Passes the Bechdel test
The Truman Show
1998. Directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 181. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Since birth, a big fat lie defines the well-organised but humdrum life of the kind-hearted insurance salesman and ambitious explorer, Truman Burbank. Utterly unaware of the thousands of cleverly hidden cameras watching his every move, for nearly three decades, Truman's entire existence pivots around the will and the wild imagination of the ruthlessly manipulative television producer, Christof--the all-powerful TV-God of an extreme 24/7 reality show: The Truman Show. As a result, Truman's picturesque neighbourhood with the manicured lawns and the uncannily perfect residents is nothing but an elaborate state-of-the-art set, and the only truth he knows is what the worldwide television network and its deep financial interests dictate. Do lab rats know they are forever imprisoned?
- Released
- 05 Jun 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 90 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 42 wins & 69 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Truman 209 lines, man
- Christof 121 lines, man
- Meryl 48 lines, woman
- Marlon 47 lines, man
- Chloe 27 lines, woman
- Simeon 25 lines, man
- Interviewer 14 lines
- Lawrence 13 lines, man
- Lauren 12 lines, woman
- Agent 10 lines
Full cast, 79 people
- Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
- Ed Harris as Christof
- Laura Linney as Meryl
- Noah Emmerich as Marlon
- Natascha McElhone as Lauren / Sylvia
- Holland Taylor as Truman's Mother
- Paul Giamatti as Control Room Director
- Brian Delate as Truman's Father
- Peter Krause as Lawrence
- Blair Slater as Young Truman
- Heidi Schanz as Vivien
- Ron Taylor as Ron
- Don Taylor as Don
- Ted Raymond as Spencer
- Judy Clayton as Travel Agent
- Fritz Dominique as Truman's Neighbor
- Angel Schmiedt as Truman's Neighbor
- Nastassja Schmiedt as Truman's Neighbor
- Muriel Moore as Teacher
- Mal Jones as News Vendor
- Judson Vaughn as Insurance Co-Worker
- Earl Hilliard Jr. as Ferry Worker
- David Andrew Nash as Bus Driver / Ferry Captain
- Jim Towers as Bus Supervisor
- Savannah Swafford as Little Girl in Bus
- Antoni Corone as Security Guard
- Mario Ernesto Sánchez as Security Guard
- John Roselius as Man at Beach
- Kade Coates as Truman (4 years)
- Marcia DeBonis as Nurse
- Sam Kitchin as Surgeon
- Sebastian Youngblood as Orderly
- Dave Corey as Hospital Security Guard
- Mark Alan Gillott as Policeman at Power Plant
- Jay Saiter as Policeman at Truman's House
- Tony Todd as Policeman at Truman's House
- Marco Rubeo as Man in Christmas Box
- Daryl Davis as Couple at Picnic Table
- Robert Davis as Couple at Picnic Table
- R.J. Murdock as Production Assistant
- Matthew McDonough as Man at Newsstand
- Larry McDowell as Man at Newsstand
- Joseph Lucus as Ticket Taker
- Logan Kirksey as TV Host
- Adam Tomei as Control Room Director
- Harry Shearer as Mike Michaelson
- Una Damon as Chloe
- Philip Baker Hall as Network Executive
- John Pleshette as Network Executive
- Philip Glass as Keyboard Artist
- John Pramik as Keyboard Artist
- O-Lan Jones as Bar Waitress
- Krista Lynn Landolfi as Bar Waitress
- Joe Minjares as Bartender
- Al Foster as Bar Patron
- Zoaunne LeRoy as Bar Patron
- Millie Slavin as Bar Patron
- Terry Camilleri as Man in Bathtub
- Dona Hardy as Senior Citizen
- Jeanette Miller as Senior Citizen
- Joel McKinnon Miller as Garage Attendant
- Tom Simmons as Garage Attendant
- Susan Angelo as Mother
- Carly Smiga as Daughter
- Yuji Okumoto as Japanese Family
- Kiyoko Yamaguchi as Japanese Family
- Saemi Nakamura as Japanese Family
- Sergio Kato as Production Assistant (uncredited)
- Marc Macaulay as Citizen Searching Truman (uncredited)
- Melissa Fitzgerald as Girl Dancing with Marlon (uncredited)
- Spencer Kayden as Citizen (uncredited)
- Michael J. McAlister as Man Closing Door on OmniCam Ecosphere Dome (uncredited)
- Mickalean McCormick as Assistant to Christof (uncredited)
- Arnold Montey as Production Assistant (uncredited)
- Courtney Pakiz as German Linguist / Interpreter (uncredited)
- Kevin D. Ross as Talk Show Caller (voice) (uncredited)
- Joseph Rye as Talk Show Caller (uncredited)
- Erica Taylor as Prom Guest (uncredited)
- Jake Eberle as Classical Clive (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 181
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 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 4 | 13 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 13 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 10 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 to 24 | 4 | 4 |
| 25 to 28 | 6 | 29 |
| 29 to 32 | 6 | 6 |
| 33 to 36 | 3 | 5 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 26 |
| 41 to 44 | 6 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 52 | 23 | 30 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 5 |
| 57 to 60 | 1 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 22 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 9 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 76 | 1 | 34 |
| 77 to 80 | 1 | 21 |
| 81 to 84 | 7 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 2 | 27 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 9 |
| 93 to 96 | 10 | 15 |
| 97 to 100 | 7 | 14 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 7 |
| 105 to 108 | 9 | 20 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 14 |
| 113 to 116 | 4 | 31 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 6 |
| 125 to 128 | 3 | 20 |
| 129 to 132 | 2 | 20 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 8 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 6 |
| 149 to 152 | 2 | 3 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 3 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 3 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 3 |
| 165 to 168 | 2 | 17 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 2 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 8 |
| 181 to 181 | 0 | 5 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
LAUREN: My name's not Lauren! It's Sylvia! SYLVIA: In a minute someone's going to come and stop me talking to you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 19 are women's.
117 lines from women, 496 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
26 women and 51 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 13 of 688.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 61 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,129), men 83% (5,426). Women have 19% 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
2
Two men
40
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Weir (man)
- Written by
- Andrew Niccol (man)
- Produced by
- Edward S. Feldman (man), Scott Rudin (man), Adam Schroeder (man), Andrew Niccol (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Biziou (man)
- Edited by
- William M. Anderson (man), Lee Smith (man)
- Music by
- Burkhard von Dallwitz (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Matthews (woman)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 18 men, 29 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 14 men, 17 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 5 men, 32 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 10 men, 24 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 12 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 12 men, 9 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men, 12 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Natascha McElhone 28, Laura Linney 34, Holland Taylor 55
Men
Blair Slater 12, Paul Giamatti 30, Peter Krause 32, Noah Emmerich 33, Jim Carrey 36, Ed Harris 47, Brian Delate 49
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $60 million
- Box office
- $264 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 688 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
