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What's the Bechdel Test that Sushmita Sen’s Aarya, Kajol’s Tribhanga rated high on?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One."</li><li>"Mission Impossible" does not have a great track record when it comes to female characters.</li></ul><p>In the latest <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-one-review-2023-7">"Mission: Impossible" film, Dead Reckoning Part One,"</a> Ethan Hunt (<a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-premiere-impressed-every-person-red-carpet-2023-6">Tom Cruise</a>) is faced with an unthinkable decision.</p><p>Save Ilsa Faust (<a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-rebecca-ferguson-wears-leggings-red-carpet-2023-6">Rebecca Ferguson</a>) — his longtime ally and complicated love interest — or save Grace (<a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-pom-klementieff-hayley-atwell-helped-create-roles-2023-6">Hayley Atwell</a>), a newly introduced character clearly set up to be the next woman Ethan has a weird savior-romantic relationship with.</p><p>Being the noble spy he is, Ethan tries to save both, but fate (also known as the <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-7-tom-cruise-motorcycle-stunt-paramount-director-2023-6">"Mission: Impossible"</a> writers) has other plans, and Ilsa is killed while trying to save the newcomer.</p><p>While Ilsa's death is sad, what's even more devastating is that in the 27 years Tom Cruise's <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-stars-who-played-marvel-dc-characters-2023-7">"Mission: Impossible"</a> franchise has been around, she was probably the most well-rounded female character the series has ever seen.</p><div type="image" title="Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas) was one of the first women close to Ethan (Cruise) to die in the beginning of &quot;Mission: Impossible 1.&quot;" height="998" width="1331" msid="101735770" hostid="261" sizebytes="52820"></div><h2><strong>The women of the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise rarely make it past one film</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-movies-ranked-worst-to-best-2023-6">Throughout the franchise</a>, a recurring theme has been that Hunt's heroism puts the people closest to him at risk.</p><p>"Mission: Impossible" falls too often into what feminist comic book fans have termed the <a href="https://lby3.com/wir/r-gsimone.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Women in Refrigerators</a>" trope (or "fridging" for short), where a female character is put through a tragedy to propel the story of a male character.</p><p>While male allies of Hunt have also been endangered and killed in the series, violence aimed at women has been discreetly coded into the franchise and often serves as the catalyst for the action. </p><p>In Cruise's first "Mission: Impossible" film, in the opening scene, a female agent has to fake her death and almost actually dies in order for Ethan to complete his mission. </p><p>At the beginning of the 2006 film "Mission: Impossible III," a mentee of Hunt's (played by Keri Russell) is killed while Hunt tries to save her. Avenging her death becomes Hunt's goal.</p><p>Later, in 2015's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation," Ethan's mission is again fueled by the death of a woman. While Ethan has other reasons to chase the villainous Syndicate in "Rogue Nation," his quest is partly fueled by the fact that he's unable to save an unnamed female spy (Hermione Corfield) from death at the beginning of the movie.</p><p>Even women that somehow avoid a terminal fate often don't make it past a second movie and are pushed out the revolving door for another woman to take their place.</p><p>These women range from one-note mercenaries who are killed by the end of the movie (Léa Seydoux and <a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-cruise-pom-klementieff-kick-mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-2023-6">Pom Klementieff</a>), allies whom Ethan mentors (Maggie Q and Paula Patton), or love interests (Emmanuelle Béart and Thandiwe Newton), all of whom are quickly forgotten after the credits roll.</p><div type="image" title="Angela Bassett in &quot;Mission: Imposssible Fallout&quot; and Pom Klementieff in &quot;Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part one.&quot;" height="960" width="1280" msid="101735771" hostid="261" sizebytes="138956"></div><p>Angela Bassett's hardline CIA boss Erika Sloane, who was introduced in "Fallout," would have been a worthwhile character to develop after seeing the resourcefulness of Ethan and his spy group, the Impossible Mission Force, but even the Oscar-nominated actress is demoted to a picture in the background in <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-cast-tom-cruise-face-masks-2023-6">"MI7."</a></p><p>Ethan's wife Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), and Ilsa are the only three exceptions to this rule, and Julia is almost immediately written out of the universe after "MI3," appearing only as a cameo in two movies since her first appearance.</p><p>None of the women have an inner life, nor are they given the opportunity to ever speak to or interact with each other without Ethan's interference. That's why the MI films fail to pass the <a href="https://bechdeltest.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bechdel</a> test — named for comic Alison Bechdel and designed to measure the quality of representation of women in a film. To pass, movies simply have to have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man. </p><p>It shouldn't be that hard, but somehow <a href="https://bechdeltest.com/?list=all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">none of the films</a> succeed at that task. </p><p>This brings us back to Ilsa, one of the few women to have any real staying power, joining Ethan's core group of Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames).</p><div type="image" title="Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust in &quot;Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.&quot;" height="720" width="960" msid="101735773" hostid="261" sizebytes="79308"></div><p>Not only is she given a developed backstory, but Ilsa is also the first woman to match Ethan in skill and their relationship dynamic.</p><p>When Ilsa is introduced in "Rogue Nation," she saves Ethan. They quickly form a dynamic where Ethan wants to protect her but also trusts her ability to handle herself. This is why it's especially frustrating when she becomes yet another woman sacrificed to Ethan's hero's journey in "Dead Reckoning."</p><p>Rather than allow Ethan to have a true partner in Ilsa, he's given another damsel in distress in Grace, which has been the norm of the franchise since the beginning. "Dead Reckoning" squanders its female leads by relying on tired, well-worn tropes and traditional gender dynamics.</p><p>At this point, these story formulas are not only dated — they're boring. And if Tom Cruise is really looking to take <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-two-release-date-2023-7">"Mission Impossible" to the next level</a>, he should <a href="https://www.insider.com/mission-impossible-7-tom-cruise-why-motorcycle-stunt-done-first-2023-6">stop focusing on impressive stunts</a> and start fixing the poor reputation this franchise has with female characters.</p>

