Passes the Bechdel test

I, Tonya

Name: I, Tonya
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Craig Gillespie, written by Steven Rogers.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 231.
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

From the proverbial wrong side of the tracks in Portland, Oregon, former competitive figure skater Tonya Harding was never fully accepted in the figure-skating community for not inherently being the image of grace, breeding, and privilege that the community wanted to portray, despite being naturally gifted in the sport athletically. Despite ultimately garnering some success in figure-skating, being national champion, a world championship medalist, an Olympian, and the first American woman to complete a Triple Axel in competition, she is arguably best known for her association to "the incident": the January 6, 1994 leg-bashing attack on her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan--who, unlike Tonya, was everything that the figure-skating community wanted in their representatives. Her association to that incident led to Tonya being banned from competitive figure skating for life. Tonya's story from the beginning of her figure-skating life at age 4 to the aftermath of the incident is presented. Besides Tonya herself, key people in her life give their perspective of their role in her life. Although they may agree on the broad issues at hand, such as that the incident did occur, they may vary widely in their recollection of the details. These people are: her waitress mother Lavona Golden, who despite having paid for her expensive figure-skating lessons, was abusive toward her physically and emotionally, never believing she was good enough in any aspect of the word, and who pulled her from school to focus solely on the figure skating; Diane Rawlinson, her first and longest-serving coach, who, for good or bad, largely let Tonya be Tonya in the way she presented herself to the figure skating world; Jeff Gillooly, her first husband, and partner in a turbulent relationship on a need to be loved, perhaps without truly loving each other; Jeff's friend and Tonya's bodyguard Shawn Eckardt, a dim bulb who believed himself to be a bigger player in the big scheme of life than he actually was; and sports journalist Martin Maddox, a fictional character who provides general commentary of what the sports media as a collective wanted out of Tonya and the incident.

Released: 19 Jan 2018
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 77 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 46 wins & 126 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Tonya 219 lines, woman
Jeff 148 lines, man
Lavona 89 lines, woman
Shawn 71 lines, man
Diane 36 lines, woman
Martin Maddox 14 lines, man
Al 12 lines, man
Fbi Agent #1 7 lines, man
Sheriff 6 lines, man
Tv Commentator 1 6 lines

Full cast, 41 people

Margot Robbie as Tonya
Sebastian Stan as Jeff
Allison Janney as LaVona
Julianne Nicholson as Diane Rawlinson
Paul Walter Hauser as Shawn
Bobby Cannavale as Martin Maddox
Bojana Novaković as Dody Teachman
Caitlin Carver as Nancy Kerrigan
Maizie Smith as Tonya (3 ½ Yrs)
Mckenna Grace as Tonya (8-12 Yrs)
Suehyla El-Attar Young as Skater Mom
Jason Davis as Al
Mea Allen as Snooty Girl
Cory Chapman as Chris
Amy Fox as Skating Judge
Cara Mantella as Choreographer
Joshua Mikel as Heckling Spectator
Lynne Ashe as Shawn's Mother
Steve Wedan as Shawn's Father
Brandon O'Dell as Policeman #1
Davin Allen Grindstaff as USFS Judge
Daniel Thomas May as Sheriff
Anthony Reynolds as Derrick Smith
Ricky Russert as Shane Stant
Al Bianchi as Sports Bar Manager
Miles Mussenden as Policeman #2
Annie Livingston as 6 Year Old Girl
Jan Harrelson as FBI Agent #1
Luray Cooper as FBI Agent #2
Dan Triandiflou as Bob Rawlinson
Kelly O'Neal as Interviewer
Lisa Kaye Kinsler as Lillehammer Skating Judge
Cecil Love as Bailiff
Alphie Hyorth as Judge Londer
Sean Goulding as Restaurant Employee
Bobby Browning as Joe
Little Man as LaVona's Sixth Husband
Heather Jocelyn Blair as Bathroom Witness (uncredited)
Raven Wynn as Chinese Waitress (uncredited)
Evan George Vourazeris as Diner Patron (uncredited)
Joe Heath as Spectator (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 231

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 5	5	1
6 to 10	14	3
11 to 15	15	0
16 to 20	8	4
21 to 25	21	3
26 to 30	10	9
31 to 35	22	8
36 to 40	6	1
41 to 45	15	3
46 to 50	23	0
51 to 55	5	10
56 to 60	12	1
61 to 65	7	1
66 to 70	7	4
71 to 75	7	2
76 to 80	2	3
81 to 85	5	7
86 to 90	3	9
91 to 95	0	12
96 to 100	6	0
101 to 105	4	0
106 to 110	1	1
111 to 115	4	10
116 to 120	12	0
121 to 125	3	0
126 to 130	1	0
131 to 135	21	2
136 to 140	4	1
141 to 145	5	14
146 to 150	6	19
151 to 155	5	15
156 to 160	0	3
161 to 165	5	25
166 to 170	2	9
171 to 175	15	36
176 to 180	2	24
181 to 185	8	23
186 to 190	5	10
191 to 195	1	3
196 to 200	28	4
201 to 205	4	1
206 to 210	6	0
211 to 215	4	0
216 to 220	5	8
221 to 225	6	1
226 to 230	1	0
231 to 231	2	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.

LAVONA: Wrooooong!.. Ordinary. Nothing special there. LAVONA: Are you even trying. Cause there’s other places I’d fucking rather be... Concentrate. Is that what you call a clean skate, for Christ sake? SKATER MOM: Could you not swear in front of the kids please, Lavona? LAVONA: I didn’t swear, you cunt. Stop talking to her! That girl is your enemy. You’re not here to make friends.

LAVONA: Go on! Get out! I thought you’d never leave! TONYA: I’m sorry.

LAVONA: In a relationship there’s a flower and there’s a gardener. TONYA: Mom-

LAVONA: I’m a gardener who wants to be a flower. How fucked am I? LAVONA: Tonya won’t garden to save her life. You’re gonna have to do all the gardening there fella. TONYA: Mom! LAVONA: What??

TONYA: This is fucking wrong, Diane. DIANE: Tonya!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.

353 lines from women, 290 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 22 men in the cast. 6 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 694. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 31 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 57% of the words (4,341), men 43% (3,223). Women have 55% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

7 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 50% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Craig Gillespie (man)
Written by: Steven Rogers (man)
Produced by: Margot Robbie (woman), Steven Rogers (man), Tom Ackerley (man), Bryan Unkeless (man)
Shot by: Nicolas Karakatsanis (man)
Edited by: Tatiana S. Riegel (woman)
Music by: Peter Nashel (man)
Production design by: Jade Healy (woman)
Costumes by: Jennifer Johnson (woman)
Cast by: Chase Paris (man), Lindsay Graham Ahanonu (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman), Tara Feldstein Bennett (woman)