![the gay test with pictures the gay test with pictures](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mxwguBc0j3M/maxresdefault.jpg)
In Brokeback Mountain, one of the two gay protagonists is murdered in The Hours, the only gay male character kills himself before AIDS does it for him (although there are a few lesbians). 2009? Bingo: Milk! Of course, the main character dies, but there are a handful of other gay guys (and women!) who actually do important things like fighting for equal rights rather than helping their gal-pals out with their dating advice, or dying.īut even going back ten years in Oscar history shows that only four other Best Pictures nominees featured gay protagonists, and only two could pass a test with the requirements mentioned above. In 2011? Well, there was Black Swan, which featured a lesbian sex scene that was possibly a figment of the protagonist’s imagination (something must be said for the connection between her mental stability and her dabbling in lesbianism). (Sorry, Abraham Lincoln doesn’t count.) How about in 2012? No way. Let’s do a quick run-through of this year’s eight Best Picture nominees.
![the gay test with pictures the gay test with pictures](https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/16_hiv_testing_2.jpg)
While the main plot of any film subjected to the test preferably would not be specifically “gay-themed,” I’ll allow it, if only because films described as such are pretty much the only ones that come close to passing. The Gay Test (which, regrettably, I will not call “The Coates Test” following Alison Bechdel’s lead), would have similarly few requirements, but they’re particularly tough to beat: to pass, a film must include two gay characters who interact in some way, do not offer sassy advice to the protagonist, and are not dead by the end credits.
THE GAY TEST WITH PICTURES MOVIE
( A website that keeps track of movie releases and whether they pass the test already lists at least 38 films from 2013 only 21 pass the Bechdel test.) It got me thinking: could there be a similar test about gay characters, and how many movies would actually pass it? Sounds pretty simple, right? It’s pretty astonishing how many movies fail the pretty easy test - especially in 2013. Named “The Rule,” what became known as the Bechdel Test had three requirements: a film had to feature two named female characters, those characters had to speak to each other, and the subject of conversation had to be about something other than a man.
![the gay test with pictures the gay test with pictures](https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/gettyimages-200193490-010_v2.jpg)
Named after cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the test was introduced in her long-running comic Dykes to Watch Out For. For years, I’ve enjoyed putting popular films through the Bechdel Test.