Fails the Bechdel test

Fight Club

Name: Fight Club
Released: 1999

1999. Directed by David Fincher, written by Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Uhls.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 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

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

The film

A nameless first-person narrator attends support groups in an attempt to subdue his emotional state and relieve his insomniac state. When he meets Marla, another fake attendee of support groups, his life seems to become a little more bearable. However, when he associates himself with Tyler he is dragged into an underground fight club and soap-making scheme. Together the two men spiral out of control and engage in competitive rivalry for love and power.

Released: 15 Oct 1999
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.8 / 10
Metascore: 67 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 12 wins & 38 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Jack 629 lines, man
Tyler 313 lines, man
Marla 131 lines, woman
Leader 19 lines
Bob 18 lines, man
Boss 15 lines, man
Lou 12 lines, man
Detective Stern 11 lines, man
Raymond 11 lines
Mechanic 10 lines, man

Full cast, 75 people

Edward Norton as Narrator
Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden
Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer
Meat Loaf as Robert Paulson
Jared Leto as Angel Face
Zach Grenier as Richard Chesler (Regional Manager)
Holt McCallany as The Mechanic
Eion Bailey as Ricky
Richmond Arquette as Intern at Hospital
David Andrews as Thomas at Remaining Men Together
George Maguire as Group Leader at Remaining Men Together
Eugenie Bondurant as Weeping Woman - Onward and Upward
Christina Cabot as Group Leader - Partners in Positivity
Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston as Speaker - Free and Clear
Rachel Singer as Chloe
Christie Cronenweth as Airline Check-In Attendant
Tim DeZarn as Federated Motor Co. - Inspector Bird
Ezra Buzzington as Federated Motor Co. - Inspector Dent
Dierdre Downing-Jackson as Business Woman on Plane
Bob Stephenson as Airport Security Officer
Charlie Dell as Doorman at Person Towers
Rob Lanza as Man in Suit
David Lee Smith as Walter
Joel Bissonnette as Food Court Maitre d'
Evan Mirand as 'Steph'
Robby Robinson as Next Month's Opponent
Lou Beatty Jr. as Cop at Marla's Building
Thom Gossom Jr. as Detective Stern
Valerie Bickford as Cosmetics Buyer
Peter Iacangelo as Lou
Carl Ciarfalio as Lou's Body Guard
Stuart Blumberg as Car Salesman
Todd Peirce as First Man at Auto Shop
Mark Fite as Second Man at Auto Shop
Matt Winston as Seminary Student
Joon Kim as Raymond K. Hessel
Bennie Moore as Bus Driver with Broken Nose
Lauren Sánchez Bezos as Channel 4 Reporter
Pat McNamara as Commissioner Jacobs
Tyrone R. Livingston as Banquet Speaker
Owen Masterson as Airport Valet
David Jean Thomas as Policeman
Paul Carafotes as Salvator - Winking Bartender
Christopher John Fields as Proprietor of Dry Cleaners
Anderson Bourell as Bruised Bar Patron #1
Scotch Ellis Loring as Bruised Bar Patron #2
Michael Shamus Wiles as Bartender in Halo
Andi Carnick as Hotel Desk Clerk
Ed Kowalczyk as Waiter at Clifton's
Leonard Termo as Desk Sergeant
Van Quattro as Detective Andrew
Markus Redmond as Detective Kevin
Michael Girardin as Detective Walker
Michael Arturo as BMW Salesman. (uncredited)
Greg Bronson as Fight Spectator (uncredited)
Matt Cinquanta as Fighter (uncredited)
Paul Dillon as Irvin (uncredited)
Eddie Hargitay as Chanting Fighter (uncredited)
Phil Hawn as Banquet Guest (uncredited)
Bruce Holman as Waiter in Bridgeworth Suites Corporate Video (uncredited)
Jawara as Fight Patron Saying 'I don't know. What's going on?' (uncredited)
Baron Jay as Waiter (uncredited)
Jim Jenkins as Restaurant Maitre D' (uncredited)
Kevin Scott Mack as Passenger Clutching Armrest (uncredited)
Trey Ore as Fight Club Patron / Guy #2 in Video Store (uncredited)
Louis Ortiz as Fight Spectator (uncredited)
Hugh Peddy as Fight Club Man (uncredited)
J.T. Pontino as Fight Club Man (uncredited)
Chad Randau as Waiter (uncredited)
Marcio Rosario as Fighter (uncredited)
Gregory Silva as Riley Wilde - Fighter (uncredited)
Brian Tochi as Fight Bully (uncredited)
Michael Zagst as Support Group Member (uncredited)
Marc Cinquanta as Space Monkey (uncredited)
Summer Moore as Marla's Neighbor (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 249

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	0	28
7 to 12	0	27
13 to 18	0	4
19 to 24	1	8
25 to 30	3	7
31 to 36	26	31
37 to 42	4	7
43 to 48	0	12
49 to 54	2	47
55 to 60	0	20
61 to 66	0	97
67 to 72	0	7
73 to 78	0	13
79 to 84	0	16
85 to 90	0	27
91 to 96	10	29
97 to 102	4	7
103 to 108	10	31
109 to 114	1	11
115 to 120	7	78
121 to 126	16	44
127 to 132	0	30
133 to 138	0	41
139 to 144	0	5
145 to 150	1	29
151 to 156	1	15
157 to 162	0	13
163 to 168	14	64
169 to 174	0	14
175 to 180	0	8
181 to 186	0	8
187 to 192	3	42
193 to 198	0	11
199 to 204	0	17
205 to 210	0	15
211 to 216	9	30
217 to 222	0	25
223 to 228	0	9
229 to 234	24	36
235 to 240	0	9
241 to 246	2	49
247 to 249	3	67

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, 11 are women's.

141 lines from women, 1088 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 53 men in the cast. 6 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 72 of 1,306. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 246 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (1,171), men 90% (10,632). Women have 11% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: David Fincher (man)
Written by: Jim Uhls (man)
From the novel by: Chuck Palahniuk (man)
Produced by: Ross Grayson Bell (man), Ceán Chaffin (woman), Art Linson (man)
Shot by: Jeff Cronenweth (man)
Edited by: James Haygood (man)
Music by: John King (man), Michael Simpson (man)
Production design by: Alex McDowell (man)
Costumes by: Michael Kaplan (man)
Cast by: Laray Mayfield (woman)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

1 women, 27 men, 18 not listed
Art

1 women, 18 men, 10 not listed
Sound

7 women, 19 men, 3 not listed
Production

6 women, 8 men, 12 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

6 women, 1 men, 8 not listed
Visual Effects

0 women, 7 men, 7 not listed
Camera

1 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
Directing

1 women, 4 men

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 33 on average. Men: 37 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Helena Bonham Carter 33

Men

Eion Bailey 23, Jared Leto 27, Edward Norton 30, Brad Pitt 35, Holt McCallany 36, Richmond Arquette 36, Zach Grenier 45, David Andrews 46, Meat Loaf 52

Exhibit G: the money

It made 1.6 times what it cost.

Budget: $63 million
Box office: $101 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 249 scenes and 1,306 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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