Passes the Bechdel test
Sixteen Candles
1984. Directed by John Hughes, written by John Hughes.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 14 scenes out of 183. -
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
Samantha's life is going downhill fast. The 16-year-old has a crush on the most popular boy in school, and the geekiest boy in school has a crush on her. Her sister is getting married, and with all the excitement the rest of her family forgets her birthday. Add to all this two sets of horrendously embarrassing grandparents, a foreign-exchange student named Long Duk Dong, and behold the makings of a hilarious journey into young-womanhood.
- Released
- 04 May 1984
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 61 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sam 190 lines, woman
- Geek 132 lines, man
- Jake 92 lines, man
- Caroline 77 lines, woman
- Jim 59 lines, man
- Brenda 49 lines, woman
- Ginny 40 lines, woman
- Randy 39 lines, woman
- Mike 34 lines, man
- Dong 28 lines, man
Full cast, 47 people
- Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker
- Michael Schoeffling as Jake Ryan
- Haviland Morris as Caroline Mulford
- Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong
- Anthony Michael Hall as Geek (Ted)
- Justin Henry as Mike Baker
- Paul Dooley as Jim Baker
- Carlin Glynn as Brenda Baker
- Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker
- Edward Andrews as Howard Baker
- Billie Bird as Dorothy Baker
- Carole Cook as Grandma Helen
- Max Showalter as Grandpa Fred
- Liane Curtis as Randy
- John Cusack as Bryce
- Darren Harris as Cliff
- Debbie Pollack as Lumberjack
- Ross Berkson as Ray Gun Geek #1
- Jonathan Chapin as Jimmy Montrose
- Joan Cusack as Geek Girl #1
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Reverend
- Bekka Eaton as Female D.J.
- Pamela Elser as Shower Double
- Steven Farber as Ray Gun Geek #2
- Jami Gertz as Robin
- Frank Howard as Freshman
- Cinnamon Idles as Sara
- John Kapelos as Rudy Ryszczyk
- Marge Kotlisky as Irene
- Tony Longo as Rock
- Steve Monarque as Jock
- Bill Orsi as Bruno
- Beth Ringwald as Patty
- Zelda Rubinstein as Organist
- Dennis Vero as Bus Driver
- Elaine Wilkes as Tracy
- Adam Rifkin as Head Nerd (uncredited)
- Liz Kern as High School Student (uncredited)
- Erika Pearson as Student (uncredited)
- Andy Hirsch as Boy with Coronet (uncredited)
- James Vallo as Bandie (uncredited)
- Stephan Meyers as Geek at Dance (uncredited)
- Jennifer Scott as Wallflower (uncredited)
- Agnes Belushi as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Robert Minkoff as Extra (uncredited)
- Sven Granlund as Extra (uncredited)
- The New York City Breakers as Breakdancers
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 183
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 | 5 | 8 |
| 5 to 8 | 4 | 6 |
| 9 to 12 | 12 | 1 |
| 13 to 16 | 17 | 11 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 24 | 18 | 22 |
| 25 to 28 | 13 | 1 |
| 29 to 32 | 20 | 9 |
| 33 to 36 | 17 | 9 |
| 37 to 40 | 34 | 7 |
| 41 to 44 | 9 | 12 |
| 45 to 48 | 5 | 1 |
| 49 to 52 | 4 | 17 |
| 53 to 56 | 8 | 14 |
| 57 to 60 | 54 | 53 |
| 61 to 64 | 6 | 4 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 5 |
| 69 to 72 | 9 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 22 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 13 | 1 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 2 |
| 85 to 88 | 7 | 7 |
| 89 to 92 | 2 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 6 | 1 |
| 97 to 100 | 3 | 18 |
| 101 to 104 | 5 | 14 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 14 |
| 109 to 112 | 29 | 72 |
| 113 to 116 | 7 | 8 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 21 |
| 121 to 124 | 8 | 5 |
| 125 to 128 | 14 | 8 |
| 129 to 132 | 4 | 10 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 19 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 15 | 5 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 16 |
| 149 to 152 | 1 | 2 |
| 153 to 156 | 7 | 11 |
| 157 to 160 | 11 | 4 |
| 161 to 164 | 1 | 1 |
| 165 to 168 | 2 | 1 |
| 169 to 172 | 3 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 6 | 8 |
| 177 to 180 | 9 | 8 |
| 181 to 183 | 9 | 9 |
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.
GINNY: You know what today is? GINNY: The first day of my all-new com- pletely screwed-up period. Are you on the pill? GINNY: Then you'll probably have a great honeymoon. This is such a deluxe bite. Ginny goes back into the bathroom and locks the door. SAM: Thank you. Yes, it is my birthday. How nice of you to remember.
SARA: You already are. BRENDA: Touche!
BRENDA: Don't give me that pouty look of yours. You can eat your carrots when you get home. SAM: That's it? You don't have anything else to say to me, today? BRENDA: What would you like me to say, Sam? Come on, you'll miss the bus. BRENDA: Have a good day.
SAM: I can't believe I'm actually going to consume a school hamburger. RANDY: They're not too terrible since they started using meat. What happened to your carrots? SAM: Brenda was too busy today. If she can't remember my birthday, I can't expect her to remember my carrots. RANDY: Are they working?
SAM: Call me, okay? RANDY: You call me first and tell me what happened at home. SAM: I'll tell you right now. Nothing. RANDY: Quit feeling sorry for yourself. It's bad for your complexion.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 51 are women's.
454 lines from women, 442 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 19 men in the cast. 12 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 910.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 41 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 52% of the words (4,228), men 48% (3,929). Women have 51% 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
39
Two men
33
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Hughes (man)
- Written by
- John Hughes (man)
- Produced by
- Hilton A. Green (man)
- Shot by
- Bobby Byrne (man)
- Edited by
- Edward Warschilka (man)
- Music by
- Ira Newborn (man)
- Production design by
- John W. Corso (man)
- Costumes by
- Mark Peterson (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Jackie Burch (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 16 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Molly Ringwald 16, Haviland Morris 24, Blanche Baker 27, Carlin Glynn 44
Men
Justin Henry 12, Anthony Michael Hall 16, Michael Schoeffling 23, Gedde Watanabe 28, Paul Dooley 56, Edward Andrews 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6.5 million
- Box office
- $23.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 183 scenes and 910 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
