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Passes the Bechdel test

Legally Blonde

2001. Directed by Robert Luketic, written by Amanda Brown and Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    39 women characters. 24 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 22 scenes out of 129.
  3. 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.

Poster for Legally Blonde

The film

Elle Woods is a fashionable sorority queen of her college -- she has it all, a handsome boyfriend, wealth, and status. Things begin to change for Elle when her boyfriend, Warner dumps her and he starts dating Vivian, a law student. Elle decides to win back her former boyfriend by applying to Harvard Law School, she is able to pass her test and get into Harvard. Being in Harvard may not be easy for Elle, she soon falls in love with Emmett and she befriends Paulette, a manicurist at the nail salon. Along the way, Elle decides to take her studies more seriously and she must take on a court case when her role model Brooke Windham is accused of murdering her husband. Elle is determined to prove Brooke's innocence.

Released
13 Jul 2001
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.5 / 10
Metascore
59 / 100
Awards
6 wins & 14 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Elle 333 lines, woman
  2. Emmett 70 lines, man
  3. Donovan 54 lines
  4. Warner 52 lines, man
  5. Sarah 40 lines, woman
  6. Margot 33 lines, woman
  7. Brooke 30 lines, woman
  8. Serena 29 lines, woman
  9. Professor Stromwell 28 lines, woman
  10. Paulette 27 lines, woman
Full cast, 68 people
  • Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods
  • Luke Wilson as Emmetten Richmond
  • Selma Blair as Vivian Kensington
  • Matthew Davis as Warner Huntington III
  • Victor Garber as Professor Callahan
  • Jennifer Coolidge as Paulette
  • Holland Taylor as Professor Stromwell
  • Ali Larter as Brooke Taylor Windham
  • Jessica Cauffiel as Margot
  • Alanna Ubach as Serena
  • Osgood Perkins as Dorky David
  • Linda Cardellini as Chutney Windham
  • Bruce Thomas as UPS Guy
  • Meredith Scott Lynn as Enid
  • Raquel Welch as Mrs. Windham Vandermark
  • Samantha Lemole as Claire
  • Kelly Nyks as Arrogant Aaron
  • Ted Kairys as Gerard
  • Michael B. Silver as Bobby
  • Kimberly McCullough as Amy
  • Shannon O'Hurley as DA Joyce Rafferty
  • Greg Serano as Enrique
  • Francesca P. Roberts as Marina R. Bickford
  • Lisa Arch as Boutique Saleswoman
  • Natalie Barish as Old Lady at Manicurist
  • Cici Lau as LA Nail Technician
  • Allyce Beasley as CULA Advisor
  • Kevin Cooney as Head of Admissions
  • Ted Rooney as Admissions Guy
  • David Moreland as Admissions Guy
  • Wayne Federman as Admissions Guy
  • James Read as Elle's Father
  • Tane McClure as Elle's Mother
  • Niklaus Lange as Annoyed 2L
  • Doug Spinuzza as Intense Ivan Berliner
  • Lisa K. Wyatt as Jail House Guard
  • Jason Christopher as Chuck
  • Corinne Reilly as Reporter
  • Victoria Mahoney as Reporter
  • Lacey Beeman as Nervous 1L Girl
  • Melissa Anne Young as Blonde Cheerleader
  • Brody Hutzler as Grant
  • Chaney Kley as Brandon
  • John Cantwell as Maurice
  • Ondrea de Vincentis as Callahan's Assistant
  • Terence Michael as Desk Clerk
  • Nectar Rose as Freshman Girl
  • Jodi Harris as Another Sister
  • Patricia Kimes as Blonde Biker
  • Sasha Barrese as Another Girl
  • Kelly Driscoll as Blonde Card Carrier
  • Elizabeth Matthews as Sorority Girl
  • Kennedy Stone as Sorority Girl
  • John Kapelos as Dewey Newcombe (uncredited)
  • Melanie H. Gassaway as Sorority Sister (uncredited)
  • Amber Goetz as Sorority Sister (uncredited)
  • Rachel Ryling as Sorority Sister (uncredited)
  • Gary Ambrosia as Angry Harvard Student (uncredited)
  • Gary Castro Churchwell as Harvard Student (uncredited)
  • Mark Heidelberger as Harvard Student (uncredited)
  • Curt Clendenin as Harvard Classmate (uncredited)
  • Seth Adam Jones as Rowdy Student (uncredited)
  • Carol Hatchett as Bend and Snap Girl (uncredited)
  • Beverly Polcyn as Old Dancer at Beauty Salon (uncredited)
  • Ali Chen as Manicurist (uncredited)
  • John Tartaglia as Italian Singer / Reporter (uncredited)
  • Dylan White as Reporter (uncredited)
  • Joan Blair as Prisoner (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% 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
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 330
4 to 6292
7 to 91415
10 to 12265
13 to 1520
16 to 18240
19 to 21170
22 to 2450
25 to 2740
28 to 3030
31 to 33410
34 to 36114
37 to 39711
40 to 424021
43 to 45182
46 to 4850
49 to 51133
52 to 54250
55 to 5760
58 to 601711
61 to 6300
64 to 6610
67 to 6900
70 to 7250
73 to 75114
76 to 7856
79 to 81173
82 to 8411
85 to 8773
88 to 90384
91 to 93135
94 to 963711
97 to 992823
100 to 102106
103 to 10584
106 to 108395
109 to 1111016
112 to 114140
115 to 117105
118 to 12084
121 to 123134
124 to 126414
127 to 129219

