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Passes the Bechdel test

The Greatest Showman

2017. Directed by Michael Gracey, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    34 women characters. 18 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 4 scenes out of 135.
  3. 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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

Poster for The Greatest Showman

The film

Orphaned, penniless, but ambitious and with a mind crammed with imagination and fresh ideas, the American entertainer, Phineas Taylor Barnum, will always be remembered as the man with the gift to blur the line between reality and fiction. Thirsty for innovation and hungry for success, the son of a tailor manages to open a wax museum; however, he soon shifts focus to the unique and the peculiar, introducing extraordinary, never-seen-before live acts on the circus stage. Now, some people call Barnum's rich collection of oddities, an outright freak show; but, when Phineas, obsessed for cheers and respectability, gambles everything on the opera singer, Jenny Lind, to appeal to a high-brow audience, he will lose sight of the most crucial aspect of his life: his family. Will Barnum, the greatest showman, risk it all to be accepted?

Released
20 Dec 2017
Genres
Biography, Drama, Musical
Rated
PG
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
48 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 18 wins & 32 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Barnum 329 lines, man
  2. Charity 78 lines, woman
  3. Phillip 62 lines, man
  4. Jenny 49 lines, woman
  5. Caroline 30 lines, woman
  6. Young Barnum 27 lines, man
  7. Tom Thumb 20 lines, man
  8. Roth 18 lines, man
  9. Anne 14 lines, woman
  10. Young Charity 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 83 people
  • Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum
  • Zac Efron as Phillip Carlyle
  • Michelle Williams as Charity Barnum
  • Rebecca Ferguson as Jenny Lind
  • Zendaya as Anne Wheeler
  • Keala Settle as Lettie Lutz
  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as W. D. Wheeler
  • Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Deng Yan
  • Paul Sparks as James Gordon Bennett
  • Sam Humphrey as Charles Stratton
  • Austyn Johnson as Caroline Barnum
  • Cameron Seely as Helen Barnum
  • Eric Anderson as Mr. O'Malley
  • Ellis Rubin as Young P. T. Barnum
  • Skylar Dunn as Young Charity Hallett
  • Daniel Everidge as Lord of Leeds
  • Radu Spinghel as O'Clancy
  • Yusaku Komori as Chang Bunker
  • Danial Son as Eng Bunker
  • Will Swenson as Philo Barnum
  • Linda Marie Larson as Mrs. Stratton
  • Byron Jennings as Mr. Carlyle
  • Betsy Aidem as Mrs. Carlyle
  • Damian Young as Mr. Winthrop
  • Tina Benko as Mrs. Winthrop
  • Fredric Lehne as Benjamin Hallett
  • Kathryn Meisle as Hannah Hallett
  • Timothy Hughes as Strong Man
  • Gayle Rankin as Queen Victoria
  • Arnie Burton as Court Herald
  • Carly Adams as Ballerina #1
  • Sawyer Niehaus as Ballerina #2
  • Shuler Hensley as Lead Protestor
  • Will Erat as Policeman
  • James Andrew O'Connor as Fireman
  • Jamie Jackson as Boss
  • Morgan Weed as Nurse
  • Henry Stram as Ticket Taker
  • Michael Barra as Stage Manager
  • Luciano Acuna Jr. as Dog Boy
  • Shannon Freyer as Jenny Lind Admirer #1
  • Kevin Dwane as Jenny Lind Admirer #2
  • Sandi DeGeorge as Jenny Lind Admirer #3
  • Tony Neil Butler as Royal Escort
  • Frances Emily Schramm as Laundry Woman
  • Kenneth Wong Chan as Human Cannonball
  • Stacey Alyse Cohen as Theatre Goer #1
  • Tim Wilson as Theatre Goer #2
  • Jonathon Culver as Theatre Goer #3
  • Jillian Braithwaite as Panhandler
  • Adam Haas Hunter as Protester
  • Bob Rumnock as Bank Manager
  • Ben Reed as Mill Worker
  • Martha Nichols as Woman in Gold
  • Jonathan Redavid as Dancer Oddity #1
  • Shannon Holtzapffel as Dancer Oddity #2
  • Jeremy Hudson as Dancer Oddity #3
  • Taylor James as Dancer Oddity #4
  • Chelsea Caso as Dancer Oddity #5
  • Caoife Coleman as Dancer Oddity #6
  • Mishay Petronelli as Dancer Oddity #7
  • Khasan Brailsford as Ensemble Dancer #1
  • Alex Wong as Ensemble Dancer #2
  • Julius Anthony Rubio as Ensemble Dancer #3
  • Vincent-Olivier Noiseux as Ensemble Dancer #4
  • DeAnna Walters as Ensemble Dancer #5
  • Ilia Jessica Castro as Ensemble Dancer #6
  • Najla Gilliam as Ensemble Dancer #7
  • Christina Glur as Ensemble Dancer #8
  • Emerson Tate Alexander as Pointe Ballerina #1
  • Victoria Llodra as Pointe Ballerina #2
  • Louise Hindsbo as Pointe Ballerina #3
  • Laci Justice as Pointe Ballerina #4
  • GiaNina Paolantonio as Pointe Ballerina #5
  • Rachel Quiner as Pointe Ballerina #6
  • Madison Smith as Pointe Ballerina #7
  • Brando as Pointe Ballerina #8
  • Daniel 'Cloud' Campos as Dancing Bartender #1
  • Rod Roberts as Dancing Bartender #2
  • James Babson as Additional Voices (voice)
  • Loren Allred as Jenny Lind (singing voice)
  • Brayden Titus as Upper-Class Child (uncredited)
  • Rocco Wu as Museum Child

