Despite its origins as a joke in a comic strip, the so-called Bechdel Test has turned into a useful, if imperfect, metric for understanding how women are portrayed in film. As a refresher, the test asks whether any given movie features at least two female characters in it, whether the two talk to each other, and whether the two talk about something besides a male character. This project at data platform Silk visualizes how well movies have fared under this test historically, over the past one-hundred and twenty or so years.

Pass vs. Failed Bechdel Test Criteria Distribution of Surveyed Movies

The project’s authors offer this takeaway:

The trend seems to suggest that, as time passes, more movies are starting to score better in the Bechdel test. A breakdown of the different criteria that make up the Bechdel test reveals that more and more movie succeed in having at least two named female characters. Having these women characters talk to each other about something beside men still seems an obstacle though.

More at women-in-film.silk.co