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| Felicity Jones, the only lead actress in a Best Picture nominee this year |
This year, I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the Best Picture races, and in particular the way that they treat female characters and stories. Despite the year having a number of strong films starring women (Under the Skin and Wild spring instantly to mind), only one of the eight Best Picture nominees has what could be genuinely considered a female lead (Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything) and none of them have only female leads. As a result of this, we're going to look more at the ways that supporting roles by women are treated in the eight films nominated for Best Picture instead. Below I will be dissecting the eight films nominated for Best Picture, and look at the women who feature amongst the top five billed stars of each motion picture, and how they relate to the overall plot and, most importantly, the ultimate message of the film. This is a grey area, so please join in the comments if you concur or disagree, and we'll start out alphabetically with American Sniper. (Spoilers regarding all eight films so if you haven't seen one, skip, only read the rest, and bookmark for a later date)
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 1 (Sienna Miller); you have to go outside the top ten to find the next highest-billed female character, which would be Bradley Cooper's first girlfriend Sarah (Marnette Patterson), who is essentially billed as a slut.
What is Her Relationship to the Main Character?: Wife
What Role Does She have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: She's probably what you'd consider the catalyst for Bradley Cooper's Chris Kyle trying to find his way back to civilization, but she doesn't actually contribute to him doing so (he does most of that growing on his own).
Does She Have Her Own Life Outside the Main Character: No, she does not. The entirety of Sienna Miller's role in this film is based on her being charmed by Chris Kyle, then constantly calling him to come home-there's absolutely no indication of her wants other than those in relation to her husband.
Does it Pass the Bechdel Test?: No, it does not.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 2 (Emma Stone and Naomi Watts)
What is Their Relationship to the Main Character?: Daughter and Costar, respectively
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: Stone's character actually gets the final shot in the movie, as she's lured into her father's world of make-believe. She's also a large part of his driving force, or at least the idea of family is, so she's not just a family member here. Watts' character has little to do with the overall resolution of the movie.
Do They Have a Life Outsider the Main Character?: Yes. Stone is frequently talking to other characters, including her father's costars, and is trying to find herself throughout the movie, and Watts is a struggling actress trying to make it on Broadway and crash her nerves against the new big break that she's experiencing.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: Yes, it does (Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts discuss Watts' career and work in the play).
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 3 (Patricia Arquette, Lorelai Linklater, and Libby Villari)
What is Their Relationship to the Main Character?: Mother, Daughter, and grandmother, respectively
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: None-despite the film occasionally checking in on both Arquette's Olivia and Linklater's Samantha, the film is mostly about Mason, Jr., and the eventual end of the film and the bulk of the film is based on his journey.
Do They Have a Life Outside the Main Character?: Yes, they do. Despite the film being entirely from Mason Jr's point of view, we see Olivia experience multiple relationships and a change in career, and to a lesser extent we see Samantha blossom into a young woman independent of her brother.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: Yes-Olivia and Samantha discuss Samantha's homework and other aspects of her life throughout the movie.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 0 (to be fair part of the cast list is alphabetical though, so we'll include Tilda Swinton and Saoirse Ronan for the sake of argument as they are both billed above the line)
What Relationship Do They Have to the Main Characters (it's a dual-lead film)?: They are their respective love interests
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: In actuality, very little. Both women play a crux in the plot (one gives a main character the hotel, the other is the reason that he keeps it), but both have very little screentime and ultimately the film's plot is based on Zero and Monsieur Gustave, rather than either of their female companions.
Do They Have a Life Outside of the Main Character?: No, they don't-we learn a bit about Madame Celine (Swinton) in the end, but at that point she's been dead for the bulk of the movie and Ronan's Agatha is only a reflection of Zero.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: No-no named woman ever talks to another woman in the film.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 1 (Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke)
What Relationship Does She Have to the Main Character? Coworker and eventually fiance
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: Hard to tell-the problem with The Imitation Game is proving what the reason for the film is. If it's to prove the cruelty to Alan Turing as a gay person, then nothing. If it's his discoveries as a code-breaker, then somewhat-she's the reason he eventually works with his team and she keeps him grounded.
Do They Have a Life Outside of the Main Character?: Not in any significant way-she's always talking about Alan when she's onscreen, and even when she does get married, this is not a point-of-interest of her character.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: No-the only time women speak to each other (Joan and her friend at the bar), it is in regard to Joan's male coworkers.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 1 (Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King)
What Relationship Does She Have to the Main Character?: Wife
What Role Do They Have to to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: Very little, to be honest. This is a film about the masses moving toward a cause, and about one man's crusade to reach that cause-Coretta Scott King is an important historical figure, but here she's relegated to domestic scenes only and having concerns over the safety of her family.
Do They Have a Life Outside of the Main Character?: No, not really. The entirety of her plot is based on her relationship with MLK.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: Yes-there's a scene about halfway through where Coretta and Lorraine Toussaint's Amelia Boynton Robinson discuss Coretta's role in the movement.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 2 (Felicity Jones as Jane Hawking and Maxine Peake as Elaine Mason)
What Relationship Do They Have to the Main Character?: To be fair, Jones is a main character of this film. To be more fair, though, no one refers to this as "that movie about Jane Hawking," so she's not the main character, in which case she plays his wife, as does Peake.
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: While Peake's part is pretty ancillary, Jones has something of a drive in the eventual conclusion of the film, with Dr. Hawking realizing the importance of his love for his wife in relation to his work, and how reliant he was upon her for his success.
Do They Have a Life Outside of the Main Character?: Yes, in the case of Jones (not in the case of Peake). Jones has a relationship with another man, struggles with giving up her career, and has an affair.
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: Yes-Jones and her mother Beryl discuss her joining the church choir.
Number of Females in the Top-5 Billed Stars: 1 (Melissa Benoist as Nicole)
What Relationhip Do They Have to the Main Character?: Girlfriend
What Role Do They Have to the Eventual Conclusion of the Film?: None-the entire film is about Andrew and Fletcher's rivalry coming to a head, and at that point Nicole has just been a casualty of his drive to succeed.
Do They Have a Life Outside of the Main Character?: Nope-the only thing we know about her other than her infatuation with Andrew is that she works at a movie theater. Otherwise her role is simply to be "the girlfriend."
Does It Pass the Bechdel Test?: No
And there you have it-a pretty damning indictment of the films nominated this past year. I mean-look at the evidence. Only Boyhood has more female actors in the Top-5 billed than males. Only half pass the Bechdel Test. Only in The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, and Birdman does the female character play any significant role in finalizing the plot. And only one film has a principle female role that isn't romantic or familial (Naomi Watts in Birdman).
Compare that to the male roles in these films-all eight main male characters have male friends or enemies, and have lives outside of the female characters. All eight easily pass the reverse-Bechdel Test, and all eight are critical to the eventual conclusion of the film. This is a pretty damning indictment on the way the cinema treats women as a whole; when the supposed best of the best can't even find room for women, what can we expect from the rest of the cinema?
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