
The Next Bechdel Test - andygcook
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/next-bechdel/
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jmts
I would like to see such a set of metrics designed with a more statistical
approach. The Bechdel test offers a simple but general metric for deciding
whether a woman has played a non-superficial role in a movie. I think
generality should be maintained in future tests, with a goal for a tendency
toward equality across the industry, rather than equality within individual
movies.

Take the term '50 percent' for example. If at least 50 percent of characters
in a film must be female, then the target average across all movie characters
is a female majority. While I'm not against movies with a female majority
cast, there are also other films I would like to see that may have a male
majority cast for historical reasons, that may not be net-negative toward
women. War movies, perhaps.

Perhaps metrics should have weightings relative to the value of a given
position. Approximate equality across crew still has significant value even if
the cast is all-male.

Alternatively, rather than defining a metric in terms of some arbitrary
definition of 'equal' (which becomes increasingly difficult as you add more
minorities), perhaps a more useful metric would be defined in terms of 'away
from unequal'. The Bechdel test already does this for female cast. Similar
things can be done for crew. Similar things can even be done for the story.

