Fails the Bechdel test

Green Lantern

Name: Green Lantern
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Martin Campbell, written by Greg Berlanti and Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 1 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

In a mysterious universe, the Green Lantern Corps, an elite defense force of peace and justice have existed for centuries. Reckless test pilot Hal Jordan acquires superhuman powers when he is chosen by the Ring, the willpower-fed source of power. Reluctantly at first, he takes on the challenge after the death of Abin Sur, the finest Green Lantern. Putting his self-doubts aside, and spurred on by his sense of duty and love for his beautiful, intellectually equal, colleague, Carol Ferris, he is soon called to defend mankind from Parallax, a powerful, evil being who feeds on fear. Hal Jordan is the universe's last chance, as many Green Lanterns have been killed and the Corps is weakened, and he might just be the right Green Lantern for the duty of keeping the world safe from harm.

Released: 17 Jun 2011
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 5.5 / 10
Metascore: 39 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 6 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Hal 195 lines, man
Hector Hammond 96 lines, man
Carol 89 lines, woman
Sinestro 74 lines, man
Tom 52 lines, man
Green Lantern 34 lines, man
Abin Sur 21 lines, man
Senator Hammond 21 lines, man
Martin Jordan 19 lines, man
Carl Ferris 18 lines, man

Full cast, 49 people

Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern
Blake Lively as Carol Ferris
Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond
Mark Strong as Sinestro
Tim Robbins as Senator Hammond
Jay O. Sanders as Carl Ferris
Taika Waititi as Tom Kalmaku
Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Waller
Mike Doyle as Jack Jordan
Nick Jandl as Jim Jordan
Dylan James as Jason Jordan
Gattlin Griffith as Young Hal
Jon Tenney as Martin Jordan
Leanne Cochran as Janice Jordan
Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur
Jeff Wolfe as Bob Banks
Lena Clark as Senator's Assistant
Jenna Craig as Carol Ferris at 11
Deke Anderson as Four Star General Caven
Griff Furst as UCAV Operator #1
Garrett Hines as UCAV Operator #2
Ritchie Montgomery as Bunker Doctor
Marcela Duarte Fonseca as Beautiful Girl
Douglas M. Griffin as DEO Agent #1
Armando Leduc as DEO Agent #2
Kenneth Brown Jr. as Avionic Tech #1
Silas Cooper as Avionics Tech #2
Dane Rhodes as Ferris Security Guard
Melanie Hebert as News Reporter (F-35 Crash)
LaTonya Norton as News Reporter #1
Rick Searfoss as Two Star General
Laura Cayouette as Party Guest #1
Bernard Hocke as Party Guest #2
Michael Jamorski as Football Jock
Geoffrey Rush as Tomar-Re (voice)
Michael Clarke Duncan as Kilowog (voice)
Warren Burton as First Guardian (voice)
Salome Jens as Female Guardian (voice)
Clancy Brown as Parallax (voice)
Warren P. Munster as Bartender
Tony Owens as Singer
Donna Haynes Crehan as Additional Party Guest
Tiffany Morgan as Mom
Sharon Morris as Bus Driver
Lance E. Nichols as Cop
Amy Carlson as Jessica Jordan
Bobby Holland Hanton as Security Guard
Dorian Kingi as Tomar-Re (uncredited)
Ricardo Vargas as Runner (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 168

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	18
5 to 8	2	23
9 to 12	6	8
13 to 16	9	8
17 to 20	6	13
21 to 24	14	20
25 to 28	0	23
29 to 32	0	36
33 to 36	0	4
37 to 40	2	19
41 to 44	2	20
45 to 48	0	8
49 to 52	11	14
53 to 56	1	14
57 to 60	1	8
61 to 64	5	14
65 to 68	0	17
69 to 72	0	21
73 to 76	0	19
77 to 80	1	25
81 to 84	6	14
85 to 88	6	21
89 to 92	3	15
93 to 96	0	13
97 to 100	0	0
101 to 104	0	8
105 to 108	0	1
109 to 112	0	0
113 to 116	7	11
117 to 120	7	40
121 to 124	0	23
125 to 128	0	13
129 to 132	0	18
133 to 136	0	9
137 to 140	2	14
141 to 144	2	7
145 to 148	2	6
149 to 152	0	3
153 to 156	0	10
157 to 160	2	34
161 to 164	0	0
165 to 168	2	17

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, 14 are women's.

99 lines from women, 609 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 31 men in the cast. 1 women and 20 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 29 of 829. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 15% of the words (1,223), men 85% (6,988). Women have 14% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 36% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Martin Campbell (man)
Written by: Marc Guggenheim (man), Michael Green (man), Greg Berlanti (man), Michael Goldenberg (man)
Produced by: Greg Berlanti (man), Geoff Johns (man), Donald De Line (man)
Shot by: Dion Beebe (man)
Edited by: Stuart Baird (man)
Music by: James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by: Grant Major (man)
Costumes by: Ngila Dickson (woman)
Cast by: Pam Dixon (woman)