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Passes the Bechdel test

Serenity

2005. Directed by Joss Whedon, written by Joss Whedon.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    14 women characters. 7 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 6 scenes out of 181.
  3. 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.

Poster for Serenity

The film

Serenity continues the story of the TV series it was based upon ("Firefly"). River Tam had a secret - one in which she's not even aware - so dangerous, no one's safe, as an Alliance operative's sent to capture her, and all others are considered irrelevant to his job.

Released
30 Sep 2005
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.8 / 10
Metascore
74 / 100
Awards
9 wins & 10 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Mal 271 lines, man
  2. The Operative 84 lines, man
  3. Simon 76 lines, man
  4. Jayne 70 lines, man
  5. Zoe 66 lines, woman
  6. Inara 61 lines, woman
  7. Kaylee 45 lines, woman
  8. Wash 44 lines, man
  9. River 42 lines, woman
  10. Book 23 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
  • Nathan Fillion as Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds
  • Summer Glau as River Tam
  • Gina Torres as Zoë Alleyne Washburne
  • Alan Tudyk as Hoban 'Wash' Washburne
  • Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra
  • Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb
  • Jewel Staite as Kaywinnet Lee 'Kaylee' Frye
  • Sean Maher as Simon Tam
  • Ron Glass as Shepherd Derrial Book
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Operative
  • David Krumholtz as Mr. Universe
  • Michael Hitchcock as Dr. Mathias
  • Sarah Paulson as Dr. Caron
  • Yan Feldman as Mingojerry 'Mingo' Rample
  • Rafael Feldman as Fantastic "Fanty" Rample
  • Nectar Rose as Lenore
  • Tamara Taylor as Teacher
  • Glenn Howerton as Lilac Young Tough
  • Hunter Ansley Wryn as Young River Tam
  • Logan O'Brien as Boy Student
  • Erik Erotas as Boy Student
  • Demetra Raven as Girl Student
  • Marley McClean as Girl Student
  • Jessica Huang as Girl Student
  • Scott Kinworthy as Ensign
  • Erik Weiner as Helmsman
  • Conor O'Brien as Lab Technician
  • Peter James Smith as Lab Technician
  • Weston Nathanson as Trade Agent
  • Carrie "CeCe" Cline as Young Female Intern
  • Chuck O'Neil as Vault Guard
  • Amy Wieczorek as Lilac Mom
  • Tristan Jarred as Lilac Son
  • Elaine Mani Lee as Fan Dancer
  • Terrence Hardy Jr. as Mining Camp Boy
  • Brian O'Hare as Alliance Pilot
  • Ryan Tasz as Black Room Soldier
  • Colin Patrick Lynch as Black Room Soldier
  • Terrell Tilford as News Anchor
  • Joshua Michael Kwiat as Slovenly Beaumonde Man
  • Antonio Rufino as Bartender (uncredited)
  • Linda Wang as Chinese Snake Dancer (uncredited)
  • Rick Williamson as Bar Guy (uncredited)
  • Neil Patrick Harris as Screaming Reaver (uncredited)
  • Matt McColm as Lab Security (uncredited)
  • Marcus Young as Bar Security (uncredited)
  • Dennis Keiffer as Bar Guy (uncredited)
  • Mark Winn as Futuristic Worker (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 181

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 41221
5 to 8041
9 to 12538
13 to 16219
17 to 20819
21 to 2432
25 to 28220
29 to 3226
33 to 3613
37 to 40513
41 to 441611
45 to 48144
49 to 52849
53 to 56424
57 to 60220
61 to 641213
65 to 68021
69 to 721013
73 to 7676
77 to 80611
81 to 84949
85 to 8822
89 to 9215
93 to 96712
97 to 100820
101 to 1041211
105 to 108747
109 to 11256
113 to 11601
117 to 1201122
121 to 1241116
125 to 12805
129 to 13204
133 to 136110
137 to 14000
141 to 14425
145 to 14811
149 to 152712
153 to 156610
157 to 1601523
161 to 164212
165 to 16800
169 to 17200
173 to 176518
177 to 18035
181 to 18101

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.
RIVER: We meddle. TEACHER: River? RIVER: is a dark, intense little girl, writing with one hand and "typing" with the other. She is a good two years younger than the other kids. RIVER: People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run don't walk we're in their homes and in their heads a…
RIVER: I'm the brains of the operation. ZOE: We should hit town right during Sunday worship. Won't be any crowds.
TEACHER: River? Eight-year-old River is working away, not paying attention. TEACHER: River, you look tired. I think everybody's a little tired by now; why don't we all lie down. River looks up, scared. All the other children … TEACHER: A little peace and quiet will make everything better. She starts to lie down herself, right on the grass. RIVER: No... Vao TEACHER River. Do as you're told. It's going to be fine. Lie down.
INARA: They just lay down... They notice River now, in the middle of the street, keening. She drops to her knees, clutching her head. RIVER: , make them stop, they're everywhere, every city every house every room, they're all inside me, I can hear them all and they're saying nothi…
ZOE: No. They have to come through here; they'll bottleneck and we can thin 'em out. We get pushed ,oO back there's the blast doors. KAYLEE: I can rig 'em so they won't re- open once they close.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.

234 lines from women, 651 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

14 women and 30 men in the cast. 7 women and 25 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 61 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (3,640), men 76% (11,582). Women have 26% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Joss Whedon (man)
Written by
Joss Whedon (man)
Produced by
Barry Mendel (man)
Shot by
Jack N. Green (man)
Edited by
Lisa Lassek (woman)
Music by
David Newman (man)
Production design by
Barry Chusid (man)
Costumes by
Ruth E. Carter (woman)
Cast by
Anya Colloff (woman), Amy McIntyre Britt (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    7 women, 35 men, 18 not listed

  • Sound

    5 women, 20 men, 8 not listed

  • Art

    5 women, 13 men, 12 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 7 men, 22 not listed

  • Production

    9 women, 8 men, 9 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    5 women, 2 men, 15 not listed

  • Camera

    2 women, 11 men, 5 not listed

  • Editing

    2 women, 3 men, 9 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 27 on average. Men: 38 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Jewel Staite 23, Summer Glau 24, Morena Baccarin 26, Gina Torres 36

Men

Chiwetel Ejiofor 28, Sean Maher 30, Nathan Fillion 34, Alan Tudyk 34, Adam Baldwin 43, Ron Glass 60

Exhibit H: the money

It made 100% of what it cost.

Budget
$39 million
Box office
$38.9 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 916 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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