Sweden Launches Gender Rating for Movies -- How Many Hollywood Flicks Will Pass the Test?
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/07/sweden_introduces_a_gender_rating_system_for_films/
November 8, 2013 |
Salon / By Katie McDonough
...The rule works as follows: To pass the Bechdel test, a movie must have at least two women in it who talk to each other about something besides a man. In order for a film to get an A rating under the new Swedish system, the movie must meet these requirements.
Seems simple enough, but as as Ellen Teile, director of an independent movie theater in Stockholm, told the Guardian, there are plenty of movies that dont fit this low bar for inclusivity in representation.
The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars movies, The Social Network, Pulp Fiction and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test, she said, calling the experience of viewing films this way an eye-opener.
And eye-opener is pretty much the point. The new system isnt meant to be a blunt instrument. It is not a censoring mechanism, it doesnt impact what films get screened or who can see them, it simply makes gender bias visible rather than an accepted part of the media we consume.
It would be an interesting experiment in this country.