'Mission: Impossible' needs to stop pushing its strong female characters out of the picture

<br /><ul><li><strong><keyword id="6355923" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aamir-Khan" source="Orion">Aamir Khan</keyword> starrer <keyword id="7432923" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Laal-Singh-Chaddha" source="Orion">Laal Singh Chaddha</keyword> and Akshay Kumar’s <keyword id="6385850" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="raksha-bandhan" source="Orion">Raksha Bandhan</keyword> slated to release on 11 August.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Laal Singh Chaddha garnered 54% more interest than Akshay Kumar’s Rakshabandhan, according to BookMyShow.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Aamir Khan’s films reported a collection of  ₹280 cr per film based on the average of his last three films.</strong> <br /></li></ul>Laal Singh Chaddha is the most anticipated <keyword id="143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bollywood" source="Orion">Bollywood</keyword> movie in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10028196/?ref_=india_t_up">Imdb</a> ratings, followed by Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan. Both films are releasing on Thursday, during the long weekend of August pre-independence day. <br /><br />Laal Singh Chaddha is being screened across over 350 screens of <keyword id="6407732" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="inox" source="Orion">INOX</keyword> Leisure, one of India’s biggest theater chains with 692 screens across 73 cities. It’s a remake of 1994 classic Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump. <br /><br />“We are expecting Laal Singh Chaddha to have one of the best post-pandemic openings. It may earn a minimum ₹18-20 crore (on opening day). The same ballpark figure goes for Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan,” Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming head of INOX Leisure said. <br /><br />Jyala also said that Bollywood is expected to buck up during the second quarter of 2022 with mega films like Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, Vikram Vedha, Brahamastra, Pathaan and Ram Setu.<br /><br />Bollywood and movie theaters alike have been waiting for a blockbuster, as most of the movies that have raked in the moolah this year are either South multilinguals or Hollywood movies. <br /><br />However, the official site of BookMyShow revealed that 54% of the Indian audience is more interested in watching Laal Singh Chaddha as compared to Raksha Bandhan. <br /><br />Even if it gets the opening as predicted by Inox, Aamir’s latest movie will fall short of the many superhits that he has delivered in the past. <br /><br />“Aamir Khan’s films have reported a collection of  ₹280 cr per film on the average of his last three films as a lead actor. Hence, if the above (opening day) estimate of Laal Singh Chadha is reported, it will be considered below par, given the scale of the film,” said Karan Taurani, senior VP and analyst at marketing firm Elara Capital. <br /><br />This month, Ranbir Kapoor starrer Shamshera posted a dismal performance as it collected only ₹45 crore. Another recent release, Ek Villain reported a collection of ₹38 crore until yesterday, revealed Elara Capital. <br /><br />SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/videos/business/bollywoods-flops-pose-a-big-risk-to-multiplexes/videoshow/93480304.cms">Bollywood’s flops pose a big risk to multiplexes</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/whats-the-bechdel-test-that-sushmita-sens-aarya-kajols-tribhanga-rated-high-on/articleshow/93477646.cms">What's the Bechdel Test that Sushmita Sen’s Aarya, Kajol’s Tribhanga rated high on?</a>

Will Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha be the box of chocolates Bollywood is waiting for?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>TikToks about men comparing their "vanilla wives" to more kinky past partners are suddenly everywhere.</li><li>A vanilla wife "lays flat on her back like a starfish" during sex "for the entire two minutes," said one poster.</li></ul><p>An influx of videos denigrating so-called "vanilla wives" has spurred a discussion about internalized misogyny and kink on TikTok this week.</p><p>The anti-"vanilla wife" TikToks are mostly modeled off of a since-deleted video by @cosmic3londe, which shows a woman giving a thumbs-up gesture as on-screen text reads: "May not be the girl you end up with, but you'll probably think of me when you fuck your vanilla wife." (The video can still be viewed in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@victoriadevall/video/7175264437434174763?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">stitched replies</a>).</p><p>Similar TikToks further fleshed out the "vanilla wife" mythos. Phrased as though addressed to an ex-partner, posters describe a "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@99sj_444/video/7173694957121817862?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">high maintenance</a>" woman saddled with a "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@maceyyjames/video/7171916390880824619?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">boring ass marriage</a>" and uneventful, though low-lift, evenings. She "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@maceyyjames/video/7171916390880824619?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">sits at home</a> and waits for you to get home all day," sits down for a "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@imamanduuh/video/7175315015354813739?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">silent dinner</a>," and then "lays flat on her back <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@imamanduuh/video/7175315015354813739?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">like a starfish</a> for the entire two minutes before you go to sleep facing opposite directions." There is not much chit-chat, let alone lust, in the domain of a "vanilla wife."</p> <p>The women making these TikToks frame themselves as foils to these "vanilla" women, presenting themselves as more adventurous and memorable sexual partners. They're the momentary escape from a man's boring marriage.</p><p>Critics have pointed out that this framing creates "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@victoriadevall/video/7175264437434174763?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">an imaginary competition</a>" between two women — the wife and the poster — for a man's validation.</p><p>"This brand of 'pick me' behavior is particularly delusional and bothersome," TikToker Victoria de Vall (@victoriadevall) said in a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@victoriadevall/video/7175264437434174763?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">December 10 stitch</a>, "because they project their desperation to be chosen and picked by this man, who has moved on, onto the woman that he has actually chosen."</p> <p>"All I read and all I see when I see that post or a post like that is: 'I am so desperate for this man's validation, I feel so low about myself — that I am going to enter into an imaginary competition with the woman he actually wants and fantasize that he actually will subconsciously be thinking about me or want me one day,'" she continued.