Fails the Bechdel test
Men in Black
1997. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Lowell Cunningham and Ed Solomon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 2 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Based off of the comic book. Unbeknownst to other people, there is a private agency code named MiB. This agency is some kind of extra terrestrial surveillance corporation. Then, one of the agency's finest men only going by the name "K" (Tommy Lee Jones) , is recruiting for a new addition to the agency. He has chosen James Edwards (Will Smith) of the N.Y.P.D. Then, one day, a flying saucer crashes into Earth. This was an alien a part of the "Bug" race. He takes the body of a farmer (Vincent D'Onofrio) and heads to New York. He is searching for a super energy source called "The Galaxy". Now, Agents J and K must stop the bug before it can escape with the galaxy.
- Released
- 02 Jul 1997
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 23 wins & 39 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Kay 249 lines, man
- Jay 145 lines, man
- Edwards 75 lines, man
- Laurel 64 lines, woman
- Zed 53 lines, man
- Edgar 40 lines, man
- Agent Janus 12 lines, man
- Jeebs 12 lines, man
- Beatrice 11 lines, woman
- Frank The Pug 10 lines, man
Full cast, 65 people
- Tommy Lee Jones as Kay
- Will Smith as Jay
- Linda Fiorentino as Laurel
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Edgar
- Rip Torn as Zed
- Tony Shalhoub as Jeebs
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Beatrice
- Mike Nussbaum as Gentle Rosenburg
- Jon Gries as Van Driver
- Sergio Calderón as Jose
- Carel Struycken as Arquillian
- Fredric Lehne as INS agent Janus
- Richard Hamilton as Dee
- Kent Faulcon as 1st Lt. Jake Jensen
- John Alexander as Mikey
- Keith Campbell as Perp
- Ken Thorley as Zap-Em Man
- Patrick Breen as Mr. Redgick
- Becky Ann Baker as Mrs. Redgick
- Sean Whalen as Passport Officer
- Harsh Nayyar as News Vendor
- Michael Willis as Cop in Morgue
- Willie C. Carpenter as Police Inspector
- Peter Linari as Tow Truck Driver
- David Cross as Morgue Attendant
- Charles C. Stevenson Jr. as MIB Agent Bee
- Boris Lyoskin as Cook
- Steve Rankin as INS Agent
- Andy Prosky as INS Agent
- Michael Goldfinger as NYPD sergeant
- Alpheus Merchant as Security Guard
- Norma Jean Groh as Mrs. Edelson
- Bernard Gilkey as Baseball Player
- Sean Plummer as First Contact Alien
- Michael Kaliski as First Contact Alien
- Richard Arthur as 2nd First Contact Alien
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Alien Father
- Verne Troyer as Alien Son
- Mykal Wayne Williams as Scared Guy
- Tim Blaney as Frank the Pug (voice)
- Mark Setrakian as Rosenberg Alien (voice)
- Brad Abrell as Worm Guy (voice)
- Thom Fountain as Worm Guy (voice)
- Carl J. Johnson as Worm Guy (voice)
- Drew Massey as Worm Guy (voice)
- Christina Benitan as On-Air Reporter (uncredited)
- Lowell Cunningham as MiB HQ Office Worker (uncredited)
- Danny DeVito as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- John Elsen as NYPD Sergeant (uncredited)
- Karen Lynn Gorney as Announcer (uncredited)
- Adrian Lee as Wall Street Broker (uncredited)
- George Lucas as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Patricia McPherson as Spouse K (uncredited)
- Newt Gingrich as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Isaac Mizrahi as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Fred Newman as Aliens (voice) (uncredited)
- Joe Paparone as Police Inspector (uncredited)
- Tony Robbins as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Al Roker as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Eliot Sash as Police Officer #4 (uncredited)
- Barry Sonnenfeld as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Sylvester Stallone as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Chloe Sonnenfeld as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Steven Spielberg as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
- Dionne Warwick as Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 140
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 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 35 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 28 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 9 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 28 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 49 |
| 19 to 21 | 5 | 19 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 26 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 9 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 35 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 18 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 34 |
| 52 to 54 | 7 | 17 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 15 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 3 |
| 64 to 66 | 29 | 45 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 30 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 14 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 12 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 25 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 8 |
| 88 to 90 | 9 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 4 | 18 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 32 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 8 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 2 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 4 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 14 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 1 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 2 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 6 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 8 |
| 136 to 138 | 2 | 19 |
| 139 to 140 | 0 | 1 |
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, 10 are women's.
76 lines from women, 659 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 46 men in the cast. 2 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 90 of 766.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 167 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 11% of the words (778), men 89% (6,445). Women have 10% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
69
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Barry Sonnenfeld (man)
- Written by
- Ed Solomon (man)
- Produced by
- Walter F. Parkes (man), Laurie MacDonald (woman)
- Shot by
- Donald Peterman (man)
- Edited by
- Jim Miller (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Bo Welch (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary E. Vogt (woman)
- Cast by
- David Rubin (man), Debra Zane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 22 men, 36 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 42 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 12 men, 33 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 22 men, 22 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 12 men, 20 not listed
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 11 men, 14 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 4 men, 16 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Siobhan Fallon Hogan 36, Linda Fiorentino 39
Men
Will Smith 28, Vincent D'Onofrio 38, Jon Gries 40, Tony Shalhoub 43, Tommy Lee Jones 50, Sergio Calderón 51, Rip Torn 66, Mike Nussbaum 73
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $589 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 140 scenes and 766 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
