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Fails the Bechdel test

Stand by Me

1986. Directed by Rob Reiner, written by Stephen King and Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

  1. No 1. At least two women
    Fewer than two women characters.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

Poster for Stand by Me

The film

It's the summer of 1959 in Castlerock, Oregon and four 12 year-old boys - Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern - are fast friends. After learning of the general location of the body of a local boy who has been missing for several days, they set off into the woods to see it. Along the way, they learn about themselves, the meaning of friendship and the need to stand up for what is right.

Released
22 Aug 1986
Genres
Adventure, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
8.1 / 10
Metascore
76 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 14 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Chris 149 lines, man
  2. Gordie 139 lines, man
  3. Teddy 116 lines, man
  4. Vern 99 lines, man
  5. Ace 28 lines, man
  6. Narrator 26 lines
  7. Charlie 18 lines, man
  8. Billy 15 lines, man
  9. Father 12 lines, man
  10. Milo 11 lines, man
Full cast, 32 people
  • Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance
  • River Phoenix as Chris Chambers
  • Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp
  • Jerry O'Connell as Vern Tessio
  • Kiefer Sutherland as Ace Merrill
  • Casey Siemaszko as Billy Tessio
  • Gary Riley as Charlie Hogan
  • Bradley Gregg as Eyeball Chambers
  • Jason Oliver as Vince Desjardins
  • Marshall Bell as Mr. Lachance
  • Frances Lee McCain as Mrs. Lachance
  • Bruce Kirby as Mr. Quidacioluo
  • William Bronder as Milo Pressman
  • Scott Beach as Mayor Grundy
  • Richard Dreyfuss as The Writer
  • John Cusack as Denny Lachance
  • Madeleine Swift as Waitress
  • Geanette Bobst as Mayor's Wife
  • Art Burke as Principal Wiggins
  • Matt Williams as Bob Cormier
  • Andy Lindberg as Lardass Hogan
  • Dick Durock as Bill Travis
  • O.B. Babbs as Lardass Heckler #1
  • Charlie Owens as Lardass Heckler #2
  • Kenneth Hodges as Donelley Twin
  • John Hodges as Donelley Twin
  • Susan Thorpe as Fat Lady
  • Korey Scott Pollard as Moke
  • Rick Elliott as Jack Mudgett
  • Kent W. Luttrell as Ray Brower
  • Chance Quinn as Gordon's Son
  • Jason Naylor as His Friend

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 45

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 100
2 to 200
3 to 300
4 to 400
5 to 5048
6 to 6023
7 to 700
8 to 802
9 to 902
10 to 1000
11 to 11114
12 to 12191
13 to 1301
14 to 1406
15 to 15012
16 to 16020
17 to 17114
18 to 1800
19 to 19024
20 to 20056
21 to 2102
22 to 22071
23 to 2318
24 to 24033
25 to 25019
26 to 26023
27 to 2704
28 to 2808
29 to 2901
30 to 3009
31 to 31033
32 to 32018
33 to 3300
34 to 3401
35 to 3500
36 to 3601
37 to 3700
38 to 3802
39 to 3900
40 to 4000
41 to 4101
42 to 4200
43 to 4304
44 to 44078
45 to 4507

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, 1 are women's.

4 lines from women, 636 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

3 women and 26 men in the cast. 1 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 89 of 715. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 265 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (47), men 99% (7,504).

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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Rob Reiner (man)
Written by
Raynold Gideon (man), Bruce A. Evans (man)
From the novel by
Stephen King (man)
Produced by
Andrew Scheinman (man), Raynold Gideon (man), Bruce A. Evans (man)
Shot by
Thomas Del Ruth (man)
Edited by
Robert Leighton (man)
Music by
Jack Nitzsche (man)
Production design by
J. Dennis Washington (man)
Cast by
Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    3 women, 15 men, 2 not listed

  • Other crew

    2 women, 12 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 5 men, 7 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Men: 20 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Men

Jerry O'Connell 12, Wil Wheaton 14, River Phoenix 15, Corey Feldman 15, Kiefer Sutherland 19, Bradley Gregg 19, Casey Siemaszko 25, Marshall Bell 43

Exhibit G: the money

It made 6.5 times what it cost.

Budget
$8 million
Box office
$52.3 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 45 scenes and 715 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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