Bechdel Test Movie List

Uhura and her roommate Gaila briefly discuss Uhura's lab time, and her interception of a Klingon transmission. The interaction is brief, but necessary to the plot.

True, except my roommate and I feel that this brief interaction, while theoretically passing the tests is compromised by the fact that Kirk is hiding under the bed watching while Uhura strips down until both women are nearly naked and conversing in their underwear.

Our vote: This movie fails.

I agree with Becky, especially since that conversation very quickly segues into discussing Kirk.

I did notice at the beginning that the nurse and Kirk's mother were talking, however Kirk's mother wasn't really answering the nurse, so I don't think that counts.

*falls over laughing* If 'Star Trek' passes on the basis of that Uhura scene, then legendary porno 'Debbie Does Dallas' passes as well -- the naked cheerleaders in the showers are talking about football, not men, which is necessary to the, um, plot.

Just because it passes the test, doesn't automatically make it feminist friendly. Star Trek is a good example of this.

It's not whether it's feminist-friendly, it's whether it passes the test, and there's no way that conversation between Uhura and Gaila passes when the scene was a set-up to let Kirk see Uhura stripped to her underwear.

This is a botch-up: if Star Trek XI is listed as passing when it's an obvious fail, this list is worthless.

@Yonmei: It all depends on your interpretation of the Bechdel test. Taken literally, I think it passes (based on comments here, I haven't seen it) since there is no rule about under which circumstances the conversation should take place. I however also agree it might not pass the spirit of the test.

Since when does that scene take place "only" to allow Kirk to see Uhura in her underwear?

One of the things I liked about this film (in a 'quality film' sense, not necessarily a feminist sense) was the very severe economy of the scenes. There is little or nothing in the film that is at all gratuitous, and just about every scene works on multiple levels and conveys different types of important information.

Secondly, isn't the whole point of the Kirk/Uhura subplot that he wants her/thinks she's hot, but she has no intention of giving him the time of day? Slightly ruined by the fact that she's uninterested mainly because she's "taken" by Kirk's rival, but still.

Also, Kirk isn't in the room explicitly to stalk Uhura - he's coincidentally hooking up with her roommate. Shitty behavior, to be sure, but A) Kirk is a shithead when it comes to women, and B) since when is any heterosexual activity in a film "antifeminist"? Considering the origin of the Green Alien Babe race in Trek, this film's portrayal of Gaila is downright feminist.

Since the green roommate is not even given a name, I really don't think she counts as a character in the movie. She's more of an extra. So: are there any other 2-woman interations at all?
I still loved the movie, though.

Well, I'm a guy, so I don't know if that disqualifies me from posting, but it seems to me that the point of the scene was to establish an important Chekov's (heh) gun so that Kirk could plausibly connect the dots about the villain; while still injecting humor that would move the plot forward later on, Kirkian character (And yes, a brief amount of cheesecake) into the scene.

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UHURA: "Hey."
GAILA: "Hey."
UHURA: "How are you?"
GAILA: "Good."
UHURA: "Strangest thing... I was in the long range sensor lab."
GAILA: "Yeah, I- I thought all night."
UHURA: "I was tracking solar systems and I picked up an emergency transmission."
GAILA: "Really."
UHURA: "Yeah, from a Klingon prison planet."
GAILA: "No..."
UHURA: "Yeah, a Klingon armada was destroyed. 47 ships."
GAILA: "...so, you're not going back to the lab tonight?..."
UHURA: "..."
GAILA: "..."
UHURA: "...Gaila, who is he?"
------------------

The problem isn't that she's taking off her clothes, or that the conversation isn't relevant to the plot (it is actually relevant). The problem is that only one of these two women is talking to the other about something besides a man. Uhura is talking about the Klingons, yes, but Gaila is talking about Kirk. Her entire perspective on the conversation is driven by her motivation to make Uhura leave so she can continue having sex with Kirk, hence her short, dismissive responses that don't really address what Uhura is saying. Frankly, Uhura is having more of a conversation with Kirk here than she is with Gaila. Kirk recalls the Klingon incident Uhura mentions here later on in the movie; Gaila, on the other hand, leaves the audience with the distinct impression that she neither heard nor understood anything Uhura said.

There are two women, and they are talking, but they're not really talking to each other, and only one of them is talking about something besides a man. This scene doesn't pass.