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Passes the Bechdel test

Vacation

2015. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and John Hughes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    15 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 4 scenes out of 124.
  3. 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.

Poster for Vacation

The film

Following in the footsteps of his father, Clark Griswold, the man with a vision in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), his son, too, the hard-working family man, Rusty Griswold, wants to have some quality time with his wife, Debbie, and their two sons, Kevin and James. With the idea of revisiting the place of his vivid childhood memories, the exciting Walley World, keep coming to mind, Rusty decides to surprise his family with his proposal for an unforgettable trip across the country in their rented Albanian SUV. However, as the Griswolds hit the road for some serious family-bonding, this is easier said than done, and, disaster after disaster, Rusty's romantic intentions seem to go down the drain. Can some minor mishaps thwart Rusty's plans for creating the perfect family vacation?

Released
29 Jul 2015
Genres
Adventure, Comedy
Rated
R
IMDb
6.2 / 10
Metascore
34 / 100
Awards
1 win & 3 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Rusty 392 lines, man
  2. Debbie 228 lines, woman
  3. James 172 lines, man
  4. Kevin 96 lines, man
  5. Stone 38 lines, man
  6. Clark 31 lines, man
  7. Adena 26 lines, woman
  8. Chad 19 lines, man
  9. Heather 16 lines, woman
  10. Bluesman 14 lines, man
Full cast, 47 people
  • Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold
  • Christina Applegate as Debbie Griswold
  • Skyler Gisondo as James Griswold
  • Steele Stebbins as Kevin Griswold
  • Chris Hemsworth as Stone Crandall
  • Leslie Mann as Audrey Griswold
  • Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
  • Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
  • Charlie Day as Chad
  • Catherine Missal as Adena
  • Ron Livingston as Ethan
  • Norman Reedus as Trucker
  • Keegan-Michael Key as Jack Peterson
  • Regina Hall as Nancy Peterson
  • Emyri Crutchfield as Sheila Peterson
  • Alkoya Brunson as Gary Peterson
  • Nick Kroll as Colorado Cop
  • Tim Heidecker as Utah Cop
  • Kaitlin Olson as Arizona Cop
  • Michael Peña as New Mexico Cop
  • Hannah Jeter as Ferrari Girl
  • David Clennon as Harry Co-Pilot
  • Colin Hanks as Jake
  • Kirstin Ford as Mom on Plane
  • Ethan Maher as Boy on Plane
  • Elizabeth Gillies as Heather
  • Cristina Squyres as Brooke
  • Nadine Avola as Chelsea
  • Ryan Cartwright as Terry
  • Valerie Payton as Shuttle Driver
  • O'Clair Alexander as Husky Lady at Monument
  • Miles Doleac as Man on the Monument
  • Holly Gardner as Women at Monument
  • R.F. Daley as Furious Husband
  • Elizabeth Fendrick as Furious Wife
  • Michael H. Cole as Male Guest
  • Brooke Jaye Taylor as Female Guest
  • Matthew Cornwell as Male Guest #2
  • Mitchell Warren as Wally World Kid #2
  • John Francis Daley as Ride Operator
  • Brandon Michael Hale as Gas Station Clerk (uncredited)
  • Libby Blake as Boobs (uncredited)
  • Rick Ericson as Hawaiian (uncredited)
  • Omar Lagudali as Reporter (uncredited)
  • Cameron McIntyre as Young James (uncredited)
  • Jonathan Goldstein as Hot Tub Guy (uncredited)
  • Samm Levine as Festival Dude (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 124

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 302
4 to 604
7 to 9025
10 to 122750
13 to 15730
16 to 1800
19 to 2165
22 to 24511
25 to 27331
28 to 30518
31 to 33412
34 to 36415
37 to 39122
40 to 42320
43 to 452617
46 to 48015
49 to 511210
52 to 54219
55 to 572460
58 to 60715
61 to 63834
64 to 66517
67 to 691536
70 to 721961
73 to 75216
76 to 781414
79 to 811521
82 to 84920
85 to 87715
88 to 9023
91 to 93419
94 to 96428
97 to 9911
100 to 102938
103 to 105817
106 to 1082030
109 to 111014
112 to 11400
115 to 11729
118 to 1201030
121 to 12357
124 to 12421

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.
DEBBIE: She’s my sister’s daughter. I have a responsibility here. HEATHER: What’s wrong? DEBBIE: Okay, Heather, listen to me. I’ve been where you are. I went to college. I was a Tri-Delt. DEBBIE: I did my share of partying and hooking up. They used to call me ‘Debbie Do-Anything.’
AUDREY: It’s true. They do. They literally cry together. DEBBIE: Somehow I can’t imagine you crying, Stone.
DEBBIE: I love the new place, Ellen. ELLEN: Thanks. If we’d known you were coming I would’ve cleaned up.
ELLEN: They call us ‘breeders.’ Isn’t that cute? DEBBIE: Adorable.
DEBBIE: What?! ELLEN: You didn’t know?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.

297 lines from women, 812 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 27 men in the cast. 8 women and 16 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 35 of 1,172. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 48 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (2,296), men 76% (7,341). Women have 27% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
John Francis Daley (man), Jonathan Goldstein (man)
Written by
John Francis Daley (man), Jonathan Goldstein (man)
Produced by
David Dobkin (man), Chris Bender (man)
Shot by
Barry Peterson (man)
Edited by
Jamie Gross (woman)
Music by
Mark Mothersbaugh (man)
Production design by
Barry Robison (man)
Costumes by
Debra McGuire (woman)
Cast by
Lisa Beach (woman), Sarah Katzman (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    4 women, 10 men

  • Production

    2 women, 9 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    3 women, 2 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 4 men

  • Other crew

    4 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 41 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Catherine Missal 15, Christina Applegate 43, Leslie Mann 43, Beverly D'Angelo 63

Men

Steele Stebbins 11, Skyler Gisondo 19, Chris Hemsworth 31, Charlie Day 39, Ed Helms 41, Chevy Chase 71

Exhibit H: the money

It made 3.4 times what it cost.

Budget
$31 million
Box office
$104 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 124 scenes and 1,172 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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