Fails the Bechdel test
The Blind Side
2009. Directed by John Lee Hancock, written by John Lee Hancock and Michael Lewis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
20 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Based on the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael Oher. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft.
- Released
- 20 Nov 2009
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Sport
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 9 wins & 30 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Leigh Anne 230 lines, woman
- Michael 130 lines, man
- Sean 101 lines, man
- Cotton 64 lines, man
- Si 37 lines
- Granger 26 lines, woman
- Miss Sue 19 lines, woman
- Alton 18 lines, man
- Collins 16 lines, woman
- Sj 16 lines
Full cast, 63 people
- Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy
- Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy
- Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher
- Jae Head as S.J. Tuohy
- Lily Collins as Collins Tuohy
- Ray McKinnon as Coach Cotton
- Kim Dickens as Mrs. Boswell
- Adriane Lenox as Denise Oher
- Kathy Bates as Miss Sue
- Catherine Dyer as Mrs. Smith
- Andy Stahl as Principal Sandstrom
- Tom Nowicki as Literature Teacher
- Libby Whittemore as Sarcastic Teacher
- Brian Hollan as Jay Collis
- Melody Weintraub as History Teacher
- Sharon Conley as Investigator Granger
- Omar J. Dorsey as "Big Tony" Hamilton
- Paul Amadi as Steven Hamilton
- IronE Singleton as Alton
- Hampton Fluker as David
- Rhoda Griffis as Beth
- Eaddy Mays as Elaine
- Ashley LeConte Campbell as Sherry
- Stacey Turner as DMV Employee
- Elizabeth Omilami as CPS Employee
- Afemo Omilami as CPS Caseworker
- Maria Howell as CPS Welfare Worker
- Patrick G. Keenan as Man In CPS Line
- Eric Benson as Milford #66
- David Dwyer as Milford Dad
- Catherine Combs as Collins's Friend #1
- Kelly Johns as Collins's Friend #2
- Robert Pralgo as Lemming's Associate
- Whitney Branan as Lemming's Secretary #1
- Brian Sutherin as Lemming's Secretary #2
- Rachel St. Gelais as Little Girl on Playground
- Brandon Rivers as Michael Age Seven
- Jody Thompson as Paramedic
- James Donadio as Photographer
- L. Warren Young as Big and Tall Salesman
- Brett Rice as Cousin Bobby
- Kevin Nichols as Memphis Policeman
- Preston Wigasi Brant as Michael's Brother
- Matthew Atkinson as Valet Parker
- Trey Best as Michael's Brother Age Twelve
- Omid Soltani as Rug Salesman
- Destiny Long as Alton's Girlfriend
- April Rich as Teacher In Lounge
- Jaye Tyroff as Milford Player #35
- Ben Keen as Wingate Quarterback
- John Newberg as Official
- John Henry Hancock as Rabid Ole Miss Fan
- Joe Chrest as Clemson Coach
- Michael Fisher as Georgia Assistant Coach
- Lamont Koonce as Tennessee Assistant Coach
- Phillip Fulmer as Self
- Lou Holtz as Self
- Tom Lemming as Self
- Houston Nutt as Self
- Ed Orgeron as Self
- Franklin "Pepper" Rodgers as Self
- Nick Saban as Self
- Tommy Tuberville as Self
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 186
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 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 23 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 11 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 to 24 | 6 | 5 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 16 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 2 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 5 |
| 37 to 40 | 10 | 10 |
| 41 to 44 | 4 | 1 |
| 45 to 48 | 7 | 4 |
| 49 to 52 | 6 | 3 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 6 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 5 |
| 61 to 64 | 25 | 9 |
| 65 to 68 | 8 | 3 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 4 | 13 |
| 77 to 80 | 13 | 9 |
| 81 to 84 | 9 | 10 |
| 85 to 88 | 32 | 4 |
| 89 to 92 | 7 | 13 |
| 93 to 96 | 15 | 8 |
| 97 to 100 | 18 | 9 |
| 101 to 104 | 31 | 2 |
| 105 to 108 | 3 | 12 |
| 109 to 112 | 4 | 4 |
| 113 to 116 | 13 | 19 |
| 117 to 120 | 8 | 33 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 5 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 5 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 1 |
| 133 to 136 | 23 | 16 |
| 137 to 140 | 8 | 7 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 1 |
| 149 to 152 | 2 | 2 |
| 153 to 156 | 5 | 1 |
| 157 to 160 | 5 | 16 |
| 161 to 164 | 2 | 3 |
| 165 to 168 | 11 | 3 |
| 169 to 172 | 34 | 30 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 14 |
| 177 to 180 | 4 | 5 |
| 181 to 184 | 19 | 20 |
| 185 to 186 | 0 | 0 |
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, 48 are women's.
351 lines from women, 373 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
20 women and 27 men in the cast. 14 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 44 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 49% of the words (4,686), men 51% (4,913). Women have 48% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
15
Two men
30
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Lee Hancock (man)
- Written by
- John Lee Hancock (man)
- Produced by
- Andrew A. Kosove (man), Gil Netter (man), Broderick Johnson (man)
- Shot by
- Alar Kivilo (man)
- Edited by
- Mark Livolsi (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Michael Corenblith (man)
- Costumes by
- Daniel Orlandi (man)
- Cast by
- Ronna Kress (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 46 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lily Collins 20, Kim Dickens 44, Sandra Bullock 45, Catherine Dyer 50, Adriane Lenox 53, Kathy Bates 61
Men
Jae Head 12, Quinton Aaron 25, Tim McGraw 42, Ray McKinnon 52
Exhibit G: the money
It made 10.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $29 million
- Box office
- $309 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 186 scenes and 854 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