</p><p>Others, like TikToker Courtney Alvarado<strong> (</strong>@alvaradocourtney), <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alvaradocourtney/video/7175768002351123754?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">criticize</a> the "vanilla wife" videos for implying a woman's worth in marriage is "based off of what she will/won't do in bed" and asked women to "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@nellaonthemoon/video/7176052122889342251?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">stop centering their lives and intentions around how to attract men</a>."</p><p>"It also suggests that a peaceful relationship equals boring, which is absolutely not the case," one user <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alvaradocourtney/video/7175768002351123754?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">commented</a>.</p> <p>TikToker @jordanatheresa told viewers in a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jordanatheresa/video/7175577257199586566?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">December 10 TikTok </a>that framing "vanilla sex" as boring can set a "dangerous precedent," where women set their sexual preferences around pleasing men rather than exploring their own sexual desires.</p><p>"Having wide access to all sorts of different pornography has completely warped our perception of sex and intimacy," she <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jordanatheresa/video/7175577257199586566?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">said</a>.</p><p>She also encouraged women who cast themselves as foils to the "vanilla wife" to interrogate whether they were falling prey to internalized misogyny.</p> <p>"If you're only talking about [kinks] in the context of men enjoying them — so, for example, 'I'm so kinky, he's going to be fantasizing about me when he's with his boring vanilla wife," she told viewers, "then maybe you should question whether you want to partake in kink because you actually enjoy it — which is a real thing, I enjoy it — or whether you want to partake in kink because you think men will like it and it will make you 'not like the other girls,' and you sort of are getting off on the fantasy of a man still fantasizing about you years after the fact when he's with his boring vanilla wife."</p><p>In response, TikTokers have started <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@angelrachella/video/7175162089886010666?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">identifying themselves as either current vanilla wives</a> or hopefuls.</p><p>Some oppositional videos <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@angelrachella/video/7175162089886010666?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">struck a serious tone</a>, with "vanilla wives" noting that they didn't mind if their partner had dated someone "freakier" in the past because they didn't value themselves "based on their sex appeal."</p><p>Others were more playful. TikTokers joked about the perceived leisure of the "vanilla wife" lifestyle or shared clips of lighthearted moments of non-sexual intimacy with their husbands — like a self-described "vanilla wife" whose partner was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@liaqon/video/7175137871538572587?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">pretending to eat her socks</a> while she's "in the ER at 3 am."</p><p>Some say that when women pit the "freaky ex" against the "vanilla wife," it's women, in general, that lose. "This whole "vanilla wife vs freaky ex" is just the Madonna-whore complex but re-labeled," wrote one TikToker in an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@heatheremilee/video/7175607482281102598?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">on-screen caption</a>.</p><p>"They'd rather get a pat on the head from those in charge than actually change the system so they can be in charge too," <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@monetroshi/video/7175634130728733998?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">another comment read</a>.</p> <p>"Honestly, arguing over whose getting picked by a man is so embarrassing," <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@monetroshi/video/7175634130728733998?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">commented one TikToker.</a></p><p>"We are not passing the Bechdel test like this," <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@heatheremilee/video/7175607482281102598?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7120698119249577518">wrote another</a>.</p><p><em>Email tips on all things internet to </em><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:mleighton@insider.com"><em>mleighton@insider.com</em></a><em>.</em></p>

TikTokers denigrating 'vanilla wives' as women doomed to silent dinners and boring sex have spurred conversations about kink and misogyny on TikTok: 'Cut it out, ladies'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>For International Day of the Girl on Tuesday, "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn promised&#xa0;that the sequel he's working on will "not only pass the Bechdel test, but run over it and back up over it again and again in an eighteen-wheeler truck."</p><p>The Bechdel test measures&#xa0;whether a movie treats its female characters as fully developed ones, or just as props for men. For a movie to pass, it has to accomplish three things: (1)&#xa0;have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. It's a pretty low bar to clear, but somehow&#xa0;<a href="http://fusion.net/story/250292/2015-movies-bechdel-test-sexism/">fewer&#xa0;than half of 2015's movies cleared it</a>.</p><p>Gunn intends to address <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ava-duvernay-is-helping-women-and-minorities-in-the-film-business-2015-9">pervasive Hollywood sexism</a> in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" by making his female characters - Gamora, Nebula, and Mantis - not only "strong," but well-developed.</p><p>"Women all over the world have been pushed to the sidelines in the interests of men, and their personhood is often forgotten or delegitimized," <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jgunn/posts/10153673616446157">Gunn wrote in a Facebook post</a>.</p><p>Gunn wants to write movies&#xa0;where women's stories and men's stories don't come at the expense of each other, but are instead "interwoven in a way to strengthen and optimize all of them." The first "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie also distinguished itself by being <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2016/10/gotg-2-director-promises-better-womens-stories.html">the first Marvel movie with a female writer</a>, Nicole Perlman.&#xa0;</p><p>Marvel has a patchy record when it comes to passing the Bechdel Test, but&#xa0;the studio is&#xa0;improving. "Avengers: Age of Ultron,"&#xa0;"Guardians of the Galaxy," the two "Thor" movies, and the "Captain America" and "Iron Man" sequels all pass it. The first "Iron Man" movie, "Captain America," "Ant-Man," "The Avengers," and "The Incredible Hulk" do not.</p><p>You can read Gunn's full Facebook post below:</p><p><div></div></p><p>"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" will be in theaters May 5, 2017.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spaghetti-and-meatballs-video-2016-10">Find comfort in a giant plate of spaghetti and meatballs </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="szOHRjNjE63A7e9sBSlMdFs-RSmB0wXL" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

