Fails the Bechdel test
Men in Black 3
2012. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Etan Cohen and Lowell Cunningham.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
After breaking out of LunarMax, a moon-based maximum security prison, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) decides to go back in time and eliminate the person who arrested him - Agent K (Josh Brolin). When he does so, Agent J (Will Smith) realizes that the timeline has been changed and he too travels back to July 15, 1969, the day before Agent K is killed. After overcoming some disbelief, J manages to convince young K and others of just who he is and why he's there. With the help of Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), a being who can see all timelines, they track Boris down. J also learns a secret, something old Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) had never told him.
- Released
- 25 May 2012
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jay 292 lines, man
- Kay 177 lines, man
- Yaz 22 lines, man
- Lama 17 lines
- Colonel 14 lines, man
- Trevor 14 lines
- Guard 13 lines, man
- Warhol 13 lines, man
- Ex 12 lines
- Obadiah 12 lines, man
Full cast, 79 people
- Will Smith as Agent J
- Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K
- Josh Brolin as Young Agent K
- Jemaine Clement as Boris The Animal
- Emma Thompson as Agent O
- Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin
- Mike Colter as Colonel
- Nicole Scherzinger as Boris's Girlfriend
- Michael Chernus as Jeffrey Price
- Alice Eve as Young Agent O
- David Rasche as Agent X
- Keone Young as Mr. Wu
- Bill Hader as Andy Warhol
- Cayen Martin as Colonel's Son
- Clarke Thorell as Prison Guard #1
- Adam Mucci as Prison Guard #2
- Tom McComas as Prison Guard #3
- Douglas Crosby as Prison Guard #4
- Woodie King Jr. as 2012 MIB HQ Guard
- Jack A. O'Connell as 1969 MIB HQ Guard
- Tobias Segal as 1969 MIB Agent #1
- Jon Shaver as 1969 MIB Agent #2
- Gerritt Vandermeer as 1969 MIB Agent #3
- Alexandra O'Hara as Mom
- Violet O'Hara as Little Chocolate Milk Girl
- Valence Thomas as Coney Island Hippie
- Chloe Sonnenfeld as Coney Island Flower Child
- Lanny Flaherty as Obadiah Price
- Jonathan O'Hara as MIB Desk Agent
- Rick Baker as Brain Alien
- Joseph D'Onofrio as New York Mets Fan #1
- Joseph R. Gannascoli as New York Mets Fan #2
- Katy Frame as Diner Waitress
- Kevin Townley as Funky 60's Dude
- Stephen Brian Jones as Guru
- Tyler Johnson as Muscle Boy at Happening
- Kati Rediger as Muscle Boy's Girlfriend at Happening
- Victor Joel Ortiz as Air Force MP #1
- Charlie Barnett as Air Force MP #2
- Ian Blackman as Car Theft Victim
- Jeremy Beiler as Hotel Doorman
- Liliane Klein as Screaming Lady on Ferris Wheel
- Britt Chandler Johnson as Detained Teenage Alien
- Jared Johnston as Neil Armstrong
- Ken Arnold as Buzz Aldrin
- Jonathan Drew as Michael Collins
- Joel Brady as 1969 Man in Elevator
- David Pittu as Roman The Fabulist
- Lenny Venito as Bowling Ball Head
- Anthony J. Gallo as Four-Armed Alien
- James Martin Kelly as 1969 NYPD Cop #1
- Will McLaughlin as 1969 NYPD Cop #2
- Kimmy Suzuki as Mr. Wu's Bartender
- Kirk Larsen as Dead Zed
- Rebecca Glasscock as Transvestite at Happening
- Barry Sonnenfeld as Husband Watching Launch
- Susan Ringo as Wife Watching Launch
- Stephanie Ellis as Young Wife #1 Watching Launch
- Ben Mac Brown as Young Husband #1 Watching Launch
- Amy Erwitt as Young Wife #2 Watching Launch
- Brad Abrell as Worm (voice)
- Tim Blaney as Worm (voice)
- Thom Fountain as Worm (voice)
- Carl J. Johnson as Worm (voice)
- Will Arnett as Agent AA (uncredited)
- Jada Pinkett Smith as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Tony Shalhoub as 1969 Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)
- Alex Ziwak as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Jason Liles as Feelers / Colussus (uncredited)
- Jesse Ridgway as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Justin Bieber as Alien on TV Monitors (uncredited)
- Erin Lindsey Krom as Headquarters Secretary (uncredited)
- Tim Burton as Alien on TV Monitors (uncredited)
- Eha Urbsalu as 1969 MIB Secretary #1 (uncredited)
- Rip Torn as Large-Headed Alien at Funeral (uncredited)
- Howard Stern as 1969 Man in MIB HQ (uncredited)
- Alpheus Merchant as MIB Guard (uncredited)
- Leonard Zimmerman as Warhol Benefactor (uncredited)
- Liz Logan as Coney Island Sunbather (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 31
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 1 | 2 | 23 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 19 |
| 4 to 4 | 1 | 25 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 60 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 32 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 9 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 20 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 24 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 4 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 36 |
| 19 to 19 | 1 | 64 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 to 21 | 1 | 19 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 26 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 9 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 46 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 to 28 | 0 | 44 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 64 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 19 |
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, 1 are women's.
5 lines from women, 591 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 57 men in the cast. 1 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 11 of 721.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 289 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 0% of the words (47), men 100% (9,655). Women have 1% 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
51
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Barry Sonnenfeld (man)
- Written by
- Etan Cohen (man), Michael Arndt (man)
- Produced by
- Laurie MacDonald (woman), Walter F. Parkes (man)
- Shot by
- Bill Pope (man)
- Edited by
- Don Zimmerman (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Bo Welch (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary E. Vogt (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
8 women, 23 men, 156 not listed
-
Other crew
11 women, 60 men, 63 not listed
-
Production
21 women, 19 men, 77 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 28 men, 59 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
10 women, 15 men, 46 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 24 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 10 men, 25 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 10 men, 24 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alice Eve 30, Nicole Scherzinger 33, Emma Thompson 53
Men
Michael Chernus 34, Mike Colter 35, Jemaine Clement 38, Will Smith 43, Michael Stuhlbarg 43, Josh Brolin 44, Tommy Lee Jones 65
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $225 million
- Box office
- $654 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 31 scenes and 721 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
