More women behind the camera means more money at the box office

By now, all of us know the Bechdel test inside and out. The Bechdel test asks if a fiction film features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Using this test, FiveThirtyEight analyzed thousands of films to determine whether the presence (and importance) of women had an effect on a film's box office. Here is part of their analysis:

We did a statistical analysis of films to test two claims: first, that films that pass the Bechdel test — featuring women in stronger roles — see a lower return on investment, and second, that they see lower gross profits. We found no evidence to support either claim.

On the first test, we ran a regression to find out if passing the Bechdel test corresponded to lower return on investment. Controlling for the movie’s budget, which has a negative and significant relationship to a film’s return on investment, passing the Bechdel test had no effect on the film’s return on investment. In other words, adding women to a film’s cast didn’t hurt its investors’ returns, contrary to what Hollywood investors seem to believe.

The total median gross return on investment for a film that passed the Bechdel test was $2.68 for each dollar spent. The total median gross return on investment for films that failed was only $2.45 for each dollar spent.

So why is it that movies that pass the Bechdel test have a better return-on-investment, but filmmakers of these films are given less money? FiveThirtyEight also discovered that when more women were involved in the production of a film, it was more likely to have female cast members. In other words, when one gender dominates the creative process for a picture, that shows on the screen. Under-representation behind the camera results in under-representation in front of the camera.

So here's an equation for you:

More women behind the camera = more women on screen = more money made at the box office

It's a win-win situation.

Alison Bechdel: the Test

If you find yourself bored without anything to do on October 8th, you should head on over to Textor 102 to see Alison Bechdel speak. Without going too far into her life, Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist whose most known for her comic Dykes to Watch Out For. But if her name rings a bell yet her work does not, you might be familiar with the cinematic theory named after her: the Bechdel test.

The Bechdel test is something used to gage the gender equality of films, specifically toward women. It has three very simple requirements to pass: one, there more be two female characters (with names); two, they must talk to each other; three, they must talk to each other about something other than a man. See, the main reason behind the test is to show the very realistic idea that women have plots that circle around something other than a love interest.

While it stands on the issue of feminist theory and equal-right films, to me it represents good writing. If you have a script that can’t follow these three very simple rules, then you have stuck yourself in a very traditionalistic (and cliche) plot-hole. For me, being able to write well means that you can produce a script that people can relate to. But in order to do this, you need to be able to write realistically. And if just so happens that in real life, women do talk to each other about many things than just men.