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1/ After discussions about female representation in recent media such as the Irishman and the Mandalorian, we have to remember the point of the Bechdel test (whether a movie contains a scene of 2 women talking about something other than a man).
2/ The point of the Bechdel test isn't to criticize any individual movie for lacking these scenes, but to illustrate how many films fail to give women important roles that don't revolve around their male co-stars. It's about the overall trends, not the individual films.
3/ So you have a film like the Irishman where you have a great Actress Anna Paquin (Peggy) who only gets one line in the film. besides her, all the other important roles are men. But to say that her role doesn't matter in the film would be so, so wrong.
4/ Peggy's silence in the film is so much more powerful and critical of Frank (De Niro) than any monologue could be. Her avoiding her Father (and thus being left out of his story) is very striking, especially as we the audience expect a showy performance from a known actress.
5/ The film ultimately sides with Peggy even if it never gives her a voice. Frank believes he's sorry, but lacks the proper reflection to see what he's done, so the film deny's him any reconciliation with his daughter. By saying less, the film says so much more.
6/ This is the problem when taking a literal/blind approach to the Bechdale test as criticism. It views things in statistics (words said, screen time of characters) without considering the necessary context. It's all What, no Why, and Why is the key to criticism.
7/ Anna Paquin's silent performance in the Irishman is one of the best elements about the film. She should honestly be nominated for an Academy Award, but likely won't as the performance isn't 'showy' enough (the irony).
8/ What truly matters is engaging with the films/text. What are they saying, why are they saying it, what does it mean? It feels like we're sadly moving away from that in order to 'score points' in a culture war, it honestly makes me sick.
9/ Now whether this translates to more films/media, I don't know, but for the Irishman, Anna Paquin's silent performance is one of the best of the year.
I have spoken.
I have spoken.
