Passes the Bechdel test
Primary Colors
1998. Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Joe Klein and Elaine May.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
21 women characters. 15 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 104. -
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
Jack Stanton is running for president. The election is seen through the eyes of young Henry Burton. Along the way Stanton must deal with a sex scandal.
- Released
- 20 Mar 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 10 wins & 31 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Henry 237 lines, man
- Gov. Stanton 194 lines, man
- Libby 105 lines, woman
- Daisy 88 lines, woman
- Richard 79 lines, man
- Susan 67 lines, woman
- Howard 34 lines, man
- Lucille 23 lines, woman
- Freddy Picker 20 lines, man
- March 16 lines, woman
Full cast, 85 people
- John Travolta as Jack Stanton
- Emma Thompson as Susan Stanton
- Billy Bob Thornton as Richard Jemmons
- Adrian Lester as Henry Burton
- Maura Tierney as Daisy Green
- Paul Guilfoyle as Howard Ferguson
- Larry Hagman as Gov. Fred Picker
- Kathy Bates as Libby Holden
- Diane Ladd as Mamma Stanton
- Rebecca Walker as March
- Caroline Aaron as Lucille Kaufman
- Tommy Hollis as Fat Willie
- Rob Reiner as Izzy Rosenblatt
- Ben Jones as Arlen Sporken
- J.C. Quinn as Uncle Charlie
- Allison Janney as Miss Walsh
- Robert Klein as Norman Asher
- Mykelti Williamson as Dewayne Smith
- James Denton as Mitch
- Leontine Guilliard as Ruby
- Monique Ridge-Williams as Tawana Carter
- Ned Eisenberg as Brad Lieberman
- Brian Markinson as Randy Culligan
- Geraldo Rivera as Himself
- Charlie Rose as Himself
- Larry King as Himself
- O'Neal Compton as Sailorman Shoreson
- Kevin Cooney as Lawrence Harris
- Bonnie Bartlett as Martha Harris
- Cynthia O'Neal as Elegant Woman
- Chelcie Ross as Charlie Martin
- John Vargas as Lorenzo Delgado
- Tony Shalhoub as Eddie Reyes
- Bianca Lawson as Loretta
- Robert Cicchini as Jimmy Ozio
- William Stanford Davis as Jack Mandela Washington
- Harrison Young as Sam
- Rolando Molina as Anthony Ramirez
- Ross Benjamin as Peter Goldsmith
- Stacy Edwards as Jennifer Rogers
- Kristoffer Ryan Winters as Terry Hicks
- Susan Kussman as Ella Louise
- Vickilyn Reynolds as Amalee
- Robert Symonds as Bart Nilson
- Gia Carides as Cashmere McLeod
- Robert Easton as Dr. Beauregard
- Scott Burkholder as Danny Scanlon
- Bill Maher as Himself
- Lu Elrod as Chubby Woman
- Michael Haley as Shipyard Announcer
- Henry Woronicz as Pundit
- Daryce Richman as Linda Feldstein
- Rosalie Peck as Retiree
- Susan Forristal as Bugger Bugger Woman
- James Earl Jones as CNN Voiceover (voice)
- Clark Heathcliffe Brolly as Pundit 1
- James DuMont as Man 1 Airport Bar
- Amaris Dupree as Emily Lopez
- Noah Michael Levine as Airport Traveller
- Brian Shakti as Protester
- Tony Winters as Pundit 3
- Jordan Ancel as Muffin
- Allan Wayne Anderson as Swimming Pool Guest
- Stephen Austin-Skordiles as Union Member
- Greg Bronson as Campaign Staff
- Michael W. Broomer as Boilermaker
- Marian Caparrós as News Anchor
- Sophia Choi as News Anchor
- Barbara Conway as Campaign Staff
- Kacee DeMassi as Voter
- Anthony Michael Frederick as Detective
- Spencer Kayden as Hotel Guest
- Nick Loeb as Waiter
- Larry Mendte as News Anchor
- Msaada Nia as Governor Picker Supporter
- Gary Pike as Partygoer
- Kevin Richardson as Editor
- Rocco Salata as News Videographer
- Larry F. Scott as Union Official
- Lorna Scott as Woman in Airport Bar
- Sandy E. Scott as Officer Boone
- Renee Spei as Inaugural Ball Guest
- Lynn Wanlass as Woman in Red
- Charlie Weirauch as Muffin
- Tim R. Worley as Hotel Bar Patron
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 104
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 | 16 | 40 |
| 4 to 6 | 6 | 25 |
| 7 to 9 | 6 | 10 |
| 10 to 12 | 15 | 15 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 7 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 15 |
| 19 to 21 | 8 | 24 |
| 22 to 24 | 1 | 40 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 20 |
| 28 to 30 | 17 | 55 |
| 31 to 33 | 47 | 29 |
| 34 to 36 | 12 | 43 |
| 37 to 39 | 5 | 4 |
| 40 to 42 | 14 | 8 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 0 |
| 46 to 48 | 23 | 34 |
| 49 to 51 | 5 | 5 |
| 52 to 54 | 26 | 21 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 17 |
| 58 to 60 | 4 | 28 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 31 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 9 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 9 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 54 |
| 79 to 81 | 12 | 19 |
| 82 to 84 | 13 | 33 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 18 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 32 |
| 91 to 93 | 13 | 7 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 13 |
| 97 to 99 | 41 | 14 |
| 100 to 102 | 11 | 14 |
| 103 to 104 | 0 | 26 |
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.
LUCILLE: Bullshit is right. I don't know why you're even talking about this ••• SUSAN: So what are you suggesting we do? How would you deal with it? DAISY: By knowing more than they do. Bf being prepared so when a story like Chicago turns up we can strike back-with the truth. LUCILLE: Well, that's ~ssible. Bow can you know what kind of garbage they're going to come up with?
LUCILLE: Then are n the doves? SUSAN: Lucille •••
LIBBY: Ah-HAH •• LUCILLE: Hello, Lib. LIBBY: Hello, shit for brains. You learned how to watch your mouth yet? I will not let you fuck up this campaign, too! I WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN! LUCILLE: That was twenty years ago.
LUCILLE: We're not going to be able to stop it ... LIBBY: Why stop it? It's a pa~r trail. Life's too short and Chicago's not that ·important. Hot half as important as cashmere McLeod.
CASHMERE: But you said you loved me. You said no one could de the things I did.to you. I could come up there. LIBBY: God, what a whiny bitch.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
352 lines from women, 747 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
21 women and 46 men in the cast. 15 women and 45 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 1,210.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 36 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (6,271), men 69% (13,760). Women have 32% 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
20
Two men
92
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mike Nichols (man)
- Written by
- Elaine May (woman)
- From the novel by
- Joe Klein (man)
- Produced by
- Mike Nichols (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Ballhaus (man)
- Edited by
- Arthur Schmidt (man)
- Music by
- Ry Cooder (man)
- Production design by
- Bo Welch (man)
- Costumes by
- Gary Jones (man), Ann Roth (woman)
- Cast by
- Greg McKay (man), Ellen Lewis (woman), Juel Bestrop (woman), Juliet Taylor (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 5 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Rebecca Walker 28, Maura Tierney 33, Emma Thompson 38, Kathy Bates 49, Diane Ladd 62
Men
Adrian Lester 29, Billy Bob Thornton 42, John Travolta 44, Paul Guilfoyle 48, Larry Hagman 66
Exhibit H: the money
It made 80% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $65 million
- Box office
- $52.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 1,210 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
