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Fails the Bechdel test

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

2013. Directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    10 women characters. 4 of them speak.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The film

After successfully crossing over (and under) the Misty Mountains, Thorin and Company must seek aid from a powerful stranger before taking on the dangers of Mirkwood Forest--without their Wizard. If they reach the human settlement of Lake-town it will be time for the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to fulfill his contract with the dwarves. The party must complete the journey to Lonely Mountain and burglar Baggins must seek out the Secret Door that will give them access to the hoard of the dragon Smaug. And, where has Gandalf got off to? And what is his secret business to the south?

Released
13 Dec 2013
Genres
Adventure, Fantasy
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.8 / 10
Metascore
66 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 3 Oscars. 19 wins & 91 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Thorin 115 lines, man
  2. Bilbo 72 lines, man
  3. Gandalf 62 lines, man
  4. Bard 57 lines, man
  5. Balin 54 lines, man
  6. Smaug 38 lines, man
  7. Legolas 32 lines, man
  8. Tauriel 30 lines, woman
  9. Dwalin 28 lines, man
  10. Alfrid 21 lines, man
Full cast, 66 people
  • Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
  • Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
  • Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
  • Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug / Sauron
  • Orlando Bloom as Legolas
  • Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
  • Lee Pace as King Thranduil
  • Luke Evans as Bard / Girion
  • Stephen Fry as The Master of Laketown
  • Ken Stott as Balin
  • James Nesbitt as Bofur
  • Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn
  • Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown
  • Aidan Turner as Kili
  • Dean O'Gorman as Fili
  • Graham McTavish as Dwalin
  • Adam Brown as Ori
  • Peter Hambleton as Gloin
  • John Callen as Oin
  • Mark Hadlow as Dori
  • Jed Brophy as Nori
  • William Kircher as Bifur
  • Stephen Hunter as Bombur
  • Ryan Gage as Alfrid
  • John Bell as Bain
  • Manu Bennett as Azog the Defiler
  • Lawrence Makoare as Bolg
  • Peggy Nesbitt as Sigrid
  • Mary Nesbitt as Tilda
  • Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
  • Ben Mitchell as Narzug
  • Stephen Ure as Fimbul
  • Craig Hall as Galion
  • Robin Kerr as Elros
  • Eli Kent as Lethuin
  • Simon London as Feren
  • Brian Sergent as Spider
  • Peter Vere-Jones as Spider
  • Mark Mitchinson as Braga
  • Kelly Kilgour as Soury
  • Sarah Peirse as Hilda Blanca
  • Nick Blake as Percy
  • Dallas Barnett as Bill Ferny Snr
  • Matt Smith as Squint
  • Katie Jackson as Betsy Butterbur
  • Richard Whiteside as Butterbur Snr
  • Greg Ellis as Net Mender
  • Ray Henwood as Old Fisherman
  • Tim Gordon as Stallkeeper
  • Jabez Olssen as Fish Monger
  • Stephen Colbert as Laketown Spy
  • Evelyn McGee-Colbert as Laketown Spy
  • Peter Colbert as Laketown Spy
  • John Colbert as Laketown Spy
  • Norman Kali as Laketown Spy
  • Carter Nixon as Laketown Spy
  • Zane Weiner as Laketown Spy
  • Allan Smith as Orc Underling
  • Jack Binding as Laketowner (uncredited)
  • Terry Binding as Laketowner (uncredited)
  • Frank Edwards as Dock Worker (uncredited)
  • Peter Jackson as Albert Dreary (uncredited)
  • Terry Notary as Goblin (uncredited)
  • Emma Smith as Dead Dwarf (uncredited)
  • Phoebe Gittins as Prancing Pony Wench (uncredited)
  • Alaina Wilks as Laketown Girl (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 129

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 3023
4 to 6019
7 to 909
10 to 1209
13 to 15020
16 to 18324
19 to 21014
22 to 24012
25 to 27328
28 to 3026
31 to 33522
34 to 36613
37 to 39018
40 to 4211
43 to 4503
46 to 48012
49 to 51052
52 to 54228
55 to 57019
58 to 60026
61 to 63018
64 to 6616
67 to 6912
70 to 72640
73 to 75210
76 to 78024
79 to 81012
82 to 8405
85 to 87017
88 to 9008
91 to 93033
94 to 96049
97 to 9918
100 to 102021
103 to 105011
106 to 10800
109 to 11100
112 to 114218
115 to 117310
118 to 120010
121 to 123018
124 to 126011
127 to 12903

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, 5 are women's.

38 lines from women, 692 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 50 men in the cast. 4 women and 37 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 100 of 768. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 164 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 6% of the words (501), men 94% (7,678). Women have 5% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

9 of the 22 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% 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
Fran Walsh (woman), Carolynne Cunningham (woman), Peter Jackson (man), Zane Weiner (man)
Shot by
Andrew Lesnie (man)
Edited by
Jabez Olssen (man)
Music by
Howard Shore (man)
Production design by
Dan Hennah (man)
Costumes by
Richard Taylor (man), Ann Maskrey (woman), Bob Buck (man)
Cast by
John Hubbard (man), Victoria Burrows (woman), Miranda Rivers (woman), Liz Mullane (woman), Amy Hubbard (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 17 men, 9 not listed

  • Sound

    2 women, 14 men, 8 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    6 women, 7 men, 9 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 13 men, 7 not listed

  • Production

    9 women, 8 men, 3 not listed

  • Other crew

    4 women, 10 men, 5 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 34 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Evangeline Lilly 34

Men

Lee Pace 34, Luke Evans 34, Orlando Bloom 36, Benedict Cumberbatch 37, Martin Freeman 42, Richard Armitage 42, Stephen Fry 56, Ken Stott 59, Ian McKellen 74

Exhibit G: the money

It made 3.8 times what it cost.

Budget
$250 million
Box office
$958 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 768 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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