'Guardians of the Galaxy' director says sequel will address Hollywood sexism by showcasing strong female characters front and center

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Disney / Marvel" title_caption="'The Avengers' does not pass the Bechdel Test." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51d70cb2eab8ea5933000015-960/the-avengers-scarlett-johansson-2.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marvels-The-Avengers-Four-Disc-Combo/dp/B001KVZ6HK">Disney / Marvel</a></span></p><p class="caption">'The Avengers' does not pass the Bechdel Test.</p></div><p></p></div>Cartoonist and feminist theorist Alison Bechdel won a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/macarthur-fellow-2014-winners-2014-9">2014 MacArthur grant</a>, which will give her $625,000 over five years to spend however she wants.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.macfound.org/fellows/908/">The MacArthur Foundation highlights her works</a> including "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Essential-Dykes-Watch-Out/dp/0618968806">Dykes To Watch Out For"</a> but fails to mention the popular tool she created in 1985 to identify movies that take women seriously. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">To pass the Bechdel test, a movie must meet the following criteria:</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span>It has to have at least two [named] women in it,</span></li>
<li><span>who talk to each other,</span></li>
<li><span>about something besides a man.</span></li>
</ol>
<p><span style="line-height: 22.5px;">Pretty simple, right? But a shocking number of movies don't pass the test.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><a href="http://tenchocolatesundaes.blogspot.com.br/">Blogger Daniel Mariani analyzed data</a> from the crowd-sourced <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/">Bechdel Test Movie List</a> to create a series of charts on the subject. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With his permission, we're publishing a chart on Bechdel pass rates by genre.</span></p>
<p>While around 58% of movies pass the test, with even higher pass rates for genres like horror (!), drama, and comedy, only some 37% of action movies pass, with similar failure rates for other major genres.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></span></p>
<p><a href="http://tenchocolatesundaes.blogspot.com.br/"><span style="line-height: 22.5px;">Go to Mariani's site to see charts by director, writer, country, and more &gt;</span></a></p>
<p>And here's a video on Alison Bechdel from the MacArthur Foundation:</p>
<p></p>
<p>As for "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marvels-The-Avengers-Four-Disc-Combo/dp/B001KVZ6HK">The Avengers</a>," pictured above, <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/3205/the_avengers/">a commenter on BechdelTest.com </a>notes that: "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">There are more than two named female characters; however there is no interaction between any of them. Agent Maria Hill does give orders to her staff (some of whom are female), but there is certainly no conversation/dialogue."</span></p>

Here's Proof That Hollywood Is Sexist, From The Winner Of A 2014 MacArthur Genius Grant

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Many people say "Love Actually" is a classic rom-com movie worthy of a rewatch each holiday season.</strong></li><li><strong>But other people have been pointing out the sexism in the 2003 movie for quite some time now.</strong></li></ul><p>'Tis the season to be jolly and remind everyone that <a href="http://www.insider.com/love-actually-where-are-they-now-2016-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Love Actually"</a> is one of the most problematic and sexist Christmas movies still considered to be a holiday staple in homes around the world.</p><p>Many people — myself included — cozy up and watch "Love Actually" almost every year. In the 14 years since it's release (<a href="http://www.insider.com/love-actually-where-are-they-now-2016-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">you can see how the cast has changed since then here</a>), "Love Actually" has managed to become a ritualistic part of holiday movie watching just like "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's A Wonderful Life." </p><p>But while some have latched onto "Love Actually" for its promise of feel-good romance and a star-studded cast, others have pointed out the many misogynistic issues embedded in the script. If you haven't read <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West's takedown of "Love Actually"</a> — stop everything you're doing and go read it.</p><div type="image" title="Sarah Love Actually" height="808" width="1617" msid="79731642" hostid="261"></div><p>Let's dive into the muck. First up — the constant references to overweight women.</p><h2>The strange volume of references to Natalie's weight</h2><p>For a movie supposedly about true love, there are way too many jokes made about women's weight. Pajiba writer Courtney Enlow wrote <a style="font-size: 15px;" href="http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/love-actuallys-greatest-mystery-why-does-everyone-think-natalie-is-so-fat.php">an excellent breakdown</a> of the most bizarre repetition of fat jokes all about one character: Natalie.</p><p><em>"'</em>Love Actually's' biggest mystery is this: Why does everyone think Natalie, played by actress Martine McCutcheon, is such a monstrous fat cow beast creature?" Enlow <a href="http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/love-actuallys-greatest-mystery-why-does-everyone-think-natalie-is-so-fat.php">wrote in 2014</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Natalie Love Actually" height="808" width="1616" msid="79731644" hostid="261"></div><p>First Natalie tells Prime Minister David — her bachelor boss played by Hugh Grant — a story about how her boyfriend dumped her because "she was getting fat." </p><p>Then Natalie has a weird encounter with the President of the United States, in which he takes advantage of his powerful position to make a pass at her. After witnessing the uncomfortable moment, David takes revenge with a politically charged speech aimed at the President and then fires Natalie.</p><div type="image" title="Prime Minister David Love Actually" height="814" width="1627" msid="79731645" hostid="261"></div><p>Technically, he asks for her to be "distributed elsewhere," but even during that conversation her weight comes up again. David's chief of staff refers to her as "the chubby girl." Later Natalie's father calls her "Plumpy," as if that's a cute nickname your grown daughter loves to hear. </p><p>There's another fat joke directed towards a different character that never made it into the movie, but still tarnishes our memory of "Love Actually."