Passes the Bechdel test
Poetic Justice
1993. Directed by John Singleton, written by John Singleton.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 29 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 117. -
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.
The film
After witnessing the murder of her first and only boyfriend, young Justice (Janet Jackson) decides to forget about college and become a South Central Los Angeles, California hairdresser. Avoiding friends, the only way for her to cope with her depression is by composing beautiful poetry. On her way to a convention in Oakland, she is forced to ride with an independent-minded postal worker with whom she has not gotten along in the past. After various arguments between them and their friends, they start to discover that their thoughts on social and domestic violence are the same, and she finally feels that she isn't so alone.
- Released
- 23 Jul 1993
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lucky 119 lines, man
- Justice 107 lines, woman
- Iesha 67 lines, woman
- Chicago 51 lines, man
- Jessie 33 lines, woman
- Cousin Pete 11 lines, woman
- Haywood 7 lines
- Maxine 6 lines, woman
- Waitress 6 lines, woman
- Audrey 5 lines, woman
Full cast, 68 people
- Janet Jackson as Justice
- Tupac Shakur as Lucky
- Regina King as Iesha
- Joe Torry as Chicago
- Roger Guenveur Smith as Heywood
- Maya Angelou as Aunt June
- Dina D. as Dina
- Rose Weaver as Aunt Audrey
- Tyra Ferrell as Jessie
- Khandi Alexander as Simone
- Ché J. Avery as Thug #2
- Lloyd Avery II as Thug #1
- Kimberly Brooks as Kim
- Rico Bueno as Ticket Taker
- Maia Campbell as Shante
- Jeff Cantrel as Policeman #4
- Michael Colyar as Panhandler
- Kina Cosper as Female Cousin
- John Cothran as Uncle Earl
- Joe Dalu as Policeman #7
- James Deeth as Helicopter Pilot
- Norma Donaldson as Aunt May
- Kelly Joe Dugan as Truck Driver
- Judd Dunning as Policeman #1
- Suliamen El Hadi as Last Poets Member
- Rene Elizondo as E.J.
- Benjamin J. Ellington as Crackhead
- Dedrick D. Gobert as Lloyd
- Clifton Collins Jr. as Mailroom Supervisor
- Ricky Harris as Gangsta
- Omar Ben Hassan as Last Poets Member
- Randall C. Heyward as Policeman #2
- Miki Howard as Maxine
- Baha Jackson as Baha
- Mike James as Policeman #6
- Patricia Y. Johnson as Patricia
- Shannon Johnson as Keisha
- La Keisha M. Jones as Rodney's Girlfriend
- Kirk Kinder as Cop
- Vashon LeCesne as Angry Customer
- Jennifer Leigh-Scott as Beauty College Instructor
- Jenifer Lewis as Annie
- Tone Loc as J Bone
- Special K. McCray as Cousin Pete
- Mark Miller-Summer as Policeman #3
- Sarena Mobley as Rita
- Al Murray as Policeman #5
- Kahlil Nelson as Antonio
- Jalal Nuriddin as Last Poets Member
- Lori Petty as Penelope
- Denney Pierce as Cashier
- Renato Powell as Woman with Baby
- Q-Tip as Markell
- Roman J. Artiste as Fighting Man
- Michael Rapaport as Dockworker
- Ernestine Reed as Aunt April
- Robi Reed as Woman on Couch
- Crystal Sierra Rodgers as Angel
- Daoud Spencer as Last Poets Member
- Eugene Tate as Uncle Herb
- Mikki Val as Gena
- David Villafán as Concession Stand Man
- Dion B. Vines as Cousin Dion
- Keith Washington as Dexter
- Anthony Wheaton as Rodney
- Yvette Wilson as Colette
- Billy Zane as Brad
- John Singleton as Colette's Man (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 117
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 7 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 11 | 11 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 5 | 13 |
| 70 to 72 | 14 | 11 |
| 73 to 75 | 7 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 6 | 8 |
| 79 to 81 | 50 | 20 |
| 82 to 84 | 14 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 11 | 20 |
| 91 to 93 | 32 | 6 |
| 94 to 96 | 19 | 26 |
| 97 to 99 | 25 | 22 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 3 |
| 106 to 108 | 5 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 21 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 0 |
| 115 to 117 | 15 | 21 |
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.
J - JUSTICE: Yeah. LI- IESHA: Well we get in this mail truck and we drive up the coast, get drunk, eat Mexican food, and just have a good time. It's fun! You ain't having…
JUSTICE: Fuck you up! IESHA: What you doing!? What's happening? Where my girl at?!
IESHA: I don't hardly have to do nothing. I be rationing it to 'em. JUSTICE: Rationing tha booty! I - I
IESHA: What this? JUSTICE: Oh shit! Look! ANOTHER ANGLE As we~ a virtual ocean of Black faces in the distance. There is a gathering of some kind going on in a LARGE PA…
COUSIN PETE: Don't it? Go on help yourself. IESHA: Goodbye. Don't they make a nice couple? AUNT JUNE: Are y'all in love? IESHA: Yeah.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 56 are women's.
268 lines from women, 207 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 20 men in the cast. 29 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 505.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 57% of the words (4,098), men 43% (3,108). Women have 56% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
24
Two men
18
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Singleton (man)
- Written by
- John Singleton (man)
- Produced by
- Steve Nicolaides (man), John Singleton (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Lyons Collister (man)
- Edited by
- Bruce Cannon (man)
- Music by
- Jimmy Jam (man), Janet Jackson (woman), Terry Lewis (man), Stanley Clarke (man)
- Production design by
- Keith Brian Burns (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Darryle Johnson (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 29 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Regina King 22, Janet Jackson 27, Tyra Ferrell 31, Khandi Alexander 35, Maya Angelou 65
Men
Tupac Shakur 22, Joe Torry 27, Roger Guenveur Smith 37
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $27.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 117 scenes and 505 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
