The Bechdel Rule
NPR’s All Things Consdered ran a great segment the other day on The Bechdel Rule. 23 years ago, Alison Bechdel wrote a story called “The Rule” in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. It’s pretty straightforward. One woman says to another that she only see a movie if it contains:
1. At least two female characters, who … 2. talk to each other about… 3. something besides a man.
Sadly, a lot of TV and film still doesn’t hold up to the rule, with NPR pointing out Sex and the City and Gray’s Anatomy as to exceptions. But some shows do hold up, and NPR points to The Middleman with a female character “who talks with her best friend and roommate about art and their careers as well as guys.”
It’s an interesting convergence of comics. You’ve got Alison Bechdel, author of the aforementioned Dykes to Watch Out For and also Fun Home, a graphic novel and Time’s best book of the year for 2007. And you’ve got The Middleman, a great ABC Family show based on the comic, which was originally published by our good friends at Viper Comics.
It may still not be a great time for women on TV, but it’s a great time to be reading and working in comics, that’s for sure.
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