</p><h2>The weird fat joke that only appeared in the trailer</h2><p>Everyone remembers the iconic "Love Actually" scene in which Mark — a man who has fallen in love with his best friend's new wife, Juliet, apparently without ever speaking to her — shows up to the newlyweds house and silently performs the romantic gesture of professing his love for her. </p><div type="image" title="Love Actually" height="816" width="1632" msid="79731647" hostid="261"></div><p>Sweet, right? Well ... it's actually kind of creepy and disrespectful. Your BEST FRIEND just married a woman who you have feelings for. Yes, that sucks, but your plan is to go behind your friend's back to tell Juliet that you love her and probably will for the rest of your life? </p><p>As <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West put it succinctly back in 2013</a>: "That best man guy shows up at Keira Knightley's house and spawns a decade of nice-guy emotional manipulation re-framed as 'romance.' And Keira Knightley <em>f------- kisses him</em> for it."</p><p>Then it gets worse. Two years ago, while re-watching Christmas movie trailers, because why not, we realized that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/keira-knightley-fatso-cue-card-love-actually-2015-11">there was an extra card originally in that stack of "romance."</a> This is straight from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peiRtkXMYQ8">official Universal movie trailer</a>:</p><p>"Fatso."</p><p>Mark was supposed to call Juliet "fatso" while in the middle of professing his love to her. That doesn't even make sense. And in the trailer, she just laughs at it? As if that's the funniest joke a man she barely knows and who has treated her with disdain as a method of self-preservation can make?</p><h2>Women's general lack of agency</h2><p>Moving on from the fat jokes, it's hard to ignore the fact that women have little to no agency in this movie — unless they're after sex. </p><p>The movie <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/779/love_actually/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barely passes the Bechdel test</a> — as far as we can tell the only two female characters who speak about something other than a man are Karen and her daughter Daisy. They discuss the lobster's role in the nativity play. </p><div type="image" title="Karen and Daisy Love Actually " height="764" width="1528" msid="79731650" hostid="261"></div><p>But Daisy is one of the minor named characters, and all the other women only ever speak with men in romantic settings.</p><p>Lindy West pointed out that the largest example of this comes from Colin Firth's storyline, in which he stays in a French home and falls in love with the woman hired to clean his house every day without every properly speaking to her.</p><p>"Colin Firth falls in 'love' with Aurelia at first sight, establishing 'Love Actually''s central moral lesson: The less a woman talks, the more lovable she is," West wrote. "None of the women in this movie f------ talk. All of the men in this movie 'win' a woman at the end. This god d--- movie."</p><h2>The demoralizing conclusion of the cheating plotline</h2><p>The most depressing storyline in "Love Actually" is Harry's extra-marital affair.</p><p>Harry, played by Alan Rickman, has an affair with his secretary (a character reduced to walking genitals, <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">according to West's apt description</a>). Eventually Harry's wife, Karen, realizes what's happening and tearfully confronts him.</p><div type="image" title="Harry and Karen Love Actually" height="812" width="1623" msid="79731651" hostid="261"></div><p>At the end of the movie we see her greeting him at the airport, and it's unclear whether she decided to leave him or not. But one of the script editors for "Love Actually" (and the wife of the<em> </em>writer and director Richard Curtis) tweeted some depressing confirmations about the ending in 2015.</p><p>Not only did Harry definitely have a physical affair as well as an emotional one, but Karen decides to stay with him even though their home will never be as happy again. We're not arguing that divorce is always the answer, but it's upsetting to have no real closure for this narrative.</p><p>At the very least we would have appreciated seeing a real, meaningful conversation between Harry and Karen about his actions and their marriage.</p><div type="image" title="Harry Love Actually" height="812" width="1624" msid="79731653" hostid="261"></div><h2>All the turtlenecks. All of them.</h2><p>Just kidding. The turtlenecks are the best part this movie. If there's one thing that gets more and more fun with each re-watching of "Love Actually," it's pointing and subsequently ranking every turtleneck worn throughout the film. BuzzFeed did the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ericafutterman/the-definitive-ranking-of-all-of-love-actually-turtlenecks">"Definitive Ranking of All the Turtlenecks in 'Love Actually'"</a> back in 2013 and it's a must-read.</p><p>You have Mia's saucy black turtleneck, Daniel's sad "my wife just died" turtleneck, and "Just" Judy's appropriately nude-colored turtleneck. But the best of all is Mark's "Oh crap, Juliet knows I love her" turtleneck.</p><p>It starts out as a regular zip up sweater.</p><div type="image" title="Mark sad Love Actually" height="812" width="1624" msid="79731654" hostid="261"></div><p>But then it transforms into a turtleneck of shame and self-delusion:</p><p>Brilliant.</p><p>But in all seriousness. There are more issues with "Love Actually" than we've had time to go through here. You should really take a read through <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West's hilarious takedown of the movie</a>.</p><p>I still watch it every year, but as my colleague Megan Willett-Wei said, it's a movie best enjoyed with "eyes wide open." Being aware of the issues with the representation of women and relationships in movies like "Love Actually" is an important first step. So, if you must, sit back and enjoy the cheesy sexism and plethora of turtlenecks. But don't mistake the movie's message of "love" for the real deal. </p>

6 awful things you might have overlooked in 'Love Actually'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Sony Pictures Classics</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>I just watched "Equity", the highly-anticipated Wall Street movie that came to theaters on Friday, and I loved it.</p><p>The movie was compelling - there was ambition, there was greed, there was white collar crime.</p><p>It was also the most realistic Wall Street movie I've ever seen. The story follows a senior banker staging a come back after a botched IPO by fighting to take the next big Silicon Valley startup public.</p><p>"Equity" provides a real look into the lives of investment bankers, and why their careers involve so much work and travel - but, perhaps more notably, it's a refreshing change of pace after eight years of Wall Street movies about the financial crisis.</p><p>It's so entertaining you almost forget another remarkable detail about the film: The movie was written, directed, produced, and starred in by women.  </p><p>"Equity" passes the <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/">Bechdel Test</a> with flying colors - that is, the rule created in 1985 by the cartoonist Alison Bechdel that requires movies to have at least two women who speak to each other and specifically not speak about a man.</p><p>But "Equity" is not an overtly feminist statement. It's not a story about women fighting to break the glass ceiling or getting overlooked because of their sex. Really, it just feels like a great Wall Street movie in which the main characters happen to be women.