Fails the Bechdel test
Storytelling
2001. Directed by Todd Solondz, written by Todd Solondz.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Storytelling is comprised of two separate stories set against the sadly comical terrain of college and high school, past and present. Following the paths of its young hopeful/ troubled characters, it explores issues of sex, race, celebrity and exploitation
- Released
- 08 Nov 2001
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Toby 81 lines, man
- Scooby 75 lines, man
- Mikey 57 lines, man
- Marty 51 lines, man
- Vi 48 lines, woman
- Fern 30 lines, woman
- Consuelo 29 lines, woman
- Mr Scott 27 lines, man
- Pam 26 lines
- Brady 21 lines, man
Full cast, 38 people
- Selma Blair as Vi
- Leo Fitzpatrick as Marcus
- Robert Wisdom as Mr. Scott
- Aleksa Palladino as Catherine
- Mark Webber as Scooby Livingston
- Paul Giamatti as Toby Oxman
- John Goodman as Marty Livingston
- Jonathan Osser as Mikey Livingston
- Lupe Ontiveros as Consuelo
- Julie Hagerty as Fern Livingston
- Noah Fleiss as Brady Livingston
- Maria Thayer as Ami
- Angela Goethals as Elli
- Xander Berkeley as Mr. DeMarco
- Devorah Rose as Lucy
- Nancy Anne Ridder as Joyce
- Steve Rosen as Ethan
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Melinda
- Tina Holmes as Sue
- Mike Schank as Mike the Cameraman
- Jessica Dunphy as Cheryl
- Nick Maltes as Esposito
- Steve Railsback as Mr. Kirk
- Crista Moore as Elizabeth St. Clair
- Franka Potente as Toby's Editor
- Andrew Marantz as Stanley
- Conan O'Brien as Himself
- Frederick B. Owens as Football Coach
- Barry Jordan as Dr. Barry Jordan
- Robin Goodman as Dr. Robin Goodman
- Eric Nieves as Dave
- Marisa Redanty as Onlooker #1
- Ilana Levine as Onlooker #2
- Jennifer Elise Cox as Musical Theatre Actress (uncredited)
- Pat Kiernan as TV News Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Gina Priano as Student (uncredited)
- Tom Schimmels as Man in Toby's Apartment (uncredited)
- Jim Titus as Football Player (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 59
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 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 to 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 to 6 | 14 | 6 |
| 7 to 8 | 14 | 10 |
| 9 to 10 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 to 12 | 10 | 12 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 to 16 | 10 | 33 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 14 |
| 19 to 20 | 9 | 33 |
| 21 to 22 | 6 | 6 |
| 23 to 24 | 6 | 22 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 14 |
| 27 to 28 | 7 | 23 |
| 29 to 30 | 4 | 5 |
| 31 to 32 | 6 | 13 |
| 33 to 34 | 3 | 7 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 43 |
| 37 to 38 | 6 | 12 |
| 39 to 40 | 9 | 10 |
| 41 to 42 | 16 | 33 |
| 43 to 44 | 3 | 16 |
| 45 to 46 | 2 | 10 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 11 |
| 55 to 56 | 1 | 3 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 to 59 | 0 | 2 |
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, 28 are women's.
141 lines from women, 360 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 16 men in the cast. 12 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 568.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 28% of the words (1,487), men 72% (3,744).
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
36
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Todd Solondz (man)
- Written by
- Todd Solondz (man)
- Produced by
- Christine Vachon (woman), Ted Hope (man)
- Shot by
- Frederick Elmes (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Oxman (man)
- Music by
- Nathan Larson (man)
- Production design by
- James Chinlund (man)
- Costumes by
- John Dunn (man)
- Cast by
- Ann Goulder (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Aleksa Palladino 21, Selma Blair 29, Julie Hagerty 46, Lupe Ontiveros 59
Men
Jonathan Osser 12, Mark Webber 21, Leo Fitzpatrick 24, Paul Giamatti 34, Robert Wisdom 48, John Goodman 49
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $1.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 59 scenes and 568 lines of dialogue. How the test works
