Passes the Bechdel test
Hustle & Flow
2005. Directed by Craig Brewer, written by Craig Brewer.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 98. -
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
Aspiring emcee DJay works the angles to get his first record made with help from assorted people in his Memphis 'hood. And when he hears that hip-hop superstar Skinny Black is heading to his area, he throws together a supreme hustle to grab Skinny's attention.
- Released
- 22 Jul 2005
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Music
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 47 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- D.Jay 307 lines, man
- Key 115 lines, man
- Shelby 51 lines, man
- Shug 47 lines, woman
- Nola 43 lines, woman
- Skinny Black 40 lines, man
- Arnel 37 lines, man
- Lexus 36 lines, woman
- Yevette 33 lines, woman
- Harold 14 lines
Full cast, 41 people
- Terrence Howard as Djay
- Anthony Anderson as Key
- Taryn Manning as Nola
- Taraji P. Henson as Shug
- DJ Qualls as Shelby
- Ludacris as Skinny Black
- Paula Jai Parker as Lexus
- Elise Neal as Yevette
- Isaac Hayes as Arnel
- Juicy J as Tigga
- William Engram as Slobs
- Bobby Sandimanie as Yellow Jacket
- Haystak as Mickey
- Claude Phillips as Harold
- Josey Scott as Elroy
- John Still as Shop Owner
- Jay Munn as Prison Guard
- Michael Hooks Jr. as Block Manager
- Jerome Toles as Police Officer
- DJ Paul as R.L.
- Al Kapone as Kateezy
- Jennifer Bynum Green as Choir Lead Singer
- Kelvin Birrus as Choir Singer #1
- Tiran D. Boyland as Choir Singer #2
- H. Renee Cogar as Choir Singer #3
- Brandon Seiferth as Choir Singer #4
- Deborah Manning Thomas as Choir Singer #5
- Terrence Brown as Piano Player
- T.C. Sharpe as Arnel's Drunk
- Lindsey Roberts as Harper
- Free Sol as Bathroom Kid
- Clarence Mabon as Police Officer #2
- Mark Goodfellow as Pawn Shop Owner
- Latasha Texas as Stripper #1
- Tracy Davis as Stripper #2
- Erica Miller as God Bless America Girl
- Helen Bowman as Defendant
- Josh Driver as Bar Tender (uncredited)
- Dennis Phillippi as Self (voice) (uncredited)
- Jeff Pope as Trick (uncredited)
- Kenon Walker as Crystal Palace Party Attendant (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 98
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 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 26 |
| 7 to 9 | 4 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 14 | 22 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 7 |
| 16 to 18 | 8 | 33 |
| 19 to 21 | 6 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 30 | 30 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 5 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 7 |
| 40 to 42 | 9 | 26 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 60 |
| 46 to 48 | 6 | 20 |
| 49 to 51 | 15 | 4 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 49 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 9 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 18 |
| 61 to 63 | 12 | 27 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 9 |
| 67 to 69 | 4 | 27 |
| 70 to 72 | 6 | 16 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 31 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 75 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 22 |
| 82 to 84 | 3 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 9 | 27 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 98 | 0 | 5 |
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.
LEXUS: I ain't at nothin'. Done three dances all day. D.JAY LEXUS: Don't tell me that. They some You think I can come in here, homely, ugly-assed, toothless snap my fingers, make these hos in here pullin' in…
SHUG: So what do you wanna do, D? LEXUS: Huh!
YEVETTE: Would you all ... like to sit down. Can I ... get you all anything? NOLA: No, ma'am.
NOLA: It's nice havin' company. SHUG: Mn-hm.
NOLA D.JAY: I ain't some fuckin' cash machine, where you can get Now I was gonna pay you what shit for freel I gotta have a you make ... weren't in ther… NOLA: Here! Take it! You fuckin' earned it.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.
166 lines from women, 591 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
4 women and 10 men in the cast. 8 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 789.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 141 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (2,473), men 79% (9,582). Women have 22% 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
12
Two men
30
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Craig Brewer (man)
- Written by
- Craig Brewer (man)
- Produced by
- John Singleton (man), Stephanie Allain (woman)
- Shot by
- Amy Vincent (woman)
- Edited by
- Billy Fox (man)
- Music by
- Scott Bomar (man)
- Production design by
- Keith Brian Burns (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Paul A. Simmons Jr. (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Kimberly Hardin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 11 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Taryn Manning 26, Taraji P. Henson 34, Paula Jai Parker 35, Elise Neal 39
Men
DJ Qualls 27, Ludacris 27, Juicy J 30, Anthony Anderson 34, Terrence Howard 36, Isaac Hayes 62
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $8 million
- Box office
- $23.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 98 scenes and 789 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