</p><p>For one thing, the female characters are multidimensional. You feel for the vice president who hides her pregnancy so as not to inhibit a potential promotion, and you feel betrayed when you realize she's also capable of doing bad. The money-driven senior banker who sometimes treats her subordinates badly is more than just a bossy woman; she is conflicted, and she's actually trying to do the right thing.</p><p>In other words, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine men in each of these roles, rather than women. And that's kind of refreshing too.</p><p>I often write about women on Wall Street, and I generally hear a similar story: Women tend to work harder than men, but have to fight twice as hard to get ahead. We think we'll get ahead with hard work, when really we should be focusing more on networking, like men do.</p><p>So I was expecting more of the same message when I watched "Equity". That I didn't get that message was a pleasant surprise. Instead, I got to watch a fun movie about some dynamic Wall Streeters taking a tech unicorn public.</p><p>To be sure, there are challenges the bankers face that are undoubtedly due to their gender, and there is still a feminist message being given.</p><p>The main character, Naomi Bishop, for example, is told she rubs people the wrong way - a description that's undoubtedly used more often for women than for men. But ultimately, the reason she has to fight so hard for the promotion is because of a previous business transaction gone wrong - a hurdle that could just as easily apply to a man.</p><p>I'm telling everyone I know to go see "Equity" this weekend - not just because important to see strong women in positions of power, regardless of how seamlessly that goal is accomplished. You can go see "Equity" for that reason, or you can go because it's a really good movie.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-revisionist-history-donate-princeton-vassar-bowdoin-tipping-point-outliers-blink-2016-7">MALCOLM GLADWELL: 'Anyone who gives a single dollar to Princeton has completely lost their mind' </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tlNzV5NDE68LblejgkI-6sByYCuoiDZ7" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

'Equity' is such a good Wall Street movie, you almost forget that all the characters are women

<p>Last night, I went to see the movie Magic Mike XXL.</p><p>It surprised me, because it ended up being one of the most feminist films I've ever seen, and it represents a side of the industry I wasn't sure would ever exist.</p><p>Yes, a film about male strippers, which just barely <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/3385/magic_mike/">passes the Bechdel test</a> (do any two female characters have a conversation that isn't about a man?), is massively, unapologetically feminist.</p><p>Ostensibly this is about a bunch of bros going on a road trip to a stripper convention. The plot is irrelevant, though, because the point of the film is really female pleasure. And it's not just in the visuals - a non-trivial amount of the dialogue is about figuring out what women want, and finding ways to give it to them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Magic Mike Lane (Channing Tatum), at one point, explains that the inspiration for his famous solo dance from the previous movie (a reason for a re-watch!) was a woman he saw at a club. He says he just though about what he would do to her and did it on stage.</span></p><p>At another moment, Lane is standing in a kitchen, talking to a woman eating an entire red velvet cake while sitting on the counter (hero), and he says to her "My god is a woman." This makes up for the fact that he declines her invite to share the cake.</p><p>She is dumbfounded. She continues eating her cake (red velvet). Tatum walks out into the living room, where one of his friends is giving a lap dance to a middle-aged woman who has just admitted that her and her husband have never had sex with the lights on.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>This is possibly the first movie I've ever seen coming from a heterosexual male perspective that recognizes that women are independent beings with preferences, and attending to those preferences is sexier than any sculpted ab - although those don't hurt. </p><p>In another scene, at a members only male strip club owned by the fabulous Jada Pinkett Smith, singer-dancer Andre (Donald Glover) asks one of the patrons about herself. On the spot, he makes up a song about her. All of the women in the crowd go crazy for him. </p><p>In this movie there are drag queens. There are women, referred to as queens. There are bodies of all sizes and races and ages, all getting properly turned on by men who tell them they deserve it <em>and really mean it</em>. This is a nearly unprecedented recognition by a major movie studio that women - normal women, half of the population - are sexual beings. And that's totally cool and normal.  </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>I feel like I grew up in a world that told me sex was scary, and nasty, and should be secret. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I mostly got this impression from watching movies, and it took me years to rethink that framework. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Magic Mike isn't perfect (see: Bechdel test above), but it represents a huge turn for the industry on this front, and I can only hope that it's not a one-off.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/magic-mike-xxl--trailer-2015-5">The new trailer for 'Magic Mike XXL' promises a guaranteed box office smash</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J3dXl3dDp8cm9CvhfnW35RThr25__O0x" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Magic Mike XXL is unapologetically feminist and we're surprised it even exists

<p><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">&#xa0;</p><p><span>My long distance bestie, Michelle, lives in Iowa City. We connect every day through <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/beme-app-from-casey-neistat-2015-7">Bemes</a>, Snapchats, and text messages. She calls me Lee rather than Leanna, because she swears "it is faster to type." We always appreciate the old-fashioned phone call, which usually lasts for about three hours when we can fit it in.</span>&#xa0;</p><p class="embed-spacer">Technology makes it easier than ever before to sustain these friendships through social channels. Teens, the demographic who lead social communication trends, are a prime example of this shift.</p><p><span>A new Pew Research <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/">survey</a> reveals that more than half of teenage girls&#xa0;have met a new friend online. Texting is a daily ritual for girls, with 55% of teens spending time every day to text their friends. It's never been simpler to shoot your BFF a note, even if they live hundreds of miles away.</span></p><p class="embed-spacer">Female friendships are nothing new, but mass media&#xa0;is celebrating them like never before.</p><p class="embed-spacer">While displays of female friendship in popular culture is a long-burning trend, as evidenced by films like "Thelma and Louise," triumphant&#xa0;images of female best friends are spiking now. More recently, female friends in"Mad Max" join&#xa0;together in a wild, action-fueled chase.