Passes the Bechdel test
My Girl
1991. Directed by Howard Zieff, written by Laurice Elehwany.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Vada Sultenfuss is an intelligent, bubbly, hypochondriacal 11-year-old girl. Her father, Harry (Dan Aykroyd), is a mortician and widower. Her best friend is Thomas J. Sennett. Then Harry hires a new receptionist named Shelly DeVoto, and life will never be the same again.
- Released
- 27 Nov 1991
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Family
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Vada 271 lines, woman
- Shelly 178 lines, woman
- Harry 162 lines, man
- Thomas J 119 lines, man
- Mr. Bixler 36 lines, man
- Phil 19 lines, man
- Danny 14 lines, man
- Vada'S Thoughts 10 lines
- Mrs. Sennett 9 lines, woman
- Nurse Randall 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 23 people
- Anna Chlumsky as Vada Sultenfuss
- Macaulay Culkin as Thomas J. Sennett
- Dan Aykroyd as Harry Sultenfuss
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly DeVoto
- Richard Masur as Phil Sultenfuss
- Griffin Dunne as Mr. Jake Bixler
- Ann Nelson as Gramoo Sultenfuss
- Peter Michael Goetz as Dr. Welty
- Jane Hallaren as Nurse Randall
- Anthony R. Jones as Arthur
- Tom Villard as Justin
- Lara Steinick as Ronda
- Kristian Truelsen as Charles
- David Caprita as Ray
- Jody Wilson as Mrs. Hunsaker
- Linda Perri as Betty
- Nancy L. Chlumsky as Jackie
- Glenda Chism as Thomas J.'s Mother
- Bill Cordell as Thomas J.'s Father
- Ray Buktenica as Danny
- Shane Obedzinski as Billy
- Edgar Allan Poe IV as Carnival Barker
- Anthony Giaimo as Carnival Barker
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
VADA: Is that your camper? SHELLY: Yes it is. VADA: That's really cool. SHELLY: Hello.
SHELLY: You know Vada, you shouldn't let those girls upset you. VADA: I'm not upset. I will never play with those girls. I only surround myself with people who I find intellectually stimulating. SHELLY: Want a piece of chocolate? SHELLY: Thomas J?
SHELLY: Ooh, that's a pretty ring you're wearing. VADA: It's a mood ring, it tells what mood I'm in.
VADA: It's only black when you're around 'cause you put me in a bad mood. SHELLY: Maybe black means you're happy? VADA: I don't think so. Shelly, how can I get thirty five dollars?
VADA: There's Shelly! SHELLY: Hi. VADA: Can we look around in your camper? SHELLY: Sure. I'll give you the royal tour.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.
476 lines from women, 383 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 13 men in the cast. 4 women and 6 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 19 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 53% of the words (3,673), men 47% (3,321). Women have 55% 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
41
Two men
17
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Howard Zieff (man)
- Written by
- Laurice Elehwany (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Brian Grazer (man)
- Shot by
- Paul Elliott (man)
- Edited by
- Wendy Greene Bricmont (woman)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Joseph T. Garrity (man)
- Costumes by
- Karen Patch (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Colquhoun (woman), Ellen Jacoby (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men
-
Writing
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Anna Chlumsky 10, Jamie Lee Curtis 32, Jane Hallaren 51, Ann Nelson 75
Men
Macaulay Culkin 11, Griffin Dunne 36, Dan Aykroyd 39, Richard Masur 43, Peter Michael Goetz 49
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $17 million
- Box office
- $59.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 914 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
