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Passes the Bechdel test

Ghost

1990. Directed by Jerry Zucker, written by Bruce Joel Rubin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    13 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 102.
  3. 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.

Poster for Ghost

The film

Even though Sam Wheat, the successful investment counsellor, still finds it difficult to express his deeper feelings for her after all these years, his young potter girlfriend, Molly Jensen, is the love of his life. However, a curious case of a systematic discrepancy will prepare the ground for a hideous urban homicide in one of Manhattan's dark alleys, trapping, seemingly forever, the unfortunate deceased's immortal soul in the realm of the mortals. With the condemned spirit unable to interact with the physical world--and as Molly's life, too, is in grave danger--Sam will have to turn to the spiritual medium, Oda Mae Brown, to warn and protect her. Can Oda and the ghost settle the unfinished business in time?

Released
13 Jul 1990
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.1 / 10
Metascore
52 / 100
Awards
Won 2 Oscars. 18 wins & 24 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Sam 270 lines, man
  2. Oda Mae 195 lines, woman
  3. Molly 158 lines, woman
  4. Carl 120 lines, man
  5. Willie 24 lines, man
  6. Furgeson 19 lines, man
  7. Ghost 18 lines, man
  8. Mrs. Santiago 12 lines, woman
  9. Sgt. Beiderman 9 lines
  10. Ortisha 8 lines, woman
Full cast, 38 people
  • Patrick Swayze as Sam Wheat
  • Demi Moore as Molly Jensen
  • Whoopi Goldberg as Oda Mae Brown
  • Tony Goldwyn as Carl Bruner
  • Vincent Schiavelli as Subway Ghost
  • Rick Aviles as Willie Lopez
  • Martina Deignan as Rose
  • Rick Kleber as Mover
  • Phil Leeds as Emergency Room Ghost
  • Armelia McQueen as Oda Mae's Sister
  • Gail Boggs as Oda Mae's Sister
  • Stephen Root as Police Sgt.
  • Alma Beltran as Woman Ghost
  • Vivian Bonnell as Ortisha
  • Derek Thompson as Ortisha's Friend
  • Tom Finnegan as Bank Guard
  • Bruce Jarchow as Lyle Furgeson
  • Said Faraj as Cab Driver
  • Dorothy Love Coates as Performer
  • Christopher J. Keene as Elevator Man
  • Stanley Lawrence as Elevator Man
  • Susan Breslau as Susan
  • Macka Foley as Mover
  • John Hugh as Surgeon
  • Sam Tsoutsouvas as Minister
  • Angelina Estrada as Rosa Santiago
  • Thom Curley as Workman in Loft
  • Laura Drake as Policewoman
  • Augie Blunt as Orlando
  • Sharon Breslau Cornell as Cemetery Ghost
  • J. Christopher Sullivan as Man Ghost
  • Charlotte Zucker as Bank Officer
  • Sondra Rubin as Nun
  • Faye Brenner as Nun
  • William Cort as Bank Co-Worker
  • Minnie Summers Lindsey as Apartment Woman
  • Mabel Lockridge as Apartment Woman
  • Arsenio Hall as Arsenio Hall (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 102

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 31021
4 to 61328
7 to 91417
10 to 12810
13 to 151432
16 to 1846
19 to 21519
22 to 24819
25 to 2701
28 to 3000
31 to 3304
34 to 364412
37 to 39178
40 to 4242
43 to 45149
46 to 484834
49 to 51015
52 to 5420
55 to 57120
58 to 601229
61 to 63023
64 to 663428
67 to 691816
70 to 722335
73 to 751016
76 to 781932
79 to 81911
82 to 8422
85 to 8720
88 to 9038
91 to 9302
94 to 96179
97 to 99179
100 to 1021319

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.
CLARA: My sister will be with us soon. LOUISE: Sister Oda Mae. Grant us the gift of your all-seeing presence. Appear for us now. ODA MAE: Mrs. Santiago.
CLARA: Samweet? CLARA/LOUISE: Oda Mae! Oda Mae!
ODA MAE: Where are you? LOUISE: Where? I'm right here.
ODA MAE: Excuse me, girl. Time for me to go. MOLLY: I don't believe I'm watching this.
ODA MAE: What a day! MOLLY: Lionel?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 45 are women's.

396 lines from women, 476 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 18 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 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 27 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 45% of the words (3,640), men 55% (4,525).

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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Jerry Zucker (man)
Written by
Bruce Joel Rubin (man)
Produced by
Howard W. Koch (man), Lisa Weinstein (woman)
Shot by
Adam Greenberg (man)
Edited by
Walter Murch (man)
Music by
Maurice Jarre (man)
Production design by
Jane Musky (woman)
Costumes by
Ruth Morley (woman)
Cast by
Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    3 women, 12 men, 9 not listed

  • Sound

    4 women, 14 men, 3 not listed

  • Production

    4 women, 7 men, 6 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 6 men, 9 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 7 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 7 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    5 women, 1 men, 2 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 35 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Demi Moore 27, Whoopi Goldberg 34, Armelia McQueen 38, Martina Deignan 40

Men

Tony Goldwyn 30, Rick Kleber 33, Patrick Swayze 37, Rick Aviles 37, Vincent Schiavelli 41, Phil Leeds 74

Exhibit H: the money

It made 23.0 times what it cost.

Budget
$22 million
Box office
$505 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 102 scenes and 903 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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