RTVF-110 Media and Culture (5 Discussion boards/2 Responses to peers per Discussion Boards)
READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS AND THE MATERIAL SHOULD BE IN FILES.
Discussion Board #1:
Full Discussion board in files.
Link: Bechdel Test —- https://bechdeltest.com
Films:
1. Titanic (Romance/Drama)
2. A Star is Born (Romance/Musical)
3. Mean Girls (Comedy/Teen)
4. Home Alone (Family/Comedy)
5. Scream (Horror)
6. The Avengers (Action/Adventure)
7. Scary Movie (Comedy)
8. The House Bunny (Comedy)
9. Easy A (Comedy)
10. The Conjuring ( Horror)
Writer, Change the films if you want!
Okay. You have a list of 10 films, which I asked for in your first check-in. Please use your list to do the Bechel and Johnson Tests.
Have you heard of the Bechdel Test? It has been around for a while. It is named after Alison Bechdel, the cartoonist and creator of the 90s comic series Dykes to Watch Out For. Although the test started off as a joke, it has become something of a cultural phenomenon.
Here is the original 90s comic featuring what would become the Bechdel Test.
(Pictures in files)
Feminist Frequency did a video explaining the Bechdel Test and used it to look at the 2011 Best Picture Oscar Nominations. The video does a good job of introducing the test and demonstrating how to apply it. So if you are confused or unclear about how to apply the tests, please watch the video. I think Anita Sarkeesian’s suggestion of a 60-second rule is useful, especially for our class, since we are an upper-division course exploring the impact of media, so please incorporate the 60-second rule.
Bechdel Test. Link: https://youtu.be/PH8JuizIXw8
Alaya Dawn Johnson (Link: http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/09/01/the-bechdel-test-and-race-in-popular-fiction/) who is mentioned in the Feminist Frequency video adapted the Bechdel Test, which only considers gender, to focus on race. Here are the rules of the Johnson Test: 1) The film has 2 people of color in it with names; 2) Who talk to each other; 3) About something other than a white character.
If you are not familiar with the term people of color or POC it is an umbrella term used to include Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinx Americans. The term has emerged over the last few decades to counter the racism in the language of previous generations, who used terms like “Colored,” “Oriental,” and “Hispanic” to refer to African Americans, Asian Americans, or Latinx Americans. I encourage you to use the term “people of color,” along with other community-identified terms when discussing different racial groups in our course because respect is important and this is an upper-division course! Acknowledging someone’s racial identity is NOT racist. What is racist is when people attach specific meanings to a person’s racial identity. For example, I am white. Acknowledging that I am white or telling your friends that your professor is white does not make you racist. You are simply stating a fact.
I do take points off when folks use dated language around race in this course, especially since I devoted an entire paragraph to explain what certain terms mean and diversity and inclusion are central to the Student Learning Objectives (SLO) for this course. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!
Foreign & Animated Films
Some of you listed films made outside of Hollywood, which is totally fine. You can still do the Bechdel and Johnson tests on those films. Unfortunately, due to the history of European colonialism, patriarchal gender norms were imposed on cultures and societies across the globe, and those norms continue to have an impact on gender relations today. The same is true when it comes to race. A region’s racial politics and history might be very different than the United States. However, the history and legacy of colonialism can still be felt in preference for folks who are of a lighter complexion.
Anti-blackness is a global phenomenon, again connected to the history and legacy of colonialism and the unequal distribution of power and resources across the globe. While you will probably not need to adapt the Bechdel Test when doing a non-Hollywood film, you might need to consider race a little differently when doing the Johnson Test on a non-Hollywood film. Think about the different ethnic groups who make up the country your film is from and if there is a preference for actors and actresses who are of a lighter skin complexion. Also, consider indigenous groups! Are indigenous groups in the country you are considering treated differently than other ethnic groups who are migrants and/or settlers.
Resources for Going Further With Your Analysis
Here are 3 resources you can use when critically adapting the Johnson test for countries outside of the United States. Racial politics outside the US might be different. However, race still exists!
– Colorism (Link:https://youtu.be/WZsY1kYHT8A)
– Codeswitch a podcast from NPR did an excellent episode titled “Pretty Hurts” aimed at examining the legacy of colonization and imperialism on global beauty standards. (Link: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/689687288 )
– Refinery29 also did a recent video on skin bleaching in the Philippines. Refinery 29 (Link: https://youtu.be/hYTIh2cXfvM)
You can also adapt the Bechdel and Johnson Test to assess animated films since animated films typically gender their characters and use voices associated with different racial and ethnic groups. For example, Wall-E is a film with robots, but Wall-E is clearly gendered as a male in the film, and Eva is made to be female. Both characters also have what we have been conditioned to hear as Anglo-sounding accents. While Wall-E is a great film, with a wonderful environmental message, it fails both the Bechdel and Johnson Tests.
*If you are NOT interested in doing the extra mental work necessary to adapt the Bechdel & Johnson Tests for the foreign and animated films on your list, simply REPLACE the films with Hollywood live-action films!
*****INSTRUCTION: After you run your films through the Bechdel and Johnson Tests, please post your results and complete the following:
1) List your films. Explain if they pass the Bechdel or Johnson Test. Don’t forget the 60-second rule!
2) Write a 700+ word reflection (word count includes list and explanations for films) analyzing the results of the Bechdel and Johnson Tests on your list of 10 films. What patterns around race and gender did the tests reveal about your list? What points (at least 2 please) from Nancy Yuen Wang’s Reel Inequality did you see at work in the films on your list?
3) Introduce yourself and comment on at least 2 people’s lists and results. Try to find people who do not have a comment when you post.
Remember, what you learned from the Idea Channel! “There is no media without politics”. You did not create the films on your list, yet you should notice some patterns in how different groups of people are represented, or not represented, and I would like for you to reflect on the patterns you find and the kinds of unconscious messages films are sending you about gender and race. (LINK: https://youtu.be/O5UVuZmxOvE)
###
I am very aware of the critiques written about the Bechdel Test. I still find introducing the test to students a useful first step in thinking about racism and sexism as structural, rather than thinking about racism or sexism as individual acts done by mean or bad people. If you are interested in reading critiques of the Bechdel Test here are a few:
1) Samantha Ellis, “Why the Bechdel Test Doesn’t (Always) Work,” Guardian, 8/20/2016.
LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2016/aug/20/why-the-bechdel-test-doesnt-always-work
2) Kate Erbland, “Not Every Film Has to Pass the Bechdel Test (And Some Shouldn’t Even Try),” Indiewire, 7/21/2017.
LINK: https://www.indiewire.com/2017/07/films-pass-bechdel-test-dunkirk-their-finest-1201857842/
This essay/post is not about you assessing the usefulness of the Bechdel or Johnson Tests. Instead, the goal is to apply the tests and see how your results corresponding with Nancy Wang Yuen’s more nuanced research and study of Hollywood. A Discussion Post in this course is ALWAYS about applying what you learn in the module, especially from the assigned reading and films covered in the worksheet.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|