Passes the Bechdel test

The Breakfast Club

Name: The Breakfast Club
Released: 1985

1985. Directed by John Hughes, written by John Hughes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 2 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 44.
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

Beyond being in the same class at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, Claire Standish, Andrew Clark, John Bender, Brian Johnson and Allison Reynolds have little in common, and with the exception of Claire and Andrew, do not associate with each other in school. In the simplest and in their own terms, Claire is a princess, Andrew an athlete, John a criminal, Brian a brain, and Allison a basket case. But one other thing they do have in common is a nine-hour detention in the school library together on Saturday, March 24, 1984, under the direction of Richard Vernon, supervising from his office across the hall. Each is required to write a minimum one-thousand-word essay during that time about who they think they are. At the beginning of those nine hours, each, if they were indeed planning on writing that essay, would probably write something close to what the world sees of them, and what they have been brainwashed into believing of themselves. But based on their adventures during those nine hours, they may come to a different opinion of themselves and the other four.

Released: 15 Feb 1985
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.8 / 10
Metascore: 66 / 100
Awards: 4 wins total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bender 212 lines, man
Claire 153 lines, woman
Andrew 139 lines, man
Brian 120 lines, man
Vernon 87 lines, man
Allison 71 lines, woman
Carl 21 lines, man
Brian'S Mother 4 lines, woman
Andrew'S Father 2 lines, man
Andrew & Brian 1 lines, man

Full cast, 15 people

Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark
Judd Nelson as John Bender
Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish
Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson
Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds
Paul Gleason as Richard Vernon
John Kapelos as Carl
Perry Crawford as Allison's Father
Mary Christian as Brian's Sister
Ron Dean as Andy's Father
Tim Gamble as Claire's Father
Fran Gargano as Allison's Mom
Mercedes Hall as Brian's Mom
John Hughes as Brian’s Father (uncredited)
Jonathan Chapin as Janitor (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 44

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 1	0	0
2 to 2	0	1
3 to 3	1	1
4 to 4	5	2
5 to 5	0	3
6 to 6	0	0
7 to 7	7	47
8 to 8	0	1
9 to 9	11	47
10 to 10	0	0
11 to 11	0	8
12 to 12	0	3
13 to 13	3	56
14 to 14	0	1
15 to 15	19	70
16 to 16	0	0
17 to 17	1	14
18 to 18	5	9
19 to 19	10	26
20 to 20	6	31
21 to 21	0	1
22 to 22	3	42
23 to 23	0	7
24 to 24	0	4
25 to 25	0	2
26 to 26	0	1
27 to 27	3	16
28 to 28	0	0
29 to 29	1	2
30 to 30	0	16
31 to 31	32	42
32 to 32	0	12
33 to 33	95	94
34 to 34	0	0
35 to 35	0	0
36 to 36	19	7
37 to 37	0	1
38 to 38	1	1
39 to 39	3	4
40 to 40	2	3
41 to 41	0	4
42 to 42	0	0
43 to 43	0	1
44 to 44	2	4

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.

ALLISON: I'd do that! ALLISON: I'll do anything sexual, I don't need a million dollars to do it either... CLAIRE: You're lying... ALLISON: I already have...I've done just about everything there is except a few things that are illegal...I'm a nymphomaniac!

ALLISON: Have you ever done it? CLAIRE: I don't even have a psychiatrist... ALLISON: Have you ever done it with a normal person? CLAIRE: Now, didn't we already cover this?

CLAIRE: Look, I'm not gonna discuss my private life with total strangers. ALLISON: It's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it? CLAIRE: A what? ALLISON: Well, if you say you haven't... you're a prude. If you say you have...you're a slut! It's a trap. You want to but you can't but when you do …

CLAIRE: I don't do anything! ALLISON: That's why you're a tease... CLAIRE: Okay, lemme ask you a few questions. ALLISON: I've already told you everything!

CLAIRE: No! I never did it! ALLISON: I never did it either, I'm not a nymphomaniac...I'm a compulsive liar... CLAIRE: You are such a bitch! You did that on purpose just to fuck me over! ALLISON: I would do it though...If you love someone it's okay...

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.

229 lines from women, 584 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 10 men in the cast. 2 women and 8 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 814. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 36 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 22% of the words (1,803), men 78% (6,294). Women have 28% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: John Hughes (man)
Written by: John Hughes (man)
Produced by: John Hughes (man), Ned Tanen (man)
Shot by: Thomas Del Ruth (man)
Edited by: Dede Allen (woman)
Music by: Keith Forsey (man)
Production design by: John W. Corso (man)
Costumes by: Marilyn Vance (woman)

The crew, department by department

Sound

0 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
Production

2 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
Editing

3 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
Art

1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

1 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
Other crew

0 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
Directing

0 women, 4 men
Camera

0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 15 on average. Men: 36 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Mary Christian 7, Molly Ringwald 16, Ally Sheedy 22

Men

Anthony Michael Hall 16, Emilio Estevez 22, Judd Nelson 25, John Kapelos 28, Paul Gleason 45, Ron Dean 46, Perry Crawford 67

Exhibit H: the money

It made 51.5 times what it cost.

Budget: $1 million
Box office: $51.5 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 44 scenes and 814 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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