Swedish cinemas expose gender bias

Swedish cinemas have introduced a new ratings system based on the Bechdel test. The get an "A" rating, a movie must have at least two female characters who talk to each other about something other than men. Says Jezebel's Lindy West:

"Sure, the Bechdel test is imperfect (Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker doesn't pass, for instance, but you could hardly argue that a female-helmed war movie doesn't empower at least one woman), but that doesn't make it useless as a starting line for sniffing out broad trends in gender bias. And that's what we're talking about here. Trends. Analysis. Examination. Critical thought. Information. I'm sure there are plenty of people who consider themselves scrupulously egalitarian who never even noticed that there are only like THREE WOMEN IN ALL OF MIDDLE EARTH."

I agree that this can be a good starting point, at least alerting people to gender bias in movies, but the Bechdel test is imperfect. It's a little too simplistic, and not necessarily a barometer of a moviemaker's skill at creating good, nuanced female characters. I'm pretty sure Alison Bechdel didn't intend for it to, but it's often used as a feminist litmus test for movies, and now books . (One of my favorite books this year was Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings, which is full of great, but very flawed, female characters who spend a lot of time talking about the men in their lives. I'm not sure it passes -- I'd have to check -- but I wouldn't want to discount its value if it doesn't.) But for its intended purpose, it doesn't really go far enough.