davidgillon: Text: You can take a heroic last stand against the forces of darkness. Or you can not die. It's entirely up to you" (Heroic Last Stand)
[personal profile] davidgillon
Fairly sure I forgot to mention this when I came across it a couple of weeks ago. It's discussed here, though I first came across it in a piece by Foz Meadows.

It's a parallel to the Bechdel Test, but covers some areas it misses:

Does the story include
a) at least one female character;
b) who gets her own narrative arc;
c) that is not about supporting a man’s story.

Mako Mori is a character in Pacific Rim, which fails the Bechdel test as she's the only significant female speaking role,  but she does have a full narrative arc of her own (and gets to beat up the male lead).
She's played by Rinko Kikuchi, the actress everyone was pointing to as the obvious choice to play Major Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell when Hollywood claimed no Asian actress could carry off the part a few weeks ago.

I don't think it completely supplants the Bechdel Test, but it's definitely got a point WRT character agency.

Date: 2016-06-03 01:05 am (UTC)
alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)
From: [personal profile] alexseanchai
I think Bechdel and Mori are supposed to work together. Not one supplant the other.

Date: 2016-06-03 05:05 am (UTC)
rachelmanija: (SCC: Strong)
From: [personal profile] rachelmanija
I think the Bechdel works better for films as a statistical mass (so many percent pass, etc) and the Mori test works better for individual movies.

Date: 2016-06-03 06:22 pm (UTC)
legionseagle: Lai Choi San (Default)
From: [personal profile] legionseagle
One of my problems with the "narrative arc" issue is that it's so subjective. For example, does Elizabeth Bennet have her own narrative arc?

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davidgillon: A pair of crutches, hanging from coat hooks, reflected in a mirror (Default)
David Gillon

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