Passes the Bechdel test

Ghost World

Name: Ghost World
Released: 2001

2001. Directed by Terry Zwigoff, written by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
19 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 25 scenes out of 111.
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

Best friends Enid and Rebecca have just graduated from high school, although Enid has to take a summer school art class, which she failed during the regular school year, to graduate officially. Their plan since seventh grade has been not to go to college, but rather move in together after graduating, which now entails them getting jobs to pay for that independence. As Enid is constantly drawing things which she witnesses in her day-to-day life in her notebook for her own pleasure, that art class failing grade is only one demonstration of the contempt both Enid and Rebecca have for anything that is mainstream, which includes the structure of school and most of their classmates. Their "people", as Enid confirms, are the freaks, sickos and weirdos of society. Just for fun, they decide to respond to an "I Saw You" personal ad to see what loser placed the ad, who, he believes in attending the date, would be stood up by the woman for who he is looking. He is forty-something Seymour, who would admit that he beats to his own drummer and too cannot tolerate being with people who he just doesn't understand. Although Enid does not admit to Seymour that she and Rebecca were the ones that answered the ad, Enid becomes his friend based on their shared sensibilities. As Enid and Rebecca move on to the post-graduation phase of their lives, Enid slowly begins to alienate all around her, including Rebecca and possibly Seymour as she subversively begins to direct things in his life to thwart anything that is remotely mainstream. Enid believes that life as she knows it will be all right as long as she has one touchstone which to return, that touchstone which may not be as permanent as she believes.

Released: 21 Sep 2001
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 91 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 28 wins & 56 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Enid 499 lines, woman
Rebecca 219 lines, woman
Seymour 195 lines, man
Roberta 46 lines, woman
Josh 42 lines, man
Dad 29 lines, man
Dana 22 lines, woman
Joe 19 lines, man
Melorra 10 lines
Todd 8 lines, man

Full cast, 63 people

Thora Birch as Enid
Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca
Steve Buscemi as Seymour
Brad Renfro as Josh
Illeana Douglas as Roberta Allsworth
Bob Balaban as Enid's Dad
Stacey Travis as Dana
Charles C. Stevenson Jr. as Norman
Dave Sheridan as Doug
Tom McGowan as Joe
Debra Azar as Melora
Brian George as Sidewinder Boss
Pat Healy as John Ellis
Rini Bell as Graduation Speaker
T.J. Thyne as Todd
Ezra Buzzington as Weird Al
Lindsey Girardot as Vanilla
Joy Bisco as Jade
Venus DeMilo Thomas as Ebony
Ashley Peldon as Margaret
Chachi Pittman as Phillip
Janece Jordan as Black Girl
Kaileigh Brielle Martin as Snotty Girl
Alexander Fors as Hippy Boy
Marc Vann as Angry Guy (Jerome)
James Sie as Asian Guy (Steven)
Paul Keith as Fussy Guy (Paul)
David Cross as Pushy Guy (Gerrold)
J.J. 'Bad Boy' Jones as Fred Chatman
Dylan Jones as Red-Haired Girl
Martin Grey as M.C.
Steve Pierson as Blueshammer Member
Jake La Botz as Blueshammer Member
Johnny Irion as Blueshammer Member
Nate Wood as Blueshammer Member
Charles Schneider as Joey McCobb
Sid Hillman as Zine-O-Phobia Creep
Joshua Wheeler as Zine-O-Phobia Creep
Patrick Fischler as Masterpiece Video Clerk
Daniel Graves as Masterpiece Video Customer
Matt Doherty as Masterpiece Video Employee
Joel Michaely as Porno Cashier
Debi Derryberry as Rude Coffee Customer
Joseph Sikora as Reggae Fan
Brett Gilbert as Alien Autopsy Guy
Alex Solowitz as Cineplex Manager
Tony Ketcham as Alcoholic Customer
Mary Bogue as Popcorn Customer
Brian Jacobs as Soda Customer
Patrick Yonally as Garage Sale Hipster
Lauren Bowles as Angry Garage Sale Woman
Lorna Scott as Phyllis, the Art Show Curator
Jeff Murray as Roberta's Colleague
Jerry Rector as Dana's Co-Worker
John Bunnell as Seymour's Boss
Diane Salinger as Psychiatrist
Anna Berger as Seymour's Mother
Bruce Glover as Feldman (Wheelchair Guy)
Teri Garr as Maxine (uncredited)
Danny Allen as Adult Store Customer (uncredited)
Joan Blair as Lady Slowly Crossing Street (uncredited)
Michelle McGinty as Mom in Convenience Store (uncredited)
Will Forte as (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 111

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 3	0	0
4 to 6	17	0
7 to 9	51	13
10 to 12	19	4
13 to 15	52	3
16 to 18	14	16
19 to 21	35	13
22 to 24	6	0
25 to 27	31	16
28 to 30	28	2
31 to 33	28	3
34 to 36	11	10
37 to 39	37	13
40 to 42	25	28
43 to 45	13	11
46 to 48	42	16
49 to 51	36	3
52 to 54	10	12
55 to 57	19	21
58 to 60	35	8
61 to 63	30	1
64 to 66	39	21
67 to 69	30	6
70 to 72	16	6
73 to 75	17	15
76 to 78	1	0
79 to 81	25	13
82 to 84	15	16
85 to 87	25	4
88 to 90	13	0
91 to 93	32	31
94 to 96	23	7
97 to 99	6	17
100 to 102	25	14
103 to 105	0	5
106 to 108	15	9
109 to 111	0	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.

ENID: God, what a bunch of retards... REBECCA: I thought Chipmunk-face was never going to shut up. ENID: I know, I liked her better when she was an alcoholic crack addict! She gets in one car wreck and all of a sudden she's Little Miss Perfect a… REBECCA: It's totally sickening. Let's see if they gave me the right diploma...

REBECCA: This is so bad, it's almost good. ENID: This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again... ENID: Just think, we'll never have to see any of these creepy faces ever again. REBECCA: Unless they're in your Summer school class!

ENID: Since when is she an "actress"? REBECCA: I know, she needs to die immediately.

ENID: Just because. REBECCA: We have other plans.

REBECCA: Hi. ENID: Look at these people behind you. I'm totally convinced they're Satanists. REBECCA: Why? ENID: Just look at them!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 70 are women's.

821 lines from women, 357 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

19 women and 36 men in the cast. 11 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,236. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 16 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 68% of the words (8,486), men 32% (4,046). Women have 70% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Terry Zwigoff (man)
Written by: Daniel Clowes (man), Terry Zwigoff (man)
Produced by: Lianne Halfon (woman), John Malkovich (man), Russell Smith (man)
Shot by: Affonso Beato (man)
Edited by: Carole Kravetz Aykanian (woman), Michael R. Miller (man)
Music by: David Kitay (man)
Production design by: Edward T. McAvoy (man)
Costumes by: Mary Zophres (woman)
Cast by: Cassandra Kulukundis (woman)