Passes the Bechdel test
Erin Brockovich
2000. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Susannah Grant.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
21 women characters. 16 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 19 scenes out of 262. -
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
Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job, but is having no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident she was into. With no alternative, she successfully browbeats her attorney to give her a job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. What she discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and poisoning the residents in the area in a response. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would involve her law firm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.
- Released
- 17 Mar 2000
- Genres
- Biography, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 33 wins & 59 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Erin 478 lines, woman
- Ed 203 lines, man
- George 107 lines, man
- Donna 43 lines, woman
- Brenda 21 lines, woman
- Matthew 17 lines, man
- Potter 17 lines, man
- Frankel 13 lines, man
- Jane 12 lines, woman
- Paulsen 11 lines, man
Full cast, 56 people
- Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich
- Albert Finney as Ed Masry
- Aaron Eckhart as George
- Marg Helgenberger as Donna Jensen
- Cherry Jones as Pamela Duncan
- Veanne Cox as Theresa Dallavale
- Conchata Ferrell as Brenda
- Tracey Walter as Charles Embry
- Peter Coyote as Kurt Potter
- Michael Harney as Pete Jensen
- Scarlett Pomers as Shanna Jensen
- Scotty Leavenworth as Matthew Brown
- Gina Gallego as Ms. Sanchez
- T.J. Thyne as David Foil (1st PG&E Rep)
- Valente Rodriguez as Donald
- Erin Brockovich as Waitress
- David Brisbin as Dr. Jaffe
- Dawn Didawick as Rosalind
- George Rocky Sullivan as Los Angeles Judge
- Pat Skipper as Defending Lawyer
- Jack Gill as Defendant
- Irene Olga López as Mrs. Morales
- Emily Marks as Beth (8 months)
- Julie Marks as Beth (8 months)
- Gemmenne de la Peña as Katie
- Adilah Barnes as Anna
- Irina V. Passmoore as Babysitter
- Ron Altomare as Biker Friend
- Charles John Bukey as Biker Friend
- Randy Lowell as Brian Frankel
- Jamie Harrold as Scott
- Sarah Ashley as Ashley Jensen
- Joe Chrest as Tom Robinson
- Meredith Zinner as Mandy Robinson
- William Lucking as Bob Linwood
- Mimi Kennedy as Laura Ambrosino
- Scott Sowers as Mike Ambrosino
- Kristina Malota as Annabelle Daniels
- Wade Williams as Ted Daniels
- Cordelia Richards as Rita Daniels
- Ashley Pimental as Beth (18 months)
- Brittany Pimental as Beth (18 months)
- Larry Martinez as Nelson Perez
- LeRoy A. Simmons as Self
- Don Snell as PG&E Lawyer
- Michael Shamberg as PG&E Lawyer
- Ronald E. Hairston as Car Messenger
- Scott Allen as Town Meeting Plaintiff
- Sheila Shaw as Ruth Linwood
- Matthew Kimbrough as Bartender
- Jason Cervantes as Check Messenger
- Spencer Kayden as Tearful Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- Norma Maldonado as Woman #1 (uncredited)
- Mike Malone as Baxter (uncredited)
- Tom Tangen as Ned (uncredited)
- Julie Wagner as E.R. Admitting Nurse (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 262
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 6 | 12 | 6 |
| 7 to 12 | 30 | 15 |
| 13 to 18 | 11 | 1 |
| 19 to 24 | 19 | 17 |
| 25 to 30 | 13 | 11 |
| 31 to 36 | 28 | 26 |
| 37 to 42 | 9 | 6 |
| 43 to 48 | 9 | 3 |
| 49 to 54 | 36 | 5 |
| 55 to 60 | 20 | 12 |
| 61 to 66 | 13 | 4 |
| 67 to 72 | 24 | 17 |
| 73 to 78 | 23 | 23 |
| 79 to 84 | 13 | 3 |
| 85 to 90 | 13 | 15 |
| 91 to 96 | 25 | 13 |
| 97 to 102 | 15 | 14 |
| 103 to 108 | 9 | 4 |
| 109 to 114 | 18 | 14 |
| 115 to 120 | 8 | 8 |
| 121 to 126 | 15 | 11 |
| 127 to 132 | 20 | 9 |
| 133 to 138 | 14 | 19 |
| 139 to 144 | 8 | 4 |
| 145 to 150 | 7 | 5 |
| 151 to 156 | 5 | 2 |
| 157 to 162 | 6 | 9 |
| 163 to 168 | 13 | 8 |
| 169 to 174 | 15 | 7 |
| 175 to 180 | 14 | 12 |
| 181 to 186 | 24 | 18 |
| 187 to 192 | 1 | 0 |
| 193 to 198 | 21 | 13 |
| 199 to 204 | 8 | 8 |
| 205 to 210 | 17 | 17 |
| 211 to 216 | 2 | 4 |
| 217 to 222 | 1 | 7 |
| 223 to 228 | 12 | 8 |
| 229 to 234 | 5 | 1 |
| 235 to 240 | 8 | 7 |
| 241 to 246 | 2 | 0 |
| 247 to 252 | 11 | 9 |
| 253 to 258 | 12 | 10 |
| 259 to 262 | 29 | 8 |
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.
KATIE: I like the crust. ERIN: Put your napkins in your laps and eat up. KATIE: How come you're not eating? ERIN: Mamma's gonna eat later.
ANNA: ... what we do in here is keep track of all the case files. That way, at any time, we can find out a case's status -- where it is in the off… ERIN: Oh, hell. I'm dyslexic. ANNA: That's a joke, right?
KATIE: Mommy, can I get a flower? ERIN: Sweetheart, you can get a whole big bunch.
ERIN: Anna? With this real-estate valuing stuff - - could you remind me, cause I'm a little confused about how exactly we do that. ANNA: Erin, you've been here three weeks. If you don't know how to do your job by now, I am not about to do it for you.
ERIN: It was in this real estate file I'm valuing. And -- see, I know they're the medical records from the people selling the house -- but it talk… ERIN: I mean, it's not a problem or anything, but -- I'm just a little unclear on what those things are. I thought maybe you'd know. JANE: What do I look like, Erin? A library?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 60 are women's.
618 lines from women, 413 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
21 women and 24 men in the cast. 16 women and 16 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 12 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 62% of the words (8,386), men 38% (5,062). Women have 60% 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
40
Two men
12
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Soderbergh (man)
- Written by
- Susannah Grant (woman)
- Produced by
- Danny DeVito (man), Stacey Sher (woman), Michael Shamberg (man)
- Shot by
- Edward Lachman (man)
- Edited by
- Anne V. Coates (woman)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Philip Messina (man)
- Costumes by
- Jeffrey Kurland (man)
- Cast by
- Margery Simkin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 12 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 16 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 8 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 4 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Julia Roberts 32, Veanne Cox 37, Marg Helgenberger 41, Cherry Jones 43, Conchata Ferrell 56
Men
Aaron Eckhart 32, Michael Harney 43, Tracey Walter 52, Peter Coyote 58, Albert Finney 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $52 million
- Box office
- $256 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 262 scenes and 1,066 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
