“You know what the Bechdel test is? So if there’s a female character in a film or television show, what is her storyline? Does she actually have her own point of view and her own voice? Or does every scene relate back to the male lead? I apply that a lot to gay characters as I read scripts, because I think it’s a good way to figure out: is this just supposed to be like a punchline? Or is he a human? Does he have a life? You can only do so much as an actor sometimes to flesh things out, and it really has to be in the writing. I feel like Invincible does a really great job of doing both, of making sure that character has a solid arc on his own, and he doesn’t necessarily just relate back to the lead character.”–Actor Andrew Rannells, explaining to MSN how to tell a well-written gay character from a bad one. Rannells, star of Big Mouth and The Prom, will voice a gay character on the forthcoming animated series Invincible.
Liquid Silver
Female scorpions are attacking…we’ll beat them with the power of our Special Time…
Just because it beats a test doesn’t make it great literature or art, or even a good movie or book. And often, in a tightly-written work, things do lead back into the main character’s arc. It’s just the way things work.
At the very least, the Bechdel Test allows for two women to have their own agency apart from a man. That’s fairly easy, except in cases where the movie or book is a romance involving a man, where it’s well-nigh impossible unless the writer intentionally drops commentary to pass the test (“Oh, Buffie, our cookie business is going SO WELL!”)
In this case, you’re demanding that characters have their own agency apart from the main character…and they often simply don’t and can’t unless they’re within the suite of main characters themselves.
This is oversimplified, of course, but…so is this rule. It would be like a tree in one of my paintings demanding its own agency apart from the snowscape it’s encapsulated within. It’s just not going to happen.
connorlarkin19
Not just oversimplified but incoherent.
Liquid Silver
Did I need to simplify it for you?
jjose712
No your point is clear, the problem is that this was not Rannells’ point.
He is talking about his way to differenciate a token gay character from a good one.
Liquid Silver
It’s too bad that’s exactly what he said. “Or is he a human? Does he have a life?”
Literally speaking, does he have his own agency? Why, exactly would he? It’s not his movie or book.
Don’t blame me if an airhead actor can’t express himself better. Bechdel was, at the minimum, clear with what she said. Again, no, they don’t have their own agency any more than a leaf on a tree I paint ever would because they’re not the subject. The tree is. Or the forest is.
ScottOnEarth
I don’t know anything about this actor but he was HILARIOUS on “Will & Grace” a few years ago. Such a crack-up!
frankcar1965
The bald squirrel has spoken, how rich.
Cam
Been on all the threads attacking people, you need to hide your new screenames better.
Heywood Jablowme
Some commenters seem to be having trouble understanding this concept. It’s pretty simple, like with all those action movies where the black guy gets killed and the white guy is complex & interesting (and lives to the end of the movie).
Kangol2
Exactly.
BTW, Girls was frequently annoying but Andrew Rannells was one of always humorous bright spots on it.
Liquid Silver
Some commentators seem like passive-aggressive jerks.
rray63
Hey, Hey! Do me a favor please. Go back five years, not so long and list off six movies from each of those years that are action movies as you have described. I’ll wait.
Cam
If you want an example of what he’s talking about, about a token character, just look at any black character in a Hallmark movie. They never have a backstory, usually not the best friend, but a lower tier friend who comes in later in the movie, or an employee of the main character. And case the audience doesn’t have eyes, they also REALLY try to pump up the fact that they aren’t white. Usually done by having them talk loud, put on a phony country accent, or having them smack their lips and roll their eyes as they sit down to Christmas dinner with some of them. Not sure if they do the same with Latino characters or Asians since I haven’t seen any in their movies.
I would talk about the gay, characters in Hallmark movies but there haven’t been any until about a week ago.