Passes the Bechdel test
Superbad
2007. Directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 153. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Seth and Evan are best friends, inseparable, navigating the last weeks of high school. Usually shunned by the popular kids, Seth and Evan luck into an invitation to a party, and spend a long day, with the help of their nerdy friend Fogell, trying to score enough alcohol to lubricate the party and inebriate two girls, Jules and Becca, so they can kick-start their sex lives and go off to college with a summer full of experience and new skills. Their quest is complicated by Fogell's falling in with two inept cops who both slow and assist the plan. If they do get the liquor to the party, what then? Is sex the only rite of passage at hand?
- Released
- 17 Aug 2007
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- 11 wins & 24 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Seth 287 lines, man
- Evan 227 lines, man
- Fogell 129 lines, man
- Officer Slater 77 lines, man
- Officer Michaels 62 lines, man
- Helen 58 lines
- Jules 53 lines, woman
- Driver 18 lines, man
- Cashier 9 lines
- Mark 8 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Jonah Hill as Seth
- Michael Cera as Evan
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fogell
- Bill Hader as Officer Slater
- Seth Rogen as Officer Michaels
- Martha MacIsaac as Becca
- Emma Stone as Jules
- Aviva Baumann as Nicola
- Joe Lo Truglio as Francis the Driver
- Kevin Corrigan as Mark
- Clement Blake as Homeless Guy
- Erica Vittina Phillips as Liquor Store Cashier
- Joe Nuñez as Liquor Store Clerk
- Dave Franco as Greg the Soccer Player
- Marcella Lentz-Pope as Gaby
- Scott Gerbacia as Jesse
- Laura Seay as Shirley
- Roger Iwami as Miroki
- Clint Mabry as Prosthetic Leg Kid
- Stacy Edwards as Evan's Mom
- Mark Rogen as Father with Bat
- Charlie Hartsock as Good Shopper Cashier
- Dona Hardy as Old Lady
- Charley Rossman as Good Shopper Security
- Carla Gallo as Period Blood Girl
- Ben Best as Quince Danbury
- Jody Hill as Tut Long John Silver
- Kevin Breznahan as Patrick Manchester
- David Krumholtz as Benji Austin
- Mousa Kraish as Billy Baybridge
- Nicholas Jasenovec as Coffee Fairmount
- Martin Starr as James Masselin
- Keith Loneker as Wild Bill Cherry
- Matthew McKane as Kane Cloverdale
- Lauren Miller Rogen as Scarlett Brighton
- Peter Salett as Tiger Greendragon
- Rakefet Abergel as Muffin Selby
- Brooke Dillman as Mrs. Hayworth
- Michael Naughton as Gym Teacher
- Steve Bannos as Math Teacher
- Casey Margolis as Young Seth
- Laura Marano as Young Becca
- Matthew Bass as Vagtastic Voyager
- Aurora Snow as Vagtastic Voyage Girl
- Jenna Haze as Vagtastic Voyage Girl
- Ted Haigh as Bartender
- Michael Fennessey as Bus Driver
- Brian Huskey as Elementary Principal
- Clark Duke as Party Teenager
- Stephen Borrello IV as Party Teenager
- Naathan Phan as Party Teenager
- Pamella D'Pella as Teacher
- Danny McBride as Buddy at Party (uncredited)
- Cortney Palm as Party Guest (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 153
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 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 34 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 to 16 | 7 | 15 |
| 17 to 20 | 9 | 39 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 7 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 4 |
| 29 to 32 | 10 | 16 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 22 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 48 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 33 |
| 45 to 48 | 2 | 5 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 35 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 28 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 28 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 53 |
| 65 to 68 | 4 | 14 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 40 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 34 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 30 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 17 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 26 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 29 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 13 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 28 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 14 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 9 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 17 |
| 117 to 120 | 3 | 27 |
| 121 to 124 | 6 | 11 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 6 |
| 133 to 136 | 17 | 20 |
| 137 to 140 | 5 | 28 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 23 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 22 |
| 149 to 152 | 9 | 53 |
| 153 to 153 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JULES: Whatever shit you think people would like, I don't really know. SHIRLEY: I want Mike's Hard Lemonade. JULES: Okay. I'll see you tonight.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 9 are women's.
83 lines from women, 863 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 32 men in the cast. 7 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 12 of 1,033.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 185 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (835), men 92% (9,115). Women have 9% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
1
Two men
82
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Greg Mottola (man)
- Written by
- Seth Rogen (man), Evan Goldberg (man)
- Produced by
- Judd Apatow (man), Shauna Robertson (woman)
- Shot by
- Russ T. Alsobrook (man)
- Edited by
- William Kerr (man)
- Music by
- Lyle Workman (man)
- Production design by
- Chris L. Spellman (man)
- Costumes by
- Debra McGuire (woman)
- Cast by
- Allison Jones (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 17 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 21 on average. Men: 27 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emma Stone 18, Martha MacIsaac 22, Aviva Baumann 23
Men
Christopher Mintz-Plasse 18, Michael Cera 19, Jonah Hill 23, Seth Rogen 25, Bill Hader 29, Joe Lo Truglio 36, Kevin Corrigan 38
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $171 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 153 scenes and 1,033 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
