Fails the Bechdel test

King Kong

Name: King Kong
Released: 2005

2005. Directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 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

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

The film

Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This 'soon-to-be-unfortunate' soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann is its grasps. Carl and Ann's new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts. But Carl has another plan in mind.

Released: 14 Dec 2005
Genres: Action, Adventure, Romance
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: Won 3 Oscars. 47 wins & 104 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Denham 170 lines, man
Ann 87 lines, woman
Jack 87 lines, man
Englehorn 57 lines, man
Hayes 55 lines, man
Preston 35 lines, man
Jimmy 28 lines, man
Bruce 22 lines, man
Lumpy 13 lines, man
Manny 8 lines, man

Full cast, 51 people

Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow
Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll
Jack Black as Carl Denham
Andy Serkis as Kong / Lumpy
Colin Hanks as Preston
Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Englehorn
Jamie Bell as Jimmy
Kyle Chandler as Bruce Baxter
Evan Parke as Hayes
Lobo Chan as Choy
John Sumner as Herb
Craig Hall as Mike
Peter McKenzie as Venture Crew
William Johnson as Manny
David Pittu as Weston
Mark Hadlow as Harry
Geraldine Brophy as Maude
David Dennis as Taps
Pip Mushin as Zelman
Jim Knobeloch as Thuggish Executive
Ric Herbert as Sleazy Executive
Lee Donahue as Studio Guy's Assistant
Tom Hobbs as Young Assistant
Tiriel Mora as Fruit Vendor
Jed Brophy as Venture Crew
John Wraight as Venture Crew
Will Wallace as Venture Crew
Frank Edwards as Venture Crew
Crawford Thomson as Venture Crew
Richard Kavanagh as Venture Crew
Stephen Hall as Venture Crew
Joe Folau as Venture Crew
Chic Littlewood as Old Security Guard
Samuel Taylor as Hooverville Child
Lorraine Ashbourne as Theatre Actor
Laura Surrich as New York Theatre Goer
Katie Jackson as NY Child
Michael Lawrence as Venture Crew
Ray Woolf as Venture Crew - Helmsman
Eddie Campbell as Venture Crew - Crewman
Greg Smith as Venture Crew
Phil Grieve as Laughing Man
Matt Wilson as Photographer
Jim McLarty as Photographer
Latham Gaines as Photographer
Camille Keenan as New York Citizen (uncredited)
Peter Jackson as Biplane Gunner
Billy Jackson as NY Child
Jack Machiela as American Soldier (uncredited)
Frank Darabont as Biplane Gunner (uncredited)
Matt Dravitzki as Trampled Theatre-Goer

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 240

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	0	0
6 to 10	18	19
11 to 15	0	36
16 to 20	0	34
21 to 25	18	48
26 to 30	0	29
31 to 35	0	5
36 to 40	2	24
41 to 45	0	17
46 to 50	10	32
51 to 55	9	22
56 to 60	0	24
61 to 65	0	1
66 to 70	5	5
71 to 75	0	12
76 to 80	0	7
81 to 85	0	13
86 to 90	0	5
91 to 95	0	1
96 to 100	0	3
101 to 105	0	2
106 to 110	0	2
111 to 115	0	8
116 to 120	3	14
121 to 125	0	6
126 to 130	0	0
131 to 135	0	2
136 to 140	0	1
141 to 145	0	2
146 to 150	0	3
151 to 155	0	0
156 to 160	0	17
161 to 165	0	11
166 to 170	0	52
171 to 175	2	15
176 to 180	1	1
181 to 185	3	2
186 to 190	2	13
191 to 195	2	1
196 to 200	0	0
201 to 205	12	26
206 to 210	0	6
211 to 215	0	1
216 to 220	1	16
221 to 225	0	9
226 to 230	0	1
231 to 235	2	1
236 to 240	1	6

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, 14 are women's.

91 lines from women, 555 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 41 men in the cast. 3 women and 27 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 735. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 12% of the words (713), men 88% (5,464). Women have 14% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

7 of the 18 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Peter Jackson (man)
Written by: Peter Jackson (man), Fran Walsh (woman), Philippa Boyens (woman)
Produced by: Fran Walsh (woman), Jan Blenkin (gender not listed), Carolynne Cunningham (woman), Peter Jackson (man)
Shot by: Andrew Lesnie (man)
Edited by: Jamie Selkirk (man)
Music by: James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by: Grant Major (man)
Costumes by: Terry Ryan (gender not listed)
Cast by: John Hubbard (man), Dan Hubbard (man), Victoria Burrows (woman), Liz Mullane (woman), Ann Robinson (woman)