Passes the Bechdel test
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2012. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, written by Stephen Chbosky.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 13 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 187. -
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
Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, this is about 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him to the real world.
- Released
- 12 Oct 2012
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- 20 wins & 51 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Charlie 274 lines, man
- Patrick 118 lines, man
- Sam 109 lines, woman
- Mary Elizabeth 62 lines, woman
- Bill 28 lines, man
- Candace 21 lines, woman
- Father 15 lines, man
- Brad Hays 14 lines, man
- Dr. Burton 13 lines, woman
- Mother 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 40 people
- Logan Lerman as Charlie
- Emma Watson as Sam
- Ezra Miller as Patrick
- Mae Whitman as Mary Elizabeth
- Kate Walsh as Mother
- Dylan McDermott as Father
- Melanie Lynskey as Aunt Helen
- Nina Dobrev as Candace
- Johnny Simmons as Brad
- Joan Cusack as Dr. Burton
- Paul Rudd as Mr. Anderson
- Nicholas Braun as Ponytail Derek
- Reece Thompson as Craig
- Patrick de Ledebur as Senior Bully
- Brian Balzerini as Linebacker
- Tom Kruszewski as Nose Tackle
- Julia Garner as Susan
- Tom Savini as Mr. Callahan
- Emily Marie Callaway as Mean Freshman Girl
- Chelsea Zhang as Shakespeare Girl
- Jesse Scheirer as Freshman Boy
- Justine Nicole Schaefer as Twin Girl #1
- Julie Marie Schaefer as Twin Girl #2
- Leo Miles Farmerie as 7-Year-Old Charlie
- Isabel Muschweck as 9-Year-Old Candace
- Adam Hagenbuch as Bob
- Erin Wilhelmi as Alice
- Jordan Paley as Rocky MC
- Zane Holtz as Chris
- Timothy Breslin as Policeman
- Mark McClain Wilson as Emergency Room Policeman
- Atticus Cain as Emergency Room Doctor
- Stacy Chbosky as Young Mom
- Dihlon McManne as Priest
- Laurie Klatscher as School Principal
- Landon Pigg as Peter
- Jennifer Enskat as Sam's Mom
- William L. Thomas as Patrick's Dad
- Morgan Wolk as Candace's Friend
- Joe Fishel as Father of Twin Girls (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 187
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 | 2 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 27 |
| 13 to 16 | 3 | 12 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 5 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 18 | 42 |
| 29 to 32 | 9 | 5 |
| 33 to 36 | 17 | 24 |
| 37 to 40 | 14 | 29 |
| 41 to 44 | 6 | 14 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 5 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 15 | 18 |
| 57 to 60 | 1 | 14 |
| 61 to 64 | 1 | 9 |
| 65 to 68 | 30 | 35 |
| 69 to 72 | 3 | 5 |
| 73 to 76 | 3 | 13 |
| 77 to 80 | 6 | 5 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 5 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 4 |
| 93 to 96 | 10 | 9 |
| 97 to 100 | 6 | 7 |
| 101 to 104 | 17 | 11 |
| 105 to 108 | 4 | 6 |
| 109 to 112 | 5 | 7 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 20 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 3 |
| 121 to 124 | 4 | 7 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 28 |
| 129 to 132 | 10 | 35 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 6 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 13 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 10 |
| 149 to 152 | 13 | 9 |
| 153 to 156 | 2 | 0 |
| 157 to 160 | 2 | 0 |
| 161 to 164 | 1 | 0 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 1 |
| 169 to 172 | 7 | 7 |
| 173 to 176 | 12 | 13 |
| 177 to 180 | 3 | 3 |
| 181 to 184 | 5 | 10 |
| 185 to 187 | 0 | 7 |
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.
LITTLE CANDACE: Welcome home, Aunt Helen! AUNT HELEN: Oh. Look at you all, dressed so nice.
MARY ELIZABETH: Or something very right. SAM: Hey! Look who's here!
ALICE: "Alice, I know you'll get into NYU." MARY ELIZABETH: 40 dollars. "To print Punk Rocky in color next time."
MARY ELIZABETH: It's Patrick! SAM: No! No!
SAM: I'll call all the time. MARY ELIZABETH: Promise. SAM: And we'll all see each other in New York.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
242 lines from women, 506 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 17 men in the cast. 13 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 13 of 758.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 51 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (2,210), men 73% (6,112). Women have 32% 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
10
Two men
44
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stephen Chbosky (man)
- Written by
- Stephen Chbosky (man)
- Produced by
- John Malkovich (man), Lianne Halfon (woman), Russell Smith (man)
- Shot by
- Andrew Dunn (man)
- Edited by
- Mary Jo Markey (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Brook (man)
- Production design by
- Inbal Weinberg (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Vernieu (woman), Venus Kanani (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
4 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emma Watson 22, Nina Dobrev 23, Mae Whitman 24, Melanie Lynskey 35, Kate Walsh 44, Joan Cusack 49
Men
Logan Lerman 20, Johnny Simmons 25, Dylan McDermott 50
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $13 million
- Box office
- $33.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 187 scenes and 758 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
