I think there should be more movies up there that pass it (it's not a difficult test, honestly, but when the protagonist-antagonist pair are male, it does tend to happen that all discussions involve one or both of them, in person or as a topic), but I've seen more people bothered with it that think it's a boycott-or-else rule, than people who run movies through that filter regularly.
Overwhelming? How much more than whelming would that be exactly?
Anya ,'Touched'
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§ ita § - May 24, 2010 6:52:08 am PDT #8432 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Jessica - May 24, 2010 6:56:14 am PDT #8433 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
people who run movies through that filter regularl
Yeah, I do this. But it's only after I've seen the movie, so clearly I'm not boycotting the movies that fail. (Does LotR pass? I doubt it.)
I think what the test is good for is demonstrating that most movies are about men, even movies with a lot of female characters. It's a starting point for a longer conversation about gender on film.
P.M. Marc - May 24, 2010 6:58:51 am PDT #8434 of 30000
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
It may help to see it in the original context, where the test is clearly bitterly hilarious. [link]
le nubian - May 24, 2010 7:00:34 am PDT #8435 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
Agreed.
There are movies I watch knowing going in that they don't pass this "test." That's okay. I wish there were more movies out there that I know going in do pass the test.
I'm stoked for "Inception" but I bet that doesn't pass the test.
Jessica - May 24, 2010 7:03:05 am PDT #8436 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
amych - May 24, 2010 7:04:15 am PDT #8437 of 30000
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
I think what the test is good for is demonstrating that most movies are about men, even movies with a lot of female characters. It's a starting point for a longer conversation about gender on film.
This, this, this, with a side of this sauce. You don't need to boycott non-passing movies to find the test useful as an eye-opener on just how invisible and useless women have become in a huge chunk of mainstream movie culture. (And how segregated by genre: leaving aside the "not about a man" proviso, there aren't a hell of a lot of non-rom-coms that have two women characters at all.)
amych - May 24, 2010 7:05:56 am PDT #8438 of 30000
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Also, how much awesomeness was there in the early years of DTWOF that we're finally talking about 20mumble years later? THIS MUCH.
P.M. Marc - May 24, 2010 7:06:41 am PDT #8439 of 30000
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Also, how much awesomeness was there in the early years of DTWOF that we're finally talking about 20mumble years later? THIS MUCH.
AND MORE. I feel like I need to curl up with my dogeared copies and wallow in it.
Zenkitty - May 24, 2010 7:19:59 am PDT #8440 of 30000
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.
I would probably go see Punching Stuff Until It Blows Up 1 and 2.
One reason I loved "The Descent" was that ALL the characters were women, except for the husband of one, who died immediately, didn't have a single line, and was only seen on-screen in a couple shots. They talked about him a couple times, but he was little more than a plot device.
Daisy Jane - May 24, 2010 7:23:40 am PDT #8441 of 30000
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Whip It is the only recent movie I have seen that passes, but boy does it.