</p><p class="embed-spacer">More and more TV shows and films are passing the Bechdel test, a term coined by author Allison Bechdel in an&#xa0;<a href="http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/dtwof">1985 comic</a>.&#xa0;It asks whether a work of fiction features at least two named women who talk to each other about anything other than a man. Surprisingly, only about <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/statistics/">half of all films</a> pass the test.</p><p>But that number is growing, with the success of shows with female protagonists, like "Broad City," "Girls," and "Orange is the New Black." Fictional duos, like Pousey and Tastee from OITNB, celebrate female friendship as a powerful bond.</p><p><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">Real life female friends are in the spotlight too. Celebrities are triumphantly displaying their squads in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIy9NiNbmo">music videos</a>, social media, and red carpet events. Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé eat&#xa0;hamburgers in matching jackets in their "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OQ8np80uy8">Feeling Myself</a>" video. The U.S. soccer team <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-the-us-winning-the-womens-world-cup-2015-7">hug</a>&#xa0;after a historical World Cup win.&#xa0;Taylor Swift&#xa0;and her team&#xa0;are strutting through <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIy9NiNbmo">flames</a> and our social feeds.</p><p class="embed-spacer"><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">Another pair of long distance besties are Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow, who host the hilarious bi-weekly podcast <a href="http://callyourgirlfriend.com/">Call Your Girlfriend</a>&#xa0;that attracts more than <a href="https://www.thedreslyn.com/theblog/calling-all-girlfriends-writer-and-podcast-creator-ann-friedman/">50,000 listeners</a>.&#xa0;They record the podcast from opposite sides of California (with Ann in Los Angeles and Aminatou in San Francisco). Discussing everything from periods to politics, their podcast is another example of #squadgoals, but&#xa0;somehow you don't feel like a third wheel.</p><p>The Spice Girls <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ">were right</a> when they declared to their prospective lovers that female friends come first. Friendship between women is a strong bond, and women are able to connect on a level that they can't with men. As Friedman notes in her <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/books/review/the-social-sex-a-history-of-female-friendship.html">latest piece</a> in the New York Times, women marry later, hold more economic power, divorce more often, and live longer than ever before.&#xa0;"Whereas friendship was once a reaction to the shortcoming of other social insitutions, these days it's an institution unto itself," she writes.</p><p>When women find those special ladies, they hold onto them. And sometimes, a lost female friend <a href="http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/the-art-of-loving-and-losing-female-friends">pains more</a> than a break-up.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-relationship-friendship-tips-unplugging-virtual-reality-2015-1">Psychiatrist Reveals 5 Ways To Have Healthy And Meaningful Relationships</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZkNHhjcjp43XKRTKCvAnn0H1CCLw_EGR" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Technology is the female squad's best friend

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p><strong>The <keyword id="79969" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="insider">INSIDER</keyword> Summary:</strong></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>  "Love Actually" is a 2003 holiday movie considered a romantic classic.</strong><br><strong>  But people have been pointing out the sexism in the movie for years.</strong><br><strong>  Enjoying "Love Actually" is perfectly fine, but best done with eyes wide open.</strong></br></br></p><p><br>'Tis the season to be jolly and remind everyone that "Love Actually" is one of the most problematic and sexist Christmas movies still considered to be a holiday staple in homes around the world.&#xa0;</br></p><p>Yay!</p><p>Many people - myself included - cozy up and watch "Love Actually" almost every year. In the 13 years since it's release, "Love Actually" has managed to become a ritualistic part of holiday movie watching just like "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's A Wonderful Life."&#xa0;</p><p>But while some have latched onto "Love Actually" for its promise of feel-good romance and star-studded cast (<a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/love-actually-where-are-they-now-2016-12">seriously the casting is insane in retrospect</a>), others have pointed out the many misogynistic issues embedded in the script. If you haven't read <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West's takedown of "Love Actually"</a>&#xa0;- stop everything you're doing and go read it.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Let's dive into the muck. First up - the constant references to overweight women.</p><h2>The strange volume of fat jokes</h2><p>For a movie supposedly about true love, there are way too many jokes made about women's weight. Pajiba&#xa0;writer Courtney Enlow wrote <a href="http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/love-actuallys-greatest-mystery-why-does-everyone-think-natalie-is-so-fat.php">an excellent breakdown</a> of the most bizarre repetition of fat jokes all about one character: Natalie.</p><p><em>"</em>Love Actually'<span>s biggest mystery is this: Why does everyone think Natalie, played by actress Martine McCutcheon, is such a monstrous fat cow beast creature?" Enlow <a href="http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/love-actuallys-greatest-mystery-why-does-everyone-think-natalie-is-so-fat.php">wrote in 2014</a>.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>First Natalie tells Prime Minister David - her bachelor boss played by Hugh Grant - a story about how her boyfriend dumped her because "she was getting fat."&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Then Natalie has a weird encounter with the president of the United States, in which he uses his power of authority over her lack of agency as a subordinate to almost trick her into sex? And as a result, David makes a politically charged speech and then fires Natalie.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Technically, he asks for her to be "distributed elsewhere," but even during that conversation her weight comes up again. David's chief of staff refers to her as "the chubby girl." Later Natalie's father calls her "Plumpy," as if that's a flattering nickname your grown daughter loves to hear.&#xa0;</span></p><p>There's another fat joke directed towards a different character that never made it into the movie, but still tarnishes our memory of "Love Actually."</p><h2>The weird fat joke that only appeared in the trailer</h2><p>Everyone remembers the iconic "Love Actually" scene in which Mark - a man who has fallen in love with his best friend's new wife, Juliet, without ever speaking to her - shows up to the newlyweds house and silently performs the romantic gesture of professing his love for her.