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.
ELLE: Bullshit! MARGOT: Honey, stop! You have to leave this room -- it's been a week. ELLE: So? SERENA: What's the thing that always makes us feel better, no matter what? .
SERENA: It was awful. We all thought she'd be the first to walk down the aisle and now she's totally adrift. ELLE: Oh, my God! . ELLE: Do you know who this is?
ELLE: I ' m able to recall hundreds of important details at the drop of a hat. MARGOT: Elle, do you know what happened on "Days of Our Lives" yesterday? ELLE: Why, yes, Margot, I do. Once again, we joined Hope in the search for her identity. As you know, she's been . brainwashed by the evil Stefano…
AMY: It's here! ELLE: One seventy-five...one seventy- five...
PROFESSOR STROMWELL: And what did the dispute entail? Let's call on someone in the hot zone. Elle Woods? Elle looks up, distressed. ELLE: Uh... I wasn't aware that we had an assignment. PROFESSOR STROMWELL: Sarah Knottingham? PROFESSOR STROMWELL: Do you think it's acceptable that Ms. Woods is unprepared?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 75 are women's.

610 lines from women, 201 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

39 women and 27 men in the cast. 24 women and 19 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 16 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 79% of the words (7,088), men 21% (1,913). Women have 75% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Robert Luketic (man)
Written by
Kirsten Smith (woman), Karen McCullah (woman)
From the novel by
Amanda Brown (woman)
Produced by
Ric Kidney (man), Marc Platt (man)
Shot by
Anthony B. Richmond (man)
Edited by
Garth Craven (man), Anita Brandt-Burgoyne (woman)
Music by
Rolfe Kent (man)
Production design by
Missy Stewart (woman)
Costumes by
Sophie de Rakoff (woman)
Cast by
Joseph Middleton (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    7 women, 8 men, 13 not listed

  • Sound

    2 women, 17 men, 6 not listed

  • Art

    4 women, 4 men, 6 not listed

  • Other crew

    3 women, 4 men, 6 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 1 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed

  • Directing

    2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Editing

    2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 32 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Reese Witherspoon 25, Ali Larter 25, Jessica Cauffiel 25, Alanna Ubach 25, Selma Blair 29, Jennifer Coolidge 39, Holland Taylor 58

Men

Matthew Davis 23, Luke Wilson 29, Victor Garber 52

Exhibit H: the money

It made 7.9 times what it cost.

Budget
$18 million
Box office
$142 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 932 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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