Fails the Bechdel test
Starman
1984. Directed by John Carpenter, written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
Jenny Hayden never did get over the death of her husband, so when an alien life form decides to model "himself" on the husband, Jenny is understandably confused if not terrified. The alien, or Starman, as he is called, has a deadline to meet and kidnaps Jenny in order to meet it.
- Released
- 14 Dec 1984
- Genres
- Romance, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jenny 319 lines, woman
- Star Man 238 lines, man
- Shermin 101 lines, man
- Fox 51 lines, man
- Major Bell 27 lines, man
- Man 20 lines, man
- Lyman 18 lines, man
- Benny 14 lines, man
- Cook 14 lines, man
- Teenager 13 lines
Full cast, 38 people
- Jeff Bridges as Starman / Scott Hayden
- Karen Allen as Jenny Hayden
- Charles Martin Smith as Mark Shermin
- Richard Jaeckel as George Fox
- Robert Phalen as Major Bell
- Tony Edwards as Sergeant Lemon
- John Walter Davis as Brad Heinmuller
- Ted White as Deer Hunter
- Dirk Blocker as Cop #1
- M.C. Gainey as Cop #2
- Sean Stanek as Hot Rodder
- George Buck Flower as Cook
- Russ Benning as Scientist
- Ralph Cosham as Marine Lieutenant
- David Wells as Fox's Assistant
- Anthony Grumbach as NSA Officer
- James Deeth as S-61 Pilot
- Alex Daniels as Gas Station Attendant
- Carol Rosenthal as Gas Customer
- Mickey Jones as Trucker
- Lu Leonard as Roadhouse Waitress
- Charlie Hughes as Bus Driver
- Byron Walls as Police Sergeant
- Betty Bunch as Truck Stop Waitress
- Victor McLemore as Roadblock Lt.
- Steven Brennan as Roadblock Sergeant
- Pat Lee as Bracero Wife
- Judith Kim as Girl Barker
- Ronald Colby as Cafe Waiter
- Robert Stein as State Trooper
- Kenny Call as Donnie Bob
- Jeff Ramsey as Hunter #1
- Jerry Gatlin as Hunter #2
- David Daniell as Letterman
- Randy Tutton as 2nd Letterman
- John Carpenter as Man in Helicopter (uncredited)
- Mark Jensen as Extra (uncredited)
- Ronald L. Colby as Cafe Waiter
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 242
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 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 to 12 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 30 | 0 | 19 |
| 31 to 36 | 1 | 25 |
| 37 to 42 | 2 | 31 |
| 43 to 48 | 2 | 1 |
| 49 to 54 | 21 | 14 |
| 55 to 60 | 9 | 16 |
| 61 to 66 | 6 | 24 |
| 67 to 72 | 20 | 29 |
| 73 to 78 | 30 | 22 |
| 79 to 84 | 14 | 20 |
| 85 to 90 | 3 | 25 |
| 91 to 96 | 5 | 2 |
| 97 to 102 | 56 | 45 |
| 103 to 108 | 6 | 19 |
| 109 to 114 | 28 | 22 |
| 115 to 120 | 6 | 8 |
| 121 to 126 | 2 | 1 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 138 | 0 | 3 |
| 139 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
| 145 to 150 | 1 | 2 |
| 151 to 156 | 2 | 14 |
| 157 to 162 | 4 | 8 |
| 163 to 168 | 13 | 34 |
| 169 to 174 | 15 | 13 |
| 175 to 180 | 1 | 3 |
| 181 to 186 | 11 | 6 |
| 187 to 192 | 0 | 3 |
| 193 to 198 | 20 | 15 |
| 199 to 204 | 10 | 26 |
| 205 to 210 | 17 | 13 |
| 211 to 216 | 13 | 14 |
| 217 to 222 | 3 | 7 |
| 223 to 228 | 1 | 3 |
| 229 to 234 | 3 | 3 |
| 235 to 240 | 0 | 8 |
| 241 to 242 | 6 | 7 |
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, 38 are women's.
332 lines from women, 531 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 24 men in the cast. 1 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 936.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 79 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 37% of the words (2,563), men 63% (4,418). Women have 38% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
32
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Written by
- Raynold Gideon (man), Bruce A. Evans (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Franco (man)
- Shot by
- Donald M. Morgan (man)
- Edited by
- Marion Rothman (woman)
- Music by
- Jack Nitzsche (man)
- Production design by
- Daniel A. Lomino (man)
- Cast by
- Jennifer Shull (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 10 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Karen Allen 33
Men
Dirk Blocker 27, Charles Martin Smith 31, John Walter Davis 32, Jeff Bridges 35, M.C. Gainey 36, Robert Phalen 47, Richard Jaeckel 58, Ted White 58
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $22 million
- Box office
- $28.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 242 scenes and 936 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
