Fails the Bechdel test
Joker
2019. Directed by Todd Phillips, written by Todd Phillips and Scott Silver and Bob Kane.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
A socially inept clown for hire - Arthur Fleck aspires to be a stand up comedian among his small job working dressed as a clown holding a sign for advertising. He takes care of his mother, Penny Fleck, and as he learns more about his mental illness, he learns more about his past. Dealing with all the negativity and bullying from society, he heads downwards on a spiral, in turn showing how his alter ego, "Joker," came to be.
- Released
- 04 Oct 2019
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 120 wins & 247 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Joker 262 lines, man
- Sophie 49 lines, woman
- Mom 46 lines, woman
- Murray Franklin 42 lines, man
- Randall 28 lines, man
- Social Worker 24 lines, woman
- Hoyt 16 lines, man
- Thomas Wayne 16 lines, man
- Det. Garrity 13 lines, man
- Clerk 12 lines, man
Full cast, 80 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck
- Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin
- Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond
- Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck
- Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne
- Shea Whigham as Detective Burke
- Bill Camp as Detective Garrity
- Glenn Fleshler as Randall
- Leigh Gill as Gary
- Josh Pais as Hoyt Vaughn
- Rocco Luna as GiGi Dumond
- Marc Maron as Gene Ufland
- Sondra James as Dr. Sally
- Murphy Guyer as Barry O'Donnell
- Douglas Hodge as Alfred Pennyworth
- Dante Pereira-Olson as Bruce Wayne
- Carrie Louise Putrello as Martha Wayne
- Sharon Washington as Social Worker
- Hannah Gross as Young Penny
- Frank Wood as Dr. Stoner
- Brian Tyree Henry as Carl (Arkham Clerk)
- April Grace as Arkham Psychiatrist
- Mick Szal as Woman on Subway
- Carl Lundstedt as Wall Street Three
- Michael Benz as Wall Street Three
- Ben Warheit as Wall Street Three
- Gary Gulman as Comedian
- Sam Morril as Open Mic Comic
- Chris Redd as Comedy Club Emcee
- Mandela Bellamy as Mother on Bus
- Demetrius Dotson II as Boy on Bus
- Greer Barnes as Haha's Clown
- Ray Iannicelli as Haha's Clown
- Bryan Callen as Haha's Stripper
- Peter Hans Benson as Good Morning Host
- Vito Gerbino as Street Kid
- Adam Quezada as Street Kid
- Xavyer Ureña as Street Kid
- Evan Rosado as Street Kid
- Damian Emmanuel as Street Kid
- Mike Troll as Clown Protestor
- Jane Fergus as IBN Anchorwoman
- David Gibson as WBC News Anchor
- Tony D. Head as WGC Anchorman
- Jeff McCarthy as NCB Anchor
- Kim Brockington as NCB Co-Anchor
- Troy Roberts as NCB News Reporter
- Lou Young as ANC News Reporter
- Michael-Scott Druckenmiller as Paramedic
- Craig Austin as Paramedic
- John Cenatiempo as Aftermath Police Officer
- Danny Schoch as Aftermath Police Officers
- Keith Buterbaugh as Band Leader
- James Ciccone as Murray Franklin Band
- Rich Campbell as Murray Franklin Band
- Roger Squitero as Murray Franklin Band
- Steven Elson as Murray Franklin Band
- Graham Mabry as Murray Franklin Band
- John Alldred as Murray Franklin Band
- Alonzo Wright as Murray Franklin Band
- Jack Wilkins as Murray Franklin Band
- Richard Baratta as Murray Franklin Band
- Mary Kate Malat as Murray Franklin Intern
- Adrienne Acevedo Lovette as Middle Aged Woman (uncredited)
- Justin Theroux as Ethan Chase (uncredited)
- Alissa Bourne as Anna (uncredited)
- Jamaal Burcher as Hospital Visitor / Mfs Audience (uncredited)
- John Cashin as Arkham Patient (uncredited)
- Jason John Cicalese as Protester / Rioter (uncredited)
- Brendan Patrick Connor as Mr. Slotnick (uncredited)
- Blaise Corrigan as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Dennis Jay Funny as Gotham Citizen (uncredited)
- James P. Harkins as Thomas Wayne's Body Guard (uncredited)
- Joseph Hernandez as Protester / Rioter (uncredited)
- Ben Heyman as Protestor (uncredited)
- Graham Maby as Murray Franklin Band (uncredited)
- Jesse Schratz as Gotham City Sick Kid (uncredited)
- Isabella Ferreira as Flirting Woman on the Bus (uncredited)
- Shade Rupe as Bartender (uncredited)
- Michael Lepre as Arkham Insane Patient (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 129
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 | 17 | 17 |
| 4 to 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 13 | 11 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 23 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 13 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 10 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 5 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 7 | 11 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 35 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 15 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 10 | 16 |
| 49 to 51 | 27 | 24 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 27 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 14 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 35 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 11 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 19 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 20 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 5 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 12 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 18 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 18 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 27 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 5 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 22 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 17 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 4 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 0 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 16 |
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, 21 are women's.
125 lines from women, 476 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 63 men in the cast. 3 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 638.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 133 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 19% of the words (1,374), men 81% (5,811). Women have 21% 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
0
Two men
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Todd Phillips (man)
- Written by
- Scott Silver (man), Todd Phillips (man)
- Produced by
- Emma Tillinger Koskoff (woman), Todd Phillips (man), Bradley Cooper (man)
- Shot by
- Lawrence Sher (man)
- Edited by
- Jeff Groth (man)
- Music by
- Hildur Guðnadóttir (woman)
- Production design by
- Mark Friedberg (man)
- Costumes by
- Mark Bridges (man)
- Cast by
- Shayna Markowitz (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
17 women, 16 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
9 women, 9 men, 21 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 22 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 24 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 6 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 10 men, 8 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 47 on average. Men: 54 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Zazie Beetz 28, Frances Conroy 66
Men
Leigh Gill 39, Joaquin Phoenix 44, Shea Whigham 50, Glenn Fleshler 51, Bill Camp 54, Josh Pais 55, Brett Cullen 63, Robert De Niro 76
Exhibit G: the money
It made 19.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $55 million
- Box office
- $1.1 billion
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 638 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
