Female representation in film may be gaining momentum, but its record seems abysmal, even among some of the most enlightened and groundbreaking films.

One of the most popular and widely used ways to measure the authentic portrayal of women in film is by using what’s known as the Bechdel test, a standard adopted by the cartoonist’s longtime comic and writer Alison Bechdel. Dykes to watch.

The test consists of three criteria for films: there must be at least two women in it, the two women must dialogue with each other and they must talk about something other than a man. There are obvious classics that don’t pass the Bechdel test, like Superior gun and Freedmen. However, some surprising movies are on the test fail list if you go back and watch them: Quentin Tarantino Jackie BrownDavid Fincher’s adaptation of The girl with the dragon tattoo, 500 days of summer and almost every star wars films from episodes 1 to 6.

A new sketch show called Everything except men which opens this Friday at the Stomping Ground Comedy Theater uses the Bechdel Test to examine pop culture and the culture that created it.

“My initial thought was to take scenes from movies and edit them to pass the Bechdel test, but as we wrote we expanded on that,” says Kristal Milazzo, director and screenwriter of the sketch show. “It’s pretty easy to write and do comedy about it because it’s interesting how little things have changed in so many ways about it and how many things don’t pass the test of Bechdel.”

Initial plans for the show came from an idea created by Stomping Ground producer Cheyenne Martin and called for simple rewrites and parodies of famous scenes from movies to meet the Bechdel standard. At the time they got into writing, writer Roger Connelly, who works as co-artistic director at the OKC Improv house in Oklahoma City, said the possibilities seemed limited.
“Three of my sketches are where I took very bro-y movies like Superior gun Where Freedmen and I thought if they were all female characters?” Connelly said. “I thought that was a fun starting point, but after a while you feel like you’re copying and pasting another movie and not to write so much. Kristal was the one to say, ‘Hey, feel free to branch out’ and we started working on things beyond just parody.”

The final version of the scripts and the show now extends beyond simple parodies and includes applications and themes inspired by the Bechdel test to broader discussions of women in film and storytelling, situations not cinematics and even a musical number from “a beloved and timely musical,” says writer Molly Jakkamsetti.

“While writing my sketches, I happened to find a documentary on Netflix about women in cinema, It changes everything“, says Jakkamsetti. “While I was watching it, they mentioned the Bechdel test and they mention how few movies have two female characters talking about anything other than a man. I have a new appreciation for more women in film at all levels, not that I’m a big Hollywood player, but looking for more diverse films to watch is also important.”

The concept of the sketch show forced the writers to think about themes and issues that might never have occurred to them, Connelly says.

“What surprised me the most was how easy it would be to pass the Bechdel test on a lot of movies,” Connelly said. “It wouldn’t require much at all, and I certainly think movies are a lot more inclusive now, but looking back Superior gun, there are two female characters and it would be easy for one of them to just say, “How do you deal with the stress of being a fighter pilot?” It doesn’t need to be imposed. It’s just a change of perspective.”

The test even sparked discussions about representation beyond the movies, giving writers and performers another direction to take their sketches for the final shows.

“When you think about it in a song, it becomes even more interesting,” says Milazzo. “I don’t think that’s the strictest standard, but I think it’s fine because when you sum it up and see some of the movies that don’t meet that, it’s like, wow.”

The test and sketch show isn’t saying that movies that don’t meet the Bechdel test are bad, just missed opportunities to broaden viewers’ perspectives and examine unexplored themes and ideas.

“That’s the bare minimum, folks,” Milazzo says. “Let’s try to elevate ourselves a bit.”

Anything But Men: A Sketch Comedy Revue on the Bechdel Test opens at 8 p.m. Friday, March 25 at the Stomping Ground Comedy Theater, 1350 Manufacturing St., Suite 109 in Dallas. Additional performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. Visit StompingGroundComedy.org for tickets.