With regard to any given film, the test, named for cartoonist Alison Bechdel, asks the following three questions:
- Does the movie have at least two female characters?
- Do they talk to each other?
- Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?
Failing any one question fails the test.
Quite a few of my own screenplays fail this test. Of course, I mostly write romantic comedies.