering the fact that she was so young. IRIS: It's always hard to see the young ones called home, especially on an exploding thresher. It's just so odd and gross. GLADYS: You know that sometimes it's hard to understand God's great plan. IRIS: Yeah.
MARY: ...Amber does my hair...once a week. AMBER: Well...it's the least I can do for the reigning Mount Rose Junior Miss Amer-- AMBER: Oh God... MARY: What?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 82 are women's.
528 lines from women, 113 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
24 women and 14 men in the cast. 24 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 15 of 698.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 15 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 83% of the words (6,721), men 17% (1,378). Women have 82% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
67
Two men
5
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 48% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Michael Patrick Jann (man)
- Written by
- Lona Williams (woman)
- Produced by
- Judy Hofflund (woman), Gavin Polone (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Spiller (man)
- Edited by
- Janice Hampton (woman), David Codron (man)
- Music by
- Mark Mothersbaugh (man)
- Production design by
- Ruth Ammon (woman)
- Costumes by
- Mimi Melgaard (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 11 men, 14 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 1 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 5 men
-
Other crew
2 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kirsten Dunst 17, Brittany Murphy 21, Amy Adams 24, Laurie A. Sinclair 24, Denise Richards 28, Allison Janney 39, Ellen Barkin 45, Mindy Sterling 46, Kirstie Alley 48
Men
Sam McMurray 47
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $10.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 169 scenes and 698 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
