Fails the Bechdel test
The Social Network
2010. Directed by David Fincher, written by Aaron Sorkin and Ben Mezrich.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
38 women characters. 11 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
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.
- Released
- 01 Oct 2010
- Genres
- Biography, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 95 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 174 wins & 188 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mark 338 lines, man
- Eduardo 257 lines, man
- Sean 132 lines, man
- Cameron 69 lines, man
- Erica 59 lines, woman
- Tyler 51 lines, man
- Divya 49 lines, man
- Gretchen 43 lines, woman
- Gage 36 lines, man
- Amy 32 lines
Full cast, 131 people
- Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg
- Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin
- Armie Hammer as Cameron Winklevoss / Tyler Winklevoss
- Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker
- Rooney Mara as Erica Albright
- Max Minghella as Divya Narendra
- Brenda Song as Christy Ling
- Josh Pence as Tyler Winklevoss (Body Double)
- Rashida Jones as Marylin Delpy
- John Getz as Sy
- David Selby as Gage
- Denise Grayson as Gretchen
- Douglas Urbanski as Larry Summers
- Bryan Barter as Billy Olsen
- Dustin Fitzsimons as Phoenix Club President
- Joseph Mazzello as Dustin Moskovitz
- Patrick Mapel as Chris Hughes
- Toby Meuli as Phoenix Member Playing Facemash
- Alecia Svensen as Girl at Phoenix Club
- Jami Owen as Student Playing Facemash
- James Dastoli as Student Playing Facemash
- Robert Dastoli as Student Playing Facemash
- Scotty Crowe as Student Playing Facemash
- Jayk Gallagher as Student Playing Facemash
- Marcella Lentz-Pope as Erica's Roommate
- Trevor Wright as B.U. Guy in Bra
- Barry Livingston as Mr. Cox
- Marybeth Massett as Mrs. Cox
- Randy Evans as Student in Communications Office
- Carrie Armstrong as Court Reporter
- Henry Roosevelt as Henry
- Pamela Roylance as Ad Board Chairwoman
- Brian Palermo as CS Lab Professor
- Brett Leigh as Phoenix Club Hazer
- Chris Gouchoe as Phoenix Club Pledge
- Nicholas Tubbs as A Capella Group
- Kevin Chui as A Capella Group
- Richie Ferris as A Capella Group
- Burke Walton as A Capella Group
- Nguyen Anh Tuan as A Capella Group
- Inbal Amirav as Model
- Dane Nightingale as A Capella Group
- Stephen Fuller as A Capella Group
- John He as A Capella Group
- Nick Smoke as KC's Friend
- Cali Fredrichs as KC's Friend
- Shelby Young as KC
- Steve Sires as Speaker / Bill Gates
- Melise as Alice Cantwel
- Victor Z. Isaac as Stuart Singer
- Abhi Sinha as Vikram
- Mark Saul as Bob
- Cedric Sanders as Reggie
- Dakota Johnson as Amelia Ritter
- Nancy Linari as Larry Summers' Secretary
- Inger Tudor as Anne
- Aaron Sorkin as Ad Executive
- Mariah Bonner as Tori
- Kyle Fain as Intern Eric
- Christopher Khai as Intern Ian
- Emma Fitzpatrick as Sharon
- Jeffrey Thomas Border as Andrew
- Courtney Arndt as Victoria's Secret Model
- Felisha Terrell as Beautiful Woman
- Zoe De Toledo as Harvard Rowers' Coxman
- Simon Barr as Harvard Rower
- Alex Leigh as Harvard Rower
- Phil Turnham as Harvard Rower
- Richie Steele as Harvard Rower
- Chris Friend as Harvard Rower
- Tom Harvey as Harvard Rower
- Alex Olijnyk as Hollandia Rowers' Coxman
- Ray Poulter as Hollandia Rower
- Bob Hewitt as Hollandia Rower
- Dave Lambourn as Hollandia Rower
- James Padmore as Hollandia Rower
- Sebastian Kouba as Hollandia Rower
- Charles Herbert as Hollandia Rower
- Robin Dowell as Hollandia Rower
- Nathan Hillyer as Hollandia Rower
- James Shanklin as Prince Albert
- Alex Reznik as Prince Albert's Aide
- John Hayden as Howard Winklevoss
- Oliver Muirhead as Mr. Kenwright
- Shane Adler as Stoned Girl
- Amy Ferguson as Stoned Girl
- Monique Edwards as Bank Teller
- Cayman Grant as Peter Thiel's Assistant
- Wallace Langham as Peter Thiel
- Scott Lawrence as Maurice
- Peter Holden as Facebook Lawyer
- Darin Cooper as Facebook Lawyer
- Jared Hillman as Mackey
- Caitlin Gerard as Ashleigh
- Lacey Beeman as Sorority Girl
- Cherilyn Wilson as Sorority Girl
- Caleb Landry Jones as Fraternity Guy
- Franco Vega as Policeman
- Andrew Thacher as Policeman
- Adina Porter as Gretchen's Associate (uncredited)
- Noah Baron as Student (uncredited)
- Ki Hong Lee as Student (uncredited)
- Jesse Heiman as Student (uncredited)
