Passes the Bechdel test
Human Nature
2001. Directed by Michel Gondry, written by Charlie Kaufman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 154. -
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
A philosophical burlesque, Human Nature follows the ups and downs of an obsessive scientist, a female naturalist, and the man they discover, born and raised in the wild. As scientist Nathan trains the wild man, Puff, in the ways of the world - starting with table manners - Nathan's lover Lila fights to preserve the man's simian past, which represents a freedom enviable to most. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges exposing the perversities of the human heart and the idiosyncrasies of the civilized mind. Human Nature is a comical examination of the trappings of desire in a world where both nature and culture are idealized.
- Released
- 12 Sep 2001
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Nathan 259 lines, man
- Lila 222 lines, woman
- Gabrielle 86 lines, woman
- Puff 79 lines, man
- Rose 39 lines, woman
- Mother 16 lines, woman
- Father 9 lines, man
- Midget 8 lines
- Female Roommate 7 lines
- Older Woman 5 lines, woman
Full cast, 27 people
- Tim Robbins as Nathan Bronfman
- Patricia Arquette as Lila Jute
- Rhys Ifans as Puff
- Miranda Otto as Gabrielle
- Mary Kay Place as Nathan's Mother
- Robert Forster as Nathan's Father
- Peter Dinklage as Frank
- Rosie Perez as Louise
- Hilary Duff as Young Lila Jute
- Miguel Sandoval as Wendall the Therapist
- Toby Huss as Puff's Father
- Ken Magee as Police Detective
- Sy Richardson as Police Detective
- David Warshofsky as Police Detective
- Stanley DeSantis as Doctor
- Bobby Harwell as Congressman
- Daryl Anderson as Congressman
- Bobby Pyle as Young Puff
- Chase MacKenzie Bebak as Young Nathan
- Anthony Winsick as Wayne Bronfman
- Mary Portser as Bistro Waitress
- Laura Grady as Aversion Therapy Model
- Angela Little as Chester's Waitress
- Deborah Ferrari as Stripper
- Jeremy Kramer as Lecture Host
- Nancy Lenehan as Puff's Mother
- Juan Canopii as Reporter (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 154
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 | 5 | 2 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 5 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 8 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 10 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 5 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 26 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 24 | 23 |
| 45 to 48 | 30 | 14 |
| 49 to 52 | 22 | 22 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 7 |
| 57 to 60 | 14 | 14 |
| 61 to 64 | 12 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 17 | 15 |
| 69 to 72 | 21 | 19 |
| 73 to 76 | 6 | 10 |
| 77 to 80 | 9 | 17 |
| 81 to 84 | 7 | 12 |
| 85 to 88 | 12 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 7 | 11 |
| 93 to 96 | 9 | 24 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 11 |
| 101 to 104 | 7 | 7 |
| 105 to 108 | 14 | 12 |
| 109 to 112 | 25 | 9 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 7 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 2 |
| 121 to 124 | 8 | 14 |
| 125 to 128 | 12 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 11 | 5 |
| 133 to 136 | 5 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 7 | 10 |
| 141 to 144 | 6 | 17 |
| 145 to 148 | 6 | 11 |
| 149 to 152 | 5 | 5 |
| 153 to 154 | 7 | 9 |
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.
ROSE: Done! LILA: Ready!
LILA: Uh, tie them up, Rosie. If you will. ROSE: With pleasure.
ROSE: I'm going to miss you. LILA: Oh, Rosie. ROSE: And I'm going to miss the lifestyle having you as a client has afforded me. LILA: Shut up, you.
ROSE: Souls have nothing to do with it, babe. LILA: I'll be in touch. ROSE: No you won't. But it's okay. You have stuff you gotta do. LILA: Gotta go.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 51 are women's.
378 lines from women, 360 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 761.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 47% of the words (4,289), men 53% (4,838). Women have 51% 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
11
Two men
14
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Michel Gondry (man)
- Written by
- Charlie Kaufman (man)
- Produced by
- Charlie Kaufman (man), Spike Jonze (man), Anthony Bregman (man), Ted Hope (man)
- Shot by
- Tim Maurice-Jones (man)
- Edited by
- Russell Icke (man)
- Music by
- Graeme Revell (man)
- Production design by
- K.K. Barrett (man)
- Costumes by
- Nancy Steiner (woman)
- Cast by
- Jeanne McCarthy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 4 men
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hilary Duff 13, Patricia Arquette 33, Miranda Otto 33, Rosie Perez 37, Mary Kay Place 53
Men
Peter Dinklage 32, Rhys Ifans 34, Tim Robbins 42, Miguel Sandoval 49, Robert Forster 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 27% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $1.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 154 scenes and 761 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
