The Mako Mori Test – An alternative to the Bechdel Test

You all know the Bechdel Test for the role of women in film, right?  Very simple three part test for the importance of women in a film:

1. Are there at least two female characters with names
2. Who talk with each other
3. About something other than a man?

Problem with it is that virtually no films pass the test. (There is at least one argument that young screenwriters are taught to write films that don’t pass the test.)  Notably, the Guillermo del Toro sci-fi slugfest Pacific Rim this summer emphatically did not pass the Bechdel Test, having only 3 of 56 named characters being female.

But an article from The Daily Dot argues that Pacific Rim does have a strong female star, Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a strong female character, Mako Mori, who has her own strong storyline.  Fans argue that although Pacific Rim does not pass the Bechdel Test, it does have strong respect for its female lead who is not just window dressing.

Perhaps there is room for another test of female involvement in the movies.