ALL HAIL IKEA! I mean Sweden, right…Sweden. The land of moderately-priced decor, beautiful people, and delightful meatballs is out to make the world a better place. Swedish movie theaters are now incorporating the Bechdel Test into their ratings system, giving moviegoers the opportunity to know in advance which films treat women like, you know, humans and stuff.
If you’re just tuning in, the Bechdel test “asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.” The concept was introduced in 1985 via the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and has only more recently moved into mainstream cultural consideration.
Four Swedish theaters have made the decision to provide information about whether or not the films and programs they show pass this test. Unfortunately, very few films do…And yes, this deeply pains my Lord of the Rings obsession.
Scandinavian cable network Viasat Film is also on board with the move–they’ve already scheduled November 17th as “Super Sunday,” and will be broadcasting exclusively Bechdel-positive films.
Of course party-pooper critics like Hynek Pallas are insisting that the installment of such a ratings system is sending out “signals about what one should or shouldn’t include in a movie.” Bro, I think that’s already been happening for years and the signals say “make another movie about being scared your penis is too small so let’s have a robot fight.”
So what does this all mean for us? Well, it looks like we all have nine days to pack up our lives and move to Sweden to enjoy feminist-friendly entertainment. I’ll see you all at Ikea in Stockholm!
Thanks to CBC
Picture via That Film Guy
