There’s long been the argument made that the reason that movies primarily feature male characters is that these types of movies make more money than those that have prominent female characters.
For 2013, that statement is demonstrably false. A study done by Vocativ took the Top 50 movies for 2013, looked at their Bechdel Test scores, and looked at their earnings.
(You all remember the Bechdel Test, don’t you? Three parts: 1) Are there two or more named women characters in the movie with speaking roles? 2) Do they talk to each other? 3) Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?)
Authors Versha Sharma and Hanna Sender found that of the Top 50 grossing movies, 17 of them (36 percent) had strong passes, seven had weak passes (they barely met the criteria), and 26 failed. Those that passed (plus the special case of the Sandra Bullock movie Gravity) grossed $4.22 billion. Those that failed grossed $2.66 billion.
Keep in mind that the passing movies are not necessarily high-brow, politically correct Oscar bait. Fast and Furious 6 passed, as did The Smurfs 2 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. As Vocative points out, “If G.I. Joe can do it, anyone can (you would think). And The Heat (from the folks who brought you Bridesmaids continued to show that crude, female-based buddy comedies can be successful.
Geek girl blog The Mary Sue points out that the success of Bechdel passing movies is likely to be a product of good writing: “Effective writing means you get good female characters, and effective writing produces successful movies.”
Here’s there infographic presenting their data:
