Fails the Bechdel test
The Mask
1994. Directed by Chuck Russell, written by Michael Fallon and Mark Verheiden and Mike Werb.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
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 1 out of 3.
The film
Timid bank clerk, Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey). Unfortunately, he's too gentle, and is unable to handle confrontations. After one of the worst days, he finds a mask which depicts Loki, the Norse god of mischief. When he puts it on, he becomes his inner, self: a cartoon wild man. After Ipkiss's alter ego indirectly kills the friend of small time crime boss, Dorian Tyrel (Peter Greene),he wants the green-faced goon destroyed.
- Released
- 29 Jul 1994
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 6 wins & 22 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Stanley 220 lines, man
- Tina 90 lines, woman
- Dorian 84 lines, man
- Charlie 60 lines, man
- Kellaway 40 lines, man
- Peggy 37 lines, woman
- Lt. Kellaway 28 lines, man
- Dorian/Mask 27 lines, man
- Mask 24 lines, man
- The Mask 24 lines, man
Full cast, 46 people
- Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss / The Mask
- Peter Riegert as Mitch Kellaway
- Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrrell
- Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt
- Richard Jeni as Charlie Schumaker
- Orestes Matacena as Niko
- Tim Bagley as Irv
- Nancy Fish as Mrs. Peenman
- Johnny Williams as Burt
- Reg E. Cathey as Freeze
- Jim Doughan as Doyle
- Denis Forest as Sweet Eddy
- Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle
- Joseph Alfieri as Police Officer
- B.J. Barie as Alley Punk #1
- Catherine Berge as Cigarette Girl
- Philip Boardman as Guard
- Krista Buonauro as Lady Cop
- Debra Casey as Alley Punk #3
- Blake Clark as Murray
- Christopher Darga as Paramedic #3
- Suzanne Dunn as Reporter
- Joely Fisher as Maggie
- Kevin Grevioux as Henchman #7
- Peter Jazwinski as Park Policeman
- Howard Kay as Niko's Thug #2
- Robert Keith as Police Officer
- Beau Lotterman as Megaphone Cop
- Scott McElroy as Niko's Thug #1
- Richard Montes as Henchman #1
- Ivory Ocean as Mayor Tilton
- Robert O'Reilly as The Figure
- Louis Ortiz as Coco Bongo Valet
- Daniel James Peterson as Henchman #6
- Jeremy Roberts as Bobby the Bouncer
- Eamonn Roche as Mr. Dickey
- Randi Ruimy as Screaming Lady
- Ben Stein as Dr. Neuman
- Nils Allen Stewart as Orlando
- Chris Taylor as Coco Bongo Cop #1
- Bullet Valmont as Alley Punk #2
- Wendy L. Walsh as Wendy L. Walsh
- Meadow Williams as Pebbles
- Henry Kingi as Dorian Tyrell's Henchman (Uncredited)
- Max as Milo
- Chris Taylor as Coco Bongo Cop #1
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 115
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 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 34 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 32 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 38 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 16 |
| 19 to 21 | 6 | 13 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 29 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 26 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 14 | 33 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 11 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 13 |
| 52 to 54 | 5 | 19 |
| 55 to 57 | 2 | 49 |
| 58 to 60 | 22 | 34 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 23 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 31 |
| 67 to 69 | 14 | 33 |
| 70 to 72 | 4 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 11 | 24 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 15 | 27 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 11 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 5 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 20 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 7 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 5 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 7 | 20 |
| 112 to 114 | 4 | 15 |
| 115 to 115 | 3 | 5 |
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, 18 are women's.
148 lines from women, 667 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 30 men in the cast. 4 women and 32 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 907.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 78 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (1,850), men 79% (7,132). Women have 18% 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
64
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Chuck Russell (man)
- Written by
- Mike Werb (man)
- Story by
- Michael Fallon (gender not listed), Mark Verheiden (man)
- Produced by
- Robert Engelman (man)
- Shot by
- John R. Leonetti (man)
- Edited by
- Arthur Coburn (man)
- Music by
- Randy Edelman (man)
- Production design by
- Craig Stearns (man)
- Costumes by
- Ha Nguyen (woman)
- Cast by
- Fern Champion (woman), Mark Paladini (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
7 women, 34 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 19 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Amy Yasbeck 31, Nancy Fish 56
Men
Peter Greene 28, Jim Carrey 32, Reg E. Cathey 35, Tim Bagley 36, Richard Jeni 37, Peter Riegert 47, Orestes Matacena 52
Exhibit G: the money
It made 15.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $23 million
- Box office
- $352 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 115 scenes and 907 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
