Passes the Bechdel test
Kids
1995. Directed by Larry Clark, written by Harmony Korine and Larry Clark.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 71. -
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
Summer, New York City, 1995. With his entire existence pivoting around drugs, skateboarding, and his repugnant theory about sex, swaggering 17-year-old layabout Telly lives like there's no tomorrow. Now, a wide-eyed 12-year-old virgin has agreed to have sex with him. But the smooth-talking Casanova is unaware that, in the hunt for the next victim, sex is a weapon. And then, an unsuspecting former lover accidentally discovers she is HIV positive. As the hapless teenager embarks on a pointless, 24-hour mission to track down the pubescent hedonist before another naïve pre-teen virgin falls prey to his unsettling sexual appetite, questions arise. What do girls see in Telly? Is this desperate quest to stop the shameless liar a case of too little, too late?
- Released
- 01 Sep 1995
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- NC-17
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Telly 185 lines, man
- Casper 159 lines, man
- Jennie 78 lines, woman
- Ruby 65 lines, woman
- Taxi Driver 28 lines
- Darcy 26 lines, woman
- Linda 23 lines
- Harold 22 lines, man
- Susan 22 lines
- Paul 15 lines, man
Full cast, 81 people
- Leo Fitzpatrick as Telly
- Justin Pierce as Casper
- Chloë Sevigny as Jennie
- Rosario Dawson as Ruby
- Yakira Peguero as Darcy
- Atabey Rodriguez as Misha
- Harold Hunter as Harold
- Jon Abrahams as Steven
- Sajan Bhagat as Paul
- Sarah Henderson as Girl #1
- Joseph Chan as Deli Owner
- Johnathan Staci Kim as Korean Guy
- Adriane Brown as Little Girl
- Billy Valdes as Stanly
- Billy Waldeman as Zack
- Javier Nunez as Javier
- Luis Nunez as Luis
- Christian Bruna as Christian
- Alex Glen as Alex
- Julia Mendoza as Susan
- Gillian Goldstein as Linda
- Priscilla Forsyth as Diane
- Carisa Glucksman as Joy
- Francine Fuertes as Jennie's Nurse
- Deborah Draper as Ruby's Nurse
- Billy Solomon as Dancing Boy
- Johanna Ignatov as Singing Woman
- Raymond Batista as Legless Man
- Julie Stebe-Glorius as Telly's Mother
- Christiana Stebe-Glorius as Telly's Little Brother
- Dr. Henry as Rasta Drug Dealer
- Hamilton Harris as Hamilton
- Jeff Pang as Jeff
- Giovanni Estevez as Kid in Park
- Karyn Grupski as Kid in Park
- Mike Hernandez as Kid in Park
- Peter Bici as Kid in Park
- Ryan Sikorski as Kid in Park
- Jim Gordy as Kid in Park
- Louie Louie as Kid in Park
- John Perez as Kid in Park
- Rich Arbitelle as Kid in Park
- Nuri Bell as Kid in Park
- Medwin Pang as Kid in Park
- Jamie Story as Kid in Park
- Jeff Simmons as Kid in Park
- Jam as Kid in Park
- Daniel Phillips as Kid in Park
- Jamal Simmons as Kid in Park
- Thierry Oddo as Kid in Park
- Ronald Hunter as Kid in Park
- Frank Natiello as Kid in Park
- John Carter as Kid in Park
- John Dean as Kid in Park
- Jimmy Lalputan as Kid in Park
- Tony Morales as Jungle Fever Couple #1
- Walter Youngblood as Jungle Fever Couple #2
- Ellsworth Davis as Hoodlum
- Joseph Knopfelmacher as Taxi Driver
- Michele Lockwood as Kim
- Yancy Scot Schwartz as Bennie
- Sydney Prawatyotin as Sid
- Carl Ly-Min as Security Guard
- Harmony Korine as Fidget (as Avi Korine)
- Darice Liguidi as Kid from Jersey
- Beth Weinstein as Kid from Jersey
- Jason Inconstanti as Kid from Jersey
- Alexandra Karabell as Kid from Jersey
- Zulaika Velazquez as Gertie
- Nick Lockman as Nick
- Joey Alvarez as Joey
- Gerry Smith as Gerry
- Lavar McBride as Lavar
- Julie Ho as Tamara
- Lila Lee as Girl at Party
- Regina Mei as Girl at Party
- Amy Moy as Girl at Party
- Lisa Acevedo as Girl at Party
- Corinne Deleon as Girl at Party
- Susan Wood as Girl at Party
- Alan Wise as Accordian Player
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 71
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 | 10 | 11 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 83 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 to 10 | 34 | 5 |
| 11 to 12 | 18 | 7 |
| 13 to 14 | 12 | 1 |
| 15 to 16 | 2 | 3 |
| 17 to 18 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 to 22 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 to 28 | 3 | 3 |
| 29 to 30 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 to 32 | 4 | 47 |
| 33 to 34 | 21 | 12 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 20 |
| 37 to 38 | 10 | 11 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 48 |
| 41 to 42 | 6 | 12 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 14 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 8 |
| 47 to 48 | 26 | 28 |
| 49 to 50 | 26 | 30 |
| 51 to 52 | 9 | 17 |
| 53 to 54 | 12 | 5 |
| 55 to 56 | 1 | 7 |
| 57 to 58 | 1 | 1 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 62 | 1 | 1 |
| 63 to 64 | 8 | 11 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 2 |
| 69 to 70 | 1 | 5 |
| 71 to 71 | 0 | 2 |
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.
RUBY: The pain. The fucking pain! JENNIE: And you feel like you're being ripped open inside. RUBY: You are being ripped open. JENNIE: I know.
RUBY: Hell yeah. I love. I love sex. JENNIE: Foreplay. Foreplay.
RUBY: Right. You're like it's just this instinct. It's like this animal instinct is taking over you. It's like... JENNIE: Passion... RUBY: Boom!!! Boom!!!
JENNIE: I hate sucking dick! RUBY: Yeah. 'Cause they fucking shoot you in the eye, the face, the ear. JENNIE: And sometimes it takes a long time, and you're fucking gagging. RUBY: Yeah. And then it hits that little thing. That little punch bag. What is it? The tonsils. The esophagus, whatever.
RUBY: Wish me luck. JENNIE: Good luck.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
221 lines from women, 437 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 17 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 130 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 30% of the words (1,651), men 70% (3,847). Women have 34% 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
15
Two men
31
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Larry Clark (man)
- Written by
- Harmony Korine (man)
- Story by
- Larry Clark (man), Jim Lewis (man)
- Produced by
- Cary Woods (man)
- Shot by
- Eric Alan Edwards (man)
- Edited by
- Christopher Tellefsen (man)
- Music by
- Lou Barlow (man), John Davis (man)
- Production design by
- Kevin Thompson (man)
- Costumes by
- Kim Marie Druce (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
6 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 18 on average. Men: 20 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Rosario Dawson 16, Yakira Peguero 19, Chloë Sevigny 20
Men
Leo Fitzpatrick 17, Jon Abrahams 17, Justin Pierce 20, Harold Hunter 21, Sajan Bhagat 23
Exhibit H: the money
It made 13.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.5 million
- Box office
- $20.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 71 scenes and 781 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
