Fails the Bechdel test
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012. Directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever ... Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities ... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
- Released
- 14 Dec 2012
- Genres
- Adventure, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 11 wins & 76 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bilbo 183 lines, man
- Gandalf 164 lines, man
- Thorin 101 lines, man
- Balin 52 lines, man
- Fili 50 lines, man
- Dwalin 35 lines, man
- Gollum 33 lines, man
- Elrond 32 lines, man
- Smeagol 29 lines, man
- Kili 27 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
- Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
- James Nesbitt as Bofur
- Ken Stott as Balin
- Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown
- Barry Humphries as The Great Goblin
- Dean O'Gorman as Fili
- Aidan Turner as Kili
- Graham McTavish as Dwalin
- Adam Brown as Ori
- Peter Hambleton as Gloin / William Troll
- John Callen as Oin
- Mark Hadlow as Dori / Bert Troll
- Jed Brophy as Nori
- William Kircher as Bifur / Tom Troll
- Stephen Hunter as Bombur
- Andy Serkis as Gollum
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
- Lee Pace as King Thranduil
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Christopher Lee as Saruman the White
- Ian Holm as Old Bilbo Baggins
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Necromancer
- Manu Bennett as Azog the Defiler
- Conan Stevens as Bolg
- Jeffrey Thomas as Thror
- Michael Mizrahi as Thrain
- John Rawls as Yazneg
- Stephen Ure as Fimbul / Grinnah
- Timothy Bartlett as Master Worrywort
- Bret McKenzie as Lindir
- Kiran Shah as Goblin Scribe
- Glenn Boswell as Dwarf Miner
- Thomas Robins as Young Thrain
- Ruby Acevedo as Cute Young Hobbit
- Katie Jackson as Cute Young Hobbit
- Isaac Miller as Cute Young Hobbit
- Ella Olssen as Cute Young Hobbit
- Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Cute Young Hobbit
- Sonny Ashbourne Serkis as Cute Young Hobbit
- Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Cute Young Hobbit
- Terry Notary as Great Goblin / Yazneg (uncredited)
- Peter Jackson as Running Dwarf in Erebor (uncredited)
- Brendan Casey as King Thranduil's Lieutenant
- Jarred Blakiston as Musical Elf (uncredited)
- Paul Kingdom as Dwarf Civilian (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 155
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 | 0 | 17 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 34 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 11 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 13 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 5 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 60 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 20 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 16 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 18 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 26 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 86 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 25 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 34 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 16 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 35 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 32 |
| 77 to 80 | 6 | 36 |
| 81 to 84 | 5 | 15 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 18 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 108 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 22 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 9 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 8 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 7 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 5 |
| 117 to 120 | 2 | 60 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 24 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 24 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 16 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 10 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 7 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 22 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 7 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 3 |
| 153 to 155 | 0 | 25 |
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, 1 are women's.
13 lines from women, 892 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 41 men in the cast. 1 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 477 of 936.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 476 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 2% of the words (213), men 98% (9,381). Women have 1% 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
0
Two men
83
Exhibit E: behind the camera
8 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
- Peter Jackson (man)
- Written by
- Fran Walsh (woman), Philippa Boyens (woman), Peter Jackson (man), Guillermo del Toro (man)
- From the novel by
- J. R. R. Tolkien (man)
- Produced by
- Carolynne Cunningham (woman), Peter Jackson (man), Fran Walsh (woman), Zane Weiner (man)
- Shot by
- Andrew Lesnie (man)
- Edited by
- Jabez Olssen (man)
- Music by
- Howard Shore (man)
- Production design by
- Dan Hennah (man)
- Cast by
- Victoria Burrows (woman), Amy Hubbard (woman), John Hubbard (man), Liz Mullane (woman), Scot Boland (man), Ann Robinson (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 35 men, 156 not listed
-
Sound
7 women, 30 men, 36 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
10 women, 6 men, 49 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 17 men, 41 not listed
-
Production
17 women, 10 men, 29 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 17 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 21 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 17 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 52 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Aidan Turner 29, Dean O'Gorman 36, Martin Freeman 41, Richard Armitage 41, James Nesbitt 47, Graham McTavish 51, Ken Stott 58, Sylvester McCoy 69, Ian McKellen 73, Barry Humphries 78
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $250 million
- Box office
- $1 billion
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 155 scenes and 936 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
