Passes the Bechdel test

Spanglish

Name: Spanglish
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by James L. Brooks, written by James L. Brooks.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 10 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 30 scenes out of 187.
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

Flor Moreno, a penniless single mother of one, emigrates from Mexico to Los Angeles from Mexico in high hopes of creating a better life for her 12-year-old daughter Cristina. However, after landing a job as a housekeeper for laid-back gourmet chef John Clasky and his well-to-do family, Flor finds herself up against a daunting language barrier--and Deborah, John's troubled wife. Little by little, as Flor struggles to start fresh, and of course, learn English, an inevitable cultural collision is at hand, and a burgeoning romantic affection starts to take over. Will John and Flor ever bridge the linguistic divide?

Released: 17 Dec 2004
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 48 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 15 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

John 260 lines, man
Deborah 221 lines, woman
Flor 160 lines, woman
Bernice 64 lines, woman
Evelyn 60 lines, woman
Cristina 55 lines, woman
Narrator 40 lines, woman
Georgie 25 lines, man
Cristina As Flor 15 lines, woman
Monica 9 lines, woman

Full cast, 43 people

Adam Sandler as John Clasky
Téa Leoni as Deborah Clasky
Paz Vega as Flor Moreno
Cloris Leachman as Evelyn Wright
Shelbie Bruce as Christina
Sarah Steele as Bernice
Ian Hyland as Georgie
Victoria Luna as Cristina (6 Years Old)
Cecilia Suárez as Monica
Ricardo Molina as Flor's Husband
Brenda Canela as Luz
Eddy Martin as Fourteen-Year-Old Boy
Nicole Nieth as Hostess at Fancy Restaurant
Jamie Kaler as Businessman
James Lancaster as Businessman
Phil Rosenthal as Pietro
Angela Goethals as Gwen
Sean Smith as Victor (Maitre'd)
Jonathan Hernandez as Alex
Thomas Haden Church as Mike (Realtor)
Freddy Soto as Manuel
Wendy Braun as Yuppie Girl
Nichole Hiltz as Yuppie Girl
Eric Schaeffer as Rabid Sports Fan
Aimee Garcia as Narrator (voice)
Jean Gaskill as Arlene (School Director)
Spencer Locke as Sleepover Friend
Sarah Hyland as Sleepover Friend
Andrew Sikking as Chef
Albert Melera as Chef
Liz Carey as Hostess at John's Restaurant
Anastasia C. Ford as Girl on Balcony
Yasmeen Azizian as Girl on Balcony
Daisy Cruz as Girl on Balcony
Kristha Sazo as Girl on Balcony
Morgan Ward as Coffee Patron
Cheryl Ward as Coffee Patron
Christian Stone as UPS Guy
Robby D. Bruce as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Christopher Morente as Landscaper (uncredited)
Brennan W. Penney as Waiter (uncredited)
Natasha Perez as Young Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Tony Sagastizado I as Young Father (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 187

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	1	0
5 to 8	5	0
9 to 12	6	0
13 to 16	4	0
17 to 20	4	0
21 to 24	3	0
25 to 28	1	0
29 to 32	58	0
33 to 36	19	6
37 to 40	1	11
41 to 44	20	2
45 to 48	20	31
49 to 52	25	11
53 to 56	12	4
57 to 60	6	0
61 to 64	12	0
65 to 68	8	12
69 to 72	9	13
73 to 76	12	5
77 to 80	4	20
81 to 84	8	0
85 to 88	26	8
89 to 92	2	8
93 to 96	16	3
97 to 100	23	2
101 to 104	8	11
105 to 108	10	6
109 to 112	0	0
113 to 116	7	8
117 to 120	32	22
121 to 124	3	0
125 to 128	14	6
129 to 132	20	0
133 to 136	3	0
137 to 140	24	22
141 to 144	20	2
145 to 148	4	0
149 to 152	14	1
153 to 156	24	21
157 to 160	18	14
161 to 164	5	4
165 to 168	13	12
169 to 172	14	10
173 to 176	52	13
177 to 180	9	8
181 to 184	29	3
185 to 187	9	3

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.

BERNICE: Gee whiz in heaven...How are you? Please? DEBORAH: Don't worry..I'm not mad...I was looking for decoration to put on the glass so people would stop walking into it and instead of taking what … DEBORAH: ..and what difference does that make when your nose is bleeding. Shut up, Deborah. BERNICE: Now you got it, Mom.

DEBORAH: Flor. FLOR: Florrrrr. DEBORAH: Flor. FLOR: Florrrrr.

FLOR: Dancing! CRISTINA: Wow, expensive.. CRISTINA: This is just for the starter?

EVELYN: Well, I'm in the vitamin section and this little hip hop girl..what's her name..Grammys - adorable -- big voice..subtle phrasing...oh, she's… EVELYN: God Bless the language barrier, it keeps you from being bored with me. EVELYN: Anyway, she said, "aren't you Evelyn Wright?" First of all, that she recognized me from the old covers and then she .... Oh, please her name… BERNICE: Awwww. How sweet....

BERNICE: Rusevelt..If I'd ever heard of the word before - that would lock it in..It's so stupid it might work anyway... DEBORAH: Surprise new clothes.. BERNICE: What'd I do right? DEBORAH: Warehouse sale..

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 68 are women's.

637 lines from women, 302 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

17 women and 14 men in the cast. 10 women and 4 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 968. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 20 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 70% of the words (8,421), men 30% (3,572). Women have 68% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: James L. Brooks (man)
Written by: James L. Brooks (man)
Produced by: James L. Brooks (man), Julie Ansell (woman), Richard Sakai (man)
Shot by: John Seale (man)
Edited by: Richard Marks (man), Tia Nolan (woman)
Music by: Hans Zimmer (man)
Production design by: Ida Random (woman)
Costumes by: Louise Mingenbach (woman), Shay Cunliffe (woman)
Cast by: Manuel Teil (man), Addison McQuigg (man), Mary Vernieu (woman)