Passes the Bechdel test
Ordinary People
1980. Directed by Robert Redford, written by Judith Guest and Alvin Sargent and Nancy Dowd.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 159. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
- Released
- 19 Sep 1980
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 21 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Conrad 423 lines, man
- Calvin 214 lines, man
- Beth 191 lines, woman
- Dr Berger 190 lines, man
- Jeannine 65 lines, woman
- Karen 36 lines, woman
- Lazenby 34 lines, man
- Stillman 23 lines, man
- Coach Salan 16 lines, man
- Dickie Van Buren 15 lines
Full cast, 46 people
- Donald Sutherland as Calvin Jarrett
- Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett
- Judd Hirsch as Dr. Berger
- Timothy Hutton as Conrad Jarrett
- M. Emmet Walsh as Swim Coach
- Elizabeth McGovern as Jeannine Pratt
- Dinah Manoff as Karen
- Fredric Lehne as Lazenby
- James B. Sikking as Ray Hanley
- Basil Hoffman as Sloan
- Quinn K. Redeker as Ward
- Mariclare Costello as Audrey
- Meg Mundy as Grandmother
- Elizabeth Hubbard as Ruth
- Adam Baldwin as Stillman
- Richard Whiting as Grandfather
- Scott Doebler as Buck Jarrett
- Carl DiTomasso as Van Buren
- Tim Clarke as Truan
- Ken Dishner as Genthe
- Lisa Smyth as Gail
- Ann Eggert as Mitzi
- Randall Robbins as Bryce
- Cynthia Baker as Ms. Mellon
- John Stimpson as John
- Liz Kinney as Liz
- Steven Hirsch as Mack
- Rudy Hornish as Ed
- Clarissa Downey as Chris
- Cynthia Burke as Annie
- Jane Alderman as Linda
- Paul Preston as Dennis
- Gustave Lachenauer as Gus
- Marilyn Rockafellow as Sarah
- Don Billett as Philip
- Ronald Solomon as Joel
- Virginia Long as Choir Director
- Paula Segal as Shopper
- Estelle Meyers as Saleslady
- Stuart Shiff as Waiter
- Rose Wool as Waitress
- Douglas Kinney as Actor
- Constance Addington as Actress
- Edwin Bederman as McDonald's Manager
- Bobby Coyne as Young Buck
- Michael Creadon as Young Conrad
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 159
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 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 17 |
| 13 to 16 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 to 20 | 6 | 26 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 32 |
| 25 to 28 | 8 | 15 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 4 |
| 33 to 36 | 5 | 88 |
| 37 to 40 | 9 | 25 |
| 41 to 44 | 8 | 7 |
| 45 to 48 | 18 | 17 |
| 49 to 52 | 58 | 114 |
| 53 to 56 | 14 | 36 |
| 57 to 60 | 1 | 29 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 15 |
| 65 to 68 | 36 | 91 |
| 69 to 72 | 18 | 14 |
| 73 to 76 | 24 | 106 |
| 77 to 80 | 23 | 46 |
| 81 to 84 | 34 | 27 |
| 85 to 88 | 20 | 16 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 26 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 7 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 4 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 6 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 4 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 5 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 3 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 2 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 35 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 3 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 5 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 38 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 6 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 13 |
| 149 to 152 | 30 | 36 |
| 153 to 156 | 7 | 7 |
| 157 to 159 | 0 | 24 |
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.
BETH: Hello Gladyce. Will you put that with the rest of them? BETH: Oh, look, we're in time for the grand entrance! MRS MURRAY: Hello! Look who's here! Three blocks away and the last to arrive. MRS MURRAY: Come on in.
BETH: I don't know what everyone wants from me anymore! AUDREY: Beth, nobody wants anything from you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
336 lines from women, 967 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 1,365.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 129 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (2,958), men 74% (8,252).
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
4
Two men
57
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Redford (man)
- Written by
- Alvin Sargent (man)
- From the novel by
- Judith Guest (woman)
- Produced by
- Ronald L. Schwary (man)
- Shot by
- John Bailey (man)
- Edited by
- Jeff Kanew (man)
- Music by
- Marvin Hamlisch (man)
- Costumes by
- Bernie Pollack (man)
- Cast by
- Penny Perry (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth McGovern 19, Dinah Manoff 24, Mary Tyler Moore 43
Men
Timothy Hutton 20, Fredric Lehne 21, Basil Hoffman 42, Donald Sutherland 45, Judd Hirsch 45, M. Emmet Walsh 45, James B. Sikking 46
Exhibit H: the money
It made 9.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $54.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 159 scenes and 1,365 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