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Sweet, right? Well ... it's actually kind of creepy and disrespectful. Your BEST FRIEND - Peter - just married a woman who you have feelings for. Yes, that sucks, but your plan is to go behind your friend's back to tell&#xa0;Juliet that you love her and probably will for the rest of your life?&#xa0;</p><p>As&#xa0;<a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West put it succinctly back in 2013</a>: "<span>That best man guy shows up at Keira Knightley's house and spawns a decade of nice-guy emotional manipulation reframed as 'romance.' And Keira Knightley </span><em>f--king kisses him</em><span> for it."</span></p><p>What?!</p><p>Oh and then it gets worse. Last year, while rewatching Christmas movie trailers, because why not, we realized that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/keira-knightley-fatso-cue-card-love-actually-2015-11">there was an extra card originally in that stack of "romance."</a>&#xa0;This is straight from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peiRtkXMYQ8">official Universal movie trailer</a>:</p><p><div></div></p><p>Fatso.&#xa0;</p><p>Mark was supposed to call Juliet "Fatso" while in the middle of professing his love to her. That doesn't even make sense. And in the trailer, she just laughs at it? As if that's the funniest joke a man she barely knows and who has treated her with disdain as a method of self-preservation can make?</p><h2>Women's general lack of agency</h2><p>Moving on from the fat jokes, it's hard to ignore the fact that women have little to no agency in this movie - unless they're after sex.&#xa0;</p><p>The movie <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/779/love_actually/">barely passes the Bechdel test</a> - as far as we can tell the only two female characters who speak about something other than a man are Karen and her daughter Daisy. They discuss the lobster's role in the nativity play.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>But Daisy is barely a named character, and all the other women only ever speak with men in romantic settings.</p><p>Lindy West pointed out that the largest example of this comes from Colin Firth's storyline, in which he stays in a French home and falls in love with&#xa0;the woman hired to clean his house every day without every properly speaking to her.</p><p>"Colin Firth falls in 'love' with Aurelia at first sight, establishing Love Actually's central moral lesson: The less a woman talks, the more lovable she is," West wrote. "None of the women in this movie f--king talk. All of the men in this movie 'win' a woman at the end. This god d--n movie."</p><h2>The demoralizing conclusion of the cheating plotline</h2><p>The most&#xa0;depressing storyline in "Love Actually" is Harry's extra-marital affair.</p><p>Harry - played by Alan Rickman - has&#xa0;an affair with his secretary (a character reduced to walking genitals, <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">according to West's apt description</a>). Eventually Harry's wife, Karen, realizes what's happening and tearfully confronts him.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>But at the end of the movie we see her greeting him at the airport, and it's unclear whether she decided to leave him or not. But one of the script editors for "Love Actually" (and&#xa0;<span>the wife of&#xa0;the</span><em>&#xa0;</em><span>writer and director Richard Curtis) tweeted some depressing confirmations about the ending in 2015.</span></p><p><span><div></div></span></p><p><span><div></div></span></p><p><span>Not only did Harry definitely have a physical affair as well as an emotional one, but Karen decides to stay with him even though their home will never be as happy again. Ugh. We're not arguing that divorce is always the answer, but it's upsetting to have no real closure for this narrative. At the very least we would have appreciated seeing a real conversation between Harry and Karen that was more meaningful.&#xa0;</span></p><h2>3 plot holes we can't suspend disbelief over</h2><p>Again, we have to give props to Lindy West for <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">really driving these points home</a>.&#xa0;</p><p>First - how in the world did Harry find a Joni Mitchell CD his wife didn't already own? That gift was already depressing because Karen was expecting to see a gold necklace and instead realized he had bought fancy jewelry for his sexy secretary.&#xa0;</p><p>But Karen said earlier in the movie that she loves Joni Mitchell, and has been listening to her forever. So what on earth was the CD that Harry found and bought? A secret recording Karen had never heard before? Puh-lease.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Then there's the scene early on in the movie where we learn that Mia - Harry's sexy secretary - is still looking for somewhere to host their office Christmas party just weeks before the holiday.&#xa0;</p><p>I've been an office manager before. You do <em>not&#xa0;</em>find a place to host a large corporate holiday party on December 1. That process begins in like October, or heck even over the summer.&#xa0;</p><p>Mia is the worst.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>In a similar vein, the movie opens with Billy Mack recording his Christmas single with five weeks to go until December 25. Don't celebrities usually record Christmas albums in, like, July? What is this guy doing? No wonder he's stressed about making it to number one.&#xa0;</p><h2>All the turtlenecks. All of them.</h2><p>Okay, just kidding. The turtlenecks are the best part of "Love Actually." If there's one thing that gets more and more fun with each rewatching of this movie, it's pointing out every turtleneck worn throughout. BuzzFeed did the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ericafutterman/the-definitive-ranking-of-all-of-love-actually-turtlenecks">"Definitive Ranking of All the Turtlenecks in Love Actually"</a> back in 2013 and it's a must-read.</p><p>You have Mia's saucy black turtleneck, Daniel's sad "my wife just died" turtleneck, and "Just" Judy's appropriately nude-colored turtleneck.</p><p>But the best of all is Mark's "oh my god Juliet knows I love her" turtleneck. You see - it starts out as a regular zip up sweater.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>But then it transforms into&#xa0;a turtleneck of shame and self-delusion:</p><p><div></div></p><p>Brilliant!</p><p>But in all seriousness. There are more issues with "Love Actually" than we've had time to go through here. You should really take a read through <a href="http://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388">Lindy West's hilarious takedown of the movie</a>.</p><p>I still watch it every year, but as my colleague Megan Willet said, it's a movie best enjoyed with "eyes wide open." Being aware of the issues with representation of women and relationships in movies like "Love Actually" is an important first step.&#xa0;So, if you must, sit back and enjoy the cheesy sexism and plethora of turtlenecks. But don't mistake the movie's message of "love" for the real deal.&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-sandwich-in-queens-new-york-2016-12">This is the biggest sandwich in Queens, New York</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tuNzYyODE6LiWkNp9z-AUD6OinPL_t2D" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div></hr>

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