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 135

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 3631
4 to 6617
7 to 904
10 to 12510
13 to 15814
16 to 1838
19 to 2138
22 to 241111
25 to 27224
28 to 3036
31 to 33713
34 to 36223
37 to 39620
40 to 4235
43 to 4557
46 to 48522
49 to 51811
52 to 541120
55 to 57230
58 to 60916
61 to 6329
64 to 661224
67 to 691312
70 to 7257
73 to 7500
76 to 7800
79 to 81819
82 to 841417
85 to 871419
88 to 9042
91 to 9350
94 to 9610
97 to 9910
100 to 1021619
103 to 10545
106 to 10802
109 to 11166
112 to 114614
115 to 11779
118 to 120015
121 to 12327
124 to 126226
127 to 12909
130 to 13202
133 to 13501

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.
CHARITY: Speaking of which... I brought this. CAROLINE: What’s that?
CAROLINE: We don’t know! HELEN: We ran out of tickets!
HELEN: What’s humbug? CHARITY: They say it’s fakery. Trickery. Flim- flam. CAROLINE: No! It’s magic!
JENNY: A pleasure. HELEN: You look like a princess, ma’am. JENNY: But you’re the beautiful one. CAROLINE: You have the most exquisite voice!
CAROLINE: My class will perform at the Met Gala this year. JENNY: Oh! What I would give to see that! I think you and I are going to be very good friends.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.

227 lines from women, 524 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

34 women and 39 men in the cast. 18 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 19 of 824. 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 23% of the words (1,999), men 77% (6,832). Women have 30% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 20 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Michael Gracey (man)
Written by
Bill Condon (man), Jenny Bicks (woman)
Story by
Jenny Bicks (woman)
Produced by
Jenno Topping (woman), Laurence Mark (man), Peter Chernin (man)
Shot by
Seamus McGarvey (man)
Edited by
Joe Hutshing (man), Robert Duffy (man), Jon Poll (man), Spencer Susser (man), Tom Cross (man), Michael McCusker (man)
Music by
Joseph Trapanese (man), John Debney (man)
Production design by
Nathan Crowley (man)
Costumes by
Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
Cast by
Bernard Telsey (man), Tiffany Little Canfield (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    6 women, 43 men, 11 not listed

  • Sound

    9 women, 42 men, 6 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    12 women, 6 men, 33 not listed

  • Art

    9 women, 11 men, 17 not listed

  • Production

    13 women, 12 men, 7 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 11 men, 11 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 8 men, 5 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 31 on average. Men: 36 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Zendaya 21, Natasha Liu Bordizzo 23, Rebecca Ferguson 34, Michelle Williams 37, Keala Settle 42

Men

Sam Humphrey 23, Zac Efron 30, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 31, Paul Sparks 46, Hugh Jackman 49

Exhibit H: the money

It made 5.5 times what it cost.

Budget
$84 million
Box office
$459 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 824 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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