Fails the Bechdel test
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling
1986. Directed by Richard Pryor, written by Rocco Urbisci and Paul Mooney and Richard Pryor.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
19 women characters. 9 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In this film that closely parallels his own life story, Richard Pryor plays Jo Jo Dancer, a popular stand-up comedian who has severely burned himself in a drug incident. As he lies unconscious in a hospital, his spiritual alter ego gets up and begins a journey of his own. He revisits his life, from growing up in a brothel as a child and struggling to beat the long odds to become a top rated comedian. However, his success brings new problems as he develops a tragic pattern of substance abuse that begins to screw up his life. All the while, Jo Jo's spirit watches these events and attempts to convince his past self to turn off from his path of self destruction.
- Released
- 02 May 1986
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jojo 162 lines, man
- Alter Ego 41 lines, man
- Little Jojo 36 lines, man
- Michelle 36 lines, woman
- Father 29 lines, man
- Satin Doll 25 lines, woman
- Grandmother 21 lines, woman
- Arturo 17 lines, man
- Gino 15 lines, man
- Mother 13 lines, woman
Full cast, 56 people
- Richard Pryor as Jo Jo Dancer / Alter Ego
- Debbie Allen as Michelle
- Art Evans as Arturo
- Fay Hauser as Grace
- Barbara Williams as Dawn
- Carmen McRae as Grandmother
- Paula Kelly as Satin Doll
- Diahnne Abbott as Mother
- Scoey Mitchell as Father
- Billy Eckstine as Johnny Barnett
- Tanya Boyd as Alicia
- Wings Hauser as Cliff
- E'Lon Cox as Little Jo Jo
- Michael Ironside as Detective Lawrence
- J.J. Barry as Sal
- Mike Genovese as Gino
- Marlene Warfield as Sonja
- Virginia Capers as Emma Ray
- Dennis Farina as Freddy
- Frederick Coffin as Dr. Weissman
- Richard Grossman as Dr. Carlyle
- Ken Foree as Big Jake
- Gloria Charles as Lady at Grandmother's House
- Mary Bond Davis as Lady at Grandmother's House
- Cheri Wells as Lady at Grandmother's House
- Valerie McIntosh as Lady at Grandmother's House
- Bebe Drake as Angry Prostitute (as Bebe Drake-Massey)
- Charlie Dell as John #1
- Edy Roberts as Madelyn
- Michael Prince as Screening Room Producer
- Rocco Urbisci as Screening Room Director
- Rod Gist as Manager
- Elizabeth Robinson as Secretary
- Beau Starr as Vito
- Ludie C. Washington as Backstage Manager
- Kiblena Peace as Joy
- Larry Murphy as Male Attendant
- Dennis Hayden as Policeman #1
- Sam Hennings as Policeman #2
- Rashon Khan as Bodyguard
- Charles Knapp as Fat Man
- Tracy Morgan as Female Heckler
- Gary Allen as Male Heckler
- Jack Andreozzi as Gangster #1
- Martin Azarow as Gangster #2
- Dean Wein as Stage Hand
- Sig Frohlich as Ziggy
- Joanna Lipari as Nightclub Patron
- Robin Torell as Michelle's Dance Partner
- Erika Marr as Showgirl
- Laura Sorrenson as Showgirl
- Geraldine Mason as Showgirl
- Michael Anthony Williams as Raymond
- Tom Lawrence as Emergency Room Doctor (uncredited)
- Suzanne Niles as Dressing Room Fan (uncredited)
- Nico Stevens as Bartender (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 69
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 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 14 | 3 | 5 |
| 15 to 16 | 8 | 18 |
| 17 to 18 | 4 | 27 |
| 19 to 20 | 2 | 14 |
| 21 to 22 | 10 | 10 |
| 23 to 24 | 27 | 42 |
| 25 to 26 | 2 | 2 |
| 27 to 28 | 8 | 23 |
| 29 to 30 | 10 | 10 |
| 31 to 32 | 3 | 11 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 11 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 8 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 6 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 13 |
| 43 to 44 | 18 | 29 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 to 58 | 5 | 1 |
| 59 to 60 | 1 | 4 |
| 61 to 62 | 6 | 14 |
| 63 to 64 | 7 | 39 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 21 |
| 67 to 68 | 5 | 10 |
| 69 to 69 | 9 | 34 |
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, 26 are women's.
128 lines from women, 370 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
19 women and 26 men in the cast. 9 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 29 of 553.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 57 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (1,796), men 76% (5,652). Women have 26% 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
3
Two men
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 8% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Richard Pryor (man)
- Written by
- Rocco Urbisci (man), Paul Mooney (man), Richard Pryor (man)
- Produced by
- Richard Pryor (man)
- Shot by
- John A. Alonzo (man)
- Music by
- Herbie Hancock (man)
- Production design by
- John DeCuir Jr. (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Vance (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 54 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Barbara Williams 33, Debbie Allen 36, Fay Hauser 37, Diahnne Abbott 41, Paula Kelly 42, Carmen McRae 64
Men
Art Evans 44, Richard Pryor 45, Scoey Mitchell 56, Billy Eckstine 71
Exhibit G: the money
It made 90% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $18 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 69 scenes and 553 lines of dialogue. How the test works
