Passes the Bechdel test

Stepmom

Name: Stepmom
Released: 1998

1998. Directed by Chris Columbus, written by Gigi Levangie and Jessie Nelson and Steven Rogers.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
12 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 96.
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

Anna and Ben, the two children of Jackie and Luke, must cope with the fact that their parents divorced and their father is now with successful photographer Isabel. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when they're with their dad, but she also loves her work and doesn't plan to give it up. But full-time mother Jackie finds Isabel's efforts offensively insufficient and can't understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnosis of cancer, which might be deadly for Jackie. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.

Released: 25 Dec 1998
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 58 / 100
Awards: 8 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Jackie 445 lines, woman
Rachel 409 lines, woman
Luke 154 lines, man
Annabelle 144 lines, woman
Ben 79 lines, man
Duncan 10 lines, man
Mrs. Franklin 7 lines, woman
Dr. Sweikert 5 lines, woman
Jessica 5 lines, man
Stacy 5 lines

Full cast, 54 people

Julia Roberts as Isabel Kelly
Susan Sarandon as Jackie Harrison
Ed Harris as Luke Harrison
Jena Malone as Anna Harrison
Liam Aiken as Ben Harrison
Lynn Whitfield as Dr. P. Sweikert
Darrell Larson as Duncan Samuels
Mary Louise Wilson as Mrs. Franklin
Andre B. Blake as Cooper
Herbert Russell as Photo Assistant
Jack Eagle as Craft Service Man
Lu Sierra as Photo Shoot Model
Lauma Zemzare as Photo Shoot Model
Holly Schenck as Photo Shoot Model
Michelle Stone as Photo Shoot Model
Annett Esser as Photo Shoot Model
Monique Rodrique as Photo Shoot Model
Sal Mistretta as Ad Executive
Rex Hays as Ad Executive
Alice Liu as Ad Executive
Chuck Montgomery as Ad Executive
Mak Gilchrist as Rapunzel
Dylan Michaels as Prince
David Zayas as Policeman
José Ramón Rosario as Policeman
Lee Shepherd as Desk Sergeant
George Masters as Maitre D'
Anthony Grasso as Waiter
Robert F. Alvarado as Soccer Coach
Sebastian Rand as Tucker
Michelle Hurst as Nurse
Jason Maves as Brad Kovitsky
Julie Lancaster as Flight Attendant
Charlie Christman as Stone Fox
Amina Asep as Anna's Friend
Naama Kates as Anna's Friend
Jennifer Best as Anna's Friend
Robin Fusco as Anna's Friend
Jessica M. Osias as Anna's Friend
Electra Telesford as Anna's Friend
Michelle L. Brady as Anna's Friend
Zachary M. Hasak as Brad's Friend
Jordan Gochros as Brad's Friend
Rob London as Brad's Friend
James Ostrofsky as Brad's Friend
Chad Lavinio as Brad's Friend
John Sadowski as Brad's Friend
Matthew Doudounis as Brad's Friend
Andrea Dolloff as Cocktail Waitress
Eleanor Columbus as Girl in School Play (uncredited)
Mary DeBellis as Hostess (uncredited)
Tess Porter as Student in Thanksgiving Play (uncredited)
Nick Stellate as School Teacher (uncredited)
Gaël Zaks as The Soccer Coach (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 96

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	12	0
5 to 6	15	7
7 to 8	14	4
9 to 10	26	18
11 to 12	3	4
13 to 14	38	19
15 to 16	14	4
17 to 18	6	5
19 to 20	42	10
21 to 22	4	0
23 to 24	12	3
25 to 26	10	0
27 to 28	2	0
29 to 30	8	1
31 to 32	25	13
33 to 34	10	9
35 to 36	4	1
37 to 38	24	0
39 to 40	36	3
41 to 42	24	1
43 to 44	7	15
45 to 46	7	8
47 to 48	11	0
49 to 50	14	5
51 to 52	19	0
53 to 54	9	0
55 to 56	13	10
57 to 58	28	5
59 to 60	23	11
61 to 62	13	0
63 to 64	51	0
65 to 66	24	15
67 to 68	24	5
69 to 70	22	0
71 to 72	38	15
73 to 74	13	0
75 to 76	32	5
77 to 78	44	3
79 to 80	44	6
81 to 82	8	3
83 to 84	61	17
85 to 86	49	0
87 to 88	54	26
89 to 90	29	7
91 to 92	25	2
93 to 94	0	0
95 to 96	27	1

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.

JACKIE: ...it's really not so bad Annabelle -- Red and Blue make purple. ANNABELLE: I don't care. JACKIE: I know you don't, but if you had, chrom- atically you are in the purple family.

ANNABELLE: I NEVER do that, you ALWAYS lie! JACKIE: Never say 'never' -- it's not fair to say 'always' -- and no name calling. Use your words. ANNABELLE: I hate when you say that. JACKIE: Thank you. Those were all words. I hate the planet Uranus. Terrible name for a planet.

JACKIE: Lava's hateable. I never thought of that. ANNABELLE: I hate overly ripe bananas -- they make me want to throw up. JACKIE: Excellent point.

ANNABELLE: I hate the crayon Burnt Sienna and people who spit when they walk. JACKIE: I hate to say goodbye. Eskimo Kiss. Russian Orthodox Wedding Kiss.

ANNABELLE: Don't take my picture! JACKIE: Annabelle doesn't really want to talk to you right now. RACHEL: I'm sorry I didn't mean to break your concentration. I thought it would be a nice moment to rememb... ANNABELLE: I don't ever want to remember this!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 80 are women's.

1018 lines from women, 261 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 8 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 13 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 82% of the words (10,759), men 18% (2,380). Women have 80% 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 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Chris Columbus (man)
Written by: Gigi Levangie (woman), Steven Rogers (man), Jessie Nelson (woman), Ronald Bass (man), Karen Leigh Hopkins (woman)
Story by: Gigi Levangie (woman)
Produced by: Chris Columbus (man), Wendy Finerman (woman), Mark Radcliffe (man), Michael Barnathan (man)
Shot by: Donald McAlpine (man)
Edited by: Neil Travis (man)
Music by: John Williams (man)
Production design by: Stuart Wurtzel (man)
Costumes by: Joseph G. Aulisi (man)
Cast by: Ellen Lewis (woman)