Fails the Bechdel test

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Name: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Released: 2001

2001. Directed by Chris Columbus, written by J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
20 women characters. 10 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The film

Harry Potter learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned first son of two powerful wizards and possesses magical powers of his own. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. He learns the high-flying sport Quidditch and plays a thrilling game with living chess pieces on his way to face a Dark Wizard bent on destroying him. For the most extraordinary adventure, see you on platform nine and three-quarters.

Released: 16 Nov 2001
Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Rated: PG
IMDb: 7.7 / 10
Metascore: 65 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 20 wins & 75 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Harry 72 lines, man
Ron 63 lines, man
Hermione 41 lines, woman
Hagrid 24 lines, man
Professor Mcgonagall 17 lines, woman
Dumbledore 16 lines, man
Snape 10 lines, man
Madame Hooch 7 lines, woman
Uncle Vernon 7 lines, man
Dudley 5 lines, man

Full cast, 64 people

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape
Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid
Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall
Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon Dursley
Ian Hart as Professor Quirrell / Voldemort (voice)
Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia Dursley
John Hurt as Mr Ollivander
David Bradley as Mr Filch
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
Warwick Davis as Goblin Bank Teller / Professor Flitwick / Griphook (voice)
Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
James Phelps as Fred Weasley
Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick
Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
Devon Murray as Seamus Finnegan
Jamie Waylett as Crabbe
Josh Herdman as Goyle
Zoë Wanamaker as Madam Hooch
Julie Walters as Mrs Weasley
Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan
Verne Troyer as Griphook
Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
Elizabeth Spriggs as The Fat Lady
Richard Bremmer as 'He Who Must Not Be Named'
Nina Young as The Grey Lady
Terence Bayler as The Bloody Barron
Harry Taylor as Station Guard
Leslie Phillips as The Sorting Hat (voice)
Simon Fisher-Becker as Fat Friar
Derek Deadman as Bartender in Leaky Cauldron
Ray Fearon as Firenze (voice)
Eleanor Columbus as Susan Bones
Ben Borowiecki as Diagon Alley Boy
Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
Leilah Sutherland as Alicia Spinnet
Emily Dale as Katie Bell
Will Theakston as Marcus Flint
Jamie Yeates as Marcus Flint (uncredited)
David Holmes as Adrian Pucey
Scot Fearn as Terrence Higgs
Jean Southern as Trolley Witch (uncredited)
Kieri Kennedy as Child at Zoo (uncredited)
Leila Hoffman as Augusta Longbottom (uncredited)
Zoë Sugg as Girl in Potion Class (uncredited)
Jimmy Vee as Goblin (uncredited)
Paul Marc Davis as Lord Draben (uncredited)
Violet Columbus as Girl with Flowers (uncredited)
Paul Grant as Goblin (uncredited)
Nicholas Read as Goblin (uncredited)
Dani Harmer as Student (uncredited)
Mark Ballas as Hogwarts Schoolboy (uncredited)
Derek Hough as Ravenclaw Student (uncredited)
Julianne Hough as Hogwarts Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Kiran Shah as Goblin (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 40

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 1	0	0
2 to 2	3	6
3 to 3	1	4
4 to 4	1	2
5 to 5	3	16
6 to 6	0	0
7 to 7	0	1
8 to 8	0	6
9 to 9	0	1
10 to 10	0	10
11 to 11	0	3
12 to 12	3	7
13 to 13	3	4
14 to 14	0	0
15 to 15	2	13
16 to 16	9	12
17 to 17	0	4
18 to 18	1	4
19 to 19	0	16
20 to 20	6	4
21 to 21	2	0
22 to 22	1	4
23 to 23	0	1
24 to 24	4	3
25 to 25	3	11
26 to 26	0	1
27 to 27	14	40
28 to 28	9	20
29 to 29	1	0
30 to 30	2	0
31 to 31	2	16
32 to 32	0	4
33 to 33	2	4
34 to 34	0	2
35 to 35	3	9
36 to 36	0	3
37 to 37	6	10
38 to 38	2	22
39 to 39	0	4
40 to 40	0	0

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, 24 are women's.

83 lines from women, 267 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

20 women and 43 men in the cast. 10 women and 38 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,506), men 77% (5,072). Women have 24% 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

6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Chris Columbus (man)
Written by: Steve Kloves (man)
From the novel by: J.K. Rowling (woman)
Produced by: David Heyman (man)
Shot by: John Seale (man)
Edited by: Richard Francis-Bruce (man)
Music by: John Williams (man)
Production design by: Stuart Craig (man)
Costumes by: Judianna Makovsky (woman)
Cast by: Karen Lindsay-Stewart (woman), Susie Figgis (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman), Janet Hirshenson (woman)