Named and Shamed: The Hollywood Blockbusters Failing Viewers | Technical news

Many moviegoers may be familiar with it the Bechdel testa benchmark for women's representation in movie.

It has three simple criteria. Are at least two female characters mentioned, are they talking to each other, and is that conversation about something other than a man?

You'd be surprised how many films fail, but a new test has just been unveiled that will undoubtedly yield even more films: the 'climate reality check'.

It was proposed by a group of scientists, who established the criteria as 'well' climate change exist in the stories on screen?' and 'are the characters in the film aware of this?'.

For example, the 2017 superhero action film Justice League passed the test after Jason Momoa's character Aquaman said, “Hey, I don't mind if the oceans are rising.'

Probably not the message climate scientists are hoping for, but an awareness nonetheless.

However, most films failed the test: less than 10% of the 250 films assessed met the criteria.

That figure dropped to less than 4% when looking at films that mentioned climate change in two or more scenes.

Lead researcher Professor Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, from Colby College in Maine, said Hollywood is out of touch with viewers, who want “to see their reality reflected on screen”.

“The most important thing is that the vast majority of films, popular films that have been produced in the United States in the last decade do not portray the world as it is,” said Professor Schneider-Mayerso. 'They portray a world that is now history or fantasy – a world in which climate change is not happening.'

The studypublished in collaboration with Los Angeles-based environmental consultancy Good Energy, also yielded some surprising results when it came to films that passed the test.

For example, Noah Baumbach's 2019 drama Marriage Story passed over in part because Adam Driver's character is described as “energy conscious.”

Knives Out sequel Glass Onion and folk horror Midsommar were also featured, as was Don't Look Up, a 2 hour and 25 minute satirical metaphor for the world's response to the looming climate change crisis.

The report also paid special attention to directors Bong Joon Ho and Christopher Nolan, both with two films that passed the test.

At the other end of the spectrum, films that failed included San Andreas, the 2015 disaster film about an earthquake disaster, and The Meg, which was set in the ocean – which is significantly affected by climate change.

Only 14% of films reviewed showed general impacts of climate change, and only 2% featured a character with climate anxiety.

Many characters also exhibited unfriendly climate behavior, such as flying on a private jet.

Most climate-conscious characters were between 31 and 64 years old, while 20% were between 18 and 30 years old.

The majority of climate-conscious characters were also white, further highlighting the diversity issues within the sector. Likewise, almost 70% of climate-conscious characters were men, despite numerous studies showing that women tend to be more concerned about the environment.

Alison Bechdel, the cartoonist behind the test of the same name, also commented on the research, which she said was “long overdue.”

On X she wrote, “This is so amazing, and long overdue for movies. To pass this test, according to Good Energy, a story must demonstrate two things: “climate change exists” and “a character knows it”.'

In a follow-up to AP, she added that “ignoring this existential threat in a film set in the present simply doesn't make sense anymore.”

“I worry that screenwriters are doing it in a sort of routine way, which could be counterproductive, just like 'strong female characters' do by rote,” she said. 'But it seems like a no-brainer to inject awareness of our common situation into the stories we consume.'

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