Fails the Bechdel test
Real Genius
1985. Directed by Martha Coolidge, written by Neal Israel and Pat Proft and PJ Torokvei.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
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
Mitch Taylor is one of the youngest students ever accepted to a university known for its programs for geniuses. He partners up with his roommate, science club legend Chris Knight, on a project to develop a high-powered laser. Together with their hyperkinetic friends, they employ their intellects in the pursuit of bigger blasts, practical jokes, and a deeper understanding of what real genius means. When they find out that their professor intends to turn their work over to the military for use as a weapon, they decide to get even.
- Released
- 07 Aug 1985
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Chris 244 lines, man
- Mitch 204 lines, man
- Atherton 132 lines, man
- Kent 97 lines, man
- Jordan 51 lines, woman
- Sherry 37 lines, woman
- Hopsfield 36 lines, man
- Ick 30 lines, man
- Carmichael 23 lines
- Decker 19 lines, man
Full cast, 59 people
- Val Kilmer as Chris Knight
- Gabriel Jarret as Mitch Taylor
- Michelle Meyrink as Jordan
- William Atherton as Professor Hathaway
- Robert Prescott as Kent
- Louis Giambalvo as Major Carnagle
- Jon Gries as Lazlo Hollyfeld
- Ed Lauter as CIA Man Decker
- Stacy Peralta as Shuttle Pilot
- Daniel Ades as Laser Ray Victim
- Andres Aybar as Bartender
- Charles Shull as Air Force General
- Beau Billingslea as George
- Charles Parks as Larry
- Sean Frye as Boy at Science Fair
- JoAnn Willette as Girl at Science Fair
- Ina Gould as Old Lady
- Nadine Vix as Student at Science Fair
- Paul Tulley as Mr. Taylor
- Joanne Baron as Mrs. Taylor
- Harry Johnson as Darlington Recruiter
- Patti D'Arbanville as Sherry Nugil
- Monte Landis as Dr. Dodd
- Sandy Martin as Mrs. Meredith
- Severn Darden as Dr. Meredith
- Randy Lowell as Cornell
- John Shepherd Reid as Carter
- Tommy Swerdlow as Bodie
- Mark Kamiyama as 'Ick' Ikagami
- Martin Gundersen as Math Professor
- Brett Miller as Carpet Man
- Dean Devlin as Milton
- Yuji Okumoto as Fenton
- Lynda Wiesmeier as Chris' Girl at Party
- Penny Baker as Ick's Girl at Party
- Marcia Karr as Cornell's Girl at Party
- Isabelle Walker as Girl at Party
- Marii Mak as Girl at Party
- Cheri Wells as Girl at Party
- Catherine MacNamara as Girl at Party
- Johnny Vasily as Student
- Ed Garrabrandt as TV Makeup Man
- Isabel Cooley as TV Stage Manager
- Robin Stober as Waitress
- Deborah Foreman as Susan
- David Marvit as Student in Hall
- Michael Crabtree as Air Force Gate Guard
- Charles Sweigart as Air Force Gate Guard
- Peter Parros as Air Force Gate Guard
- Ronald Taylor as Computer Technician
- James Carrington as Air Force Major
- Michael Backes as Air Force Controller
- Corki Grazer as Air Force Sergeant
- Jeanne Mori as Laser Technician
- David Ursin as Engineer
- Joe Dorsey as Congressman
- Will Knox as Laser Specialist
- Kevin Hurley as Air Force Technician
- Kimberly Spak as Girl in Popcorn (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 199
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 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 to 25 | 21 | 81 |
| 26 to 30 | 24 | 22 |
| 31 to 35 | 2 | 83 |
| 36 to 40 | 6 | 69 |
| 41 to 45 | 7 | 20 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 13 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 44 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 8 |
| 71 to 75 | 8 | 79 |
| 76 to 80 | 1 | 51 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 9 |
| 86 to 90 | 5 | 50 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 to 105 | 16 | 39 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 7 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 14 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 30 |
| 121 to 125 | 2 | 18 |
| 126 to 130 | 3 | 15 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 20 |
| 136 to 140 | 6 | 51 |
| 141 to 145 | 1 | 9 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 16 |
| 151 to 155 | 2 | 8 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 7 |
| 161 to 165 | 2 | 9 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 11 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 12 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 4 |
| 181 to 185 | 1 | 4 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 4 |
| 196 to 199 | 4 | 28 |
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, 12 are women's.
115 lines from women, 849 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 28 men in the cast. 6 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 33 of 1,055.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 149 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (1,120), men 87% (7,648). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
84
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martha Coolidge (woman)
- Written by
- Neal Israel (man), Pat Proft (man), PJ Torokvei (woman)
- Story by
- Pat Proft (man), Neal Israel (man)
- Produced by
- Brian Grazer (man)
- Shot by
- Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
- Edited by
- Richard Chew (man)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Josan F. Russo (woman)
- Cast by
- Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 11 men, 11 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 22 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Michelle Meyrink 22
Men
Gabriel Jarret 15, Val Kilmer 25, Stacy Peralta 27, Robert Prescott 28, Jon Gries 28, William Atherton 38, Louis Giambalvo 40, Ed Lauter 46, Daniel Ades 52
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $8 million
- Box office
- $13 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 199 scenes and 1,055 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