- David Broyles as Student Playing Facemash (uncredited)
- Mike Bash as Bob (uncredited)
- Tony Calle as Harvard Student (uncredited)
- Cooper Conley-Currier as Pheonix Club Hazee (uncredited)
- Elliott Ehlers as Harvard Student (uncredited)
- Brett A. Newton as Harvard Student (uncredited)
- Nathan Dean Snyder as Harvard Student (uncredited)
- Kristen Clement as Party Girl (uncredited)
- Tatum Miranda as Party Girl (uncredited)
- Chad Davis as B.U. Guy in Bra #2 (uncredited)
- Tony DeSean as Waiter (uncredited)
- Vincent Rivera as Waiter (uncredited)
- Jason Flemyng as Regatta Spectator (uncredited)
- Carlos Foglia as MIT Student (uncredited)
- Bryan Forrest as Popular Harvard Student (uncredited)
- Jessica Franz as Sorority Girl (uncredited)
- Eli Jane as Dancer (uncredited)
- Sara Murphy as Dancer (uncredited)
- Kandis Mak as Go-Go Dancer (uncredited)
- Eric La Barr as Harvard Note-Passer (uncredited)
- Naina Michaud as Final Club Girl (uncredited)
- Riley Voelkel as Final Club Girl (uncredited)
- Tia Robinson as Club Waitress (uncredited)
- Jeff Rosick as Dorm Room Guy #2 (uncredited)
- Alexandra Ruddy as Ruby Skye Waitress (uncredited)
- Adrienne Rusk as Club 66 Girl (uncredited)
- Rebecca Tilney as Art History Professor (uncredited)
- Georgina Tolentino as Club-Goer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 168
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 | 49 | 52 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 27 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 28 | 4 | 1 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 to 36 | 8 | 15 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 31 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 24 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 36 |
| 49 to 52 | 4 | 33 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 6 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 5 |
| 61 to 64 | 3 | 15 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 2 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 11 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 4 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 17 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 44 |
| 89 to 92 | 2 | 60 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 76 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 19 |
| 101 to 104 | 20 | 52 |
| 105 to 108 | 5 | 64 |
| 109 to 112 | 9 | 25 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 35 |
| 117 to 120 | 3 | 20 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 8 |
| 125 to 128 | 3 | 15 |
| 129 to 132 | 4 | 50 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 30 |
| 137 to 140 | 5 | 47 |
| 141 to 144 | 6 | 61 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 18 |
| 149 to 152 | 1 | 43 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 4 |
| 157 to 160 | 6 | 57 |
| 161 to 164 | 6 | 5 |
| 165 to 168 | 18 | 31 |
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, 14 are women's.
165 lines from women, 1050 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
38 women and 54 men in the cast. 11 women and 41 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,383.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 165 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,676), men 88% (12,174). Women have 14% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
89
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Fincher (man)
- Written by
- Aaron Sorkin (man)
- Produced by
- Scott Rudin (man), Dana Brunetti (man), Michael De Luca (man), Ceán Chaffin (woman)
- Shot by
- Jeff Cronenweth (man)
- Edited by
- Kirk Baxter (man), Angus Wall (man)
- Music by
- Trent Reznor (man), Atticus Ross (man)
- Production design by
- Donald Graham Burt (man), David E. Scott (man)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline West (woman)
- Cast by
- Laray Mayfield (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 17 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 6 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Brenda Song 22, Rooney Mara 25, Rashida Jones 34
Men
Armie Hammer 24, Max Minghella 25, Jesse Eisenberg 26, Andrew Garfield 27, Josh Pence 28, Justin Timberlake 29, John Getz 63
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $225 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 168 scenes and 1,383 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
