(Image via abc.com)

Editor: Vivian Galindo

Email: bgalindo@umassd.edu

Film is a medium of art that still holds very strong biases, even in 2025. It’s not hard to see how rare diverse storytelling is on the big screen, and this makes for very interesting discussion every award season.

On Wednesday, March 26, a panel of faculty and students called “Lights, Camera, Accountability: Testing for Reel Representation” was held in the Grand Reading Room at the Claire T. Carney Library. This panel discussed diversity and representation within the 2025 Academy Award contenders for Best Picture.

When discussing each film, the panelists used a few tests to measure diversity and “proper” representation. These tests are the following:

• The Bechdel Test, created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel, asks whether at least two named female characters are present in the film and share at least one conversation that does not revolve around a man.
• The DuVernay Test, created by critic Manhola Dargus and named after director Ava DuVernay, asks if people of racial minorities, especially African Americans, have fully realized lives within the narrative rather than serving as background characters in a white person’s story.
• The Vito Russo Test, named after LGBTQ+ activist Vito Russo, asks if there is an LGBTQ+ character whose existence isn’t solely tied to their identity, and who is a pivotal piece of the plot.

Now, let’s apply them to films!

The Substance

The first film discussed was The Substance, a body horror film about a famous woman who grows old and wants to be young and beautiful again. She finds the titular “substance,” which allows her to do so in a sort of Jekyll-Hyde way.

Despite being a female-led film and discussing the way in which women are perceived by society, The Substance actually does not pass the Bechdel Test. Instead, the main character almost exclusively talks to men, and there are almost no other female characters.

As it was the first film discussed, not every test had yet been introduced, so it was unclear during the discussion if The Substance passed either. Given that the theme of the film revolves around perceptions of women and age, it doesn’t seem likely.

Nickel Boys

This film follows two Black boys in the 1960s, where they are brought to a reform a school known as Nickel Academy.

This film is largely about the experience of young African-Americans in the Jim Crow South and as such certainly passes the DuVernay Test. It does not, however, pass the Bechdel Test, as there is only one major female character, and she does not talk to another named female character.

Emilia Pérez

Emilia Pérez was also talked about, a film about a transgender woman in Mexico and her journey. From that synopsis, it sounds like all three tests should be passed easily. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

While it does pass the Bechdel test, because the primary three characters are all women, the other two are more dubious. Some might say it does pass the DuVernay test since all of the characters are supposed to be Mexican, but only one is played by a Latin American actress (Zoë Saldaña).

Its portrayal of an LGBTQ+ character is also not exactly stunning. The film is almost exclusively about the titular Emilia Pérez going through her transition—or more aptly, just a bunch of surgeries that some trans women get—but not all of them, and is certainly not the only part of being transgender.

(Image via purewow.com)

A Complete Unknown

A Complete Unknown is a biopic about Bob Dylan and his musical career, especially when he began to use electronic sounds for his music. 

The only named female characters in the film are Dylan’s wife and his colleague, both of whom only ever talk to or about him. Thus, the film fails the Bechdel Test, and the other two tests don’t seem to fare much better.

Conclave

Conclave is a film based on a novel of the same name, which is named after the actual papal conclave. It takes place following the death of a pope and is a murder-mystery/drama, trying to figure out just how he died.

Interestingly, while this movie didn’t pass the Bechdel Test, this may have been on purpose as a form of commentary. Because the movie is about papacy, a male-only job in a patriarchal religion, the few female characters offer an interesting and unique perspective on the issue.

Wicked

If you’ve been on the internet at all this year, you’ve heard of Wicked, a film based on the musical of the same name, which is about the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.

The film follows two female leads, and rather easily passes the Bechdel Test. Also, while there are no confirmed LGBTQ+ characters, many people have pointed out just how close Elphaba and Glinda are. Still, since they aren’t explicitly sapphic, the film technically doesn’t pass the Vito Russo Test.

The DuVernay Test can be a dubious one in regards to Wicked. While the fact that Elphaba is green is a clear allegory for race, especially since she is played by a Black actor, there are other people of color in the cast who act more as background characters.

Finally, spoilers for the Academy Awards, but the last film I’m going to talk about did win Best Picture. That film was…

Anora

Anora is a film about a young sex worker who falls in love with and marries a rich man from Russia against her parents’ wishes. When they try to get the wedding annulled, the husband runs off, and the titular Anora must work with two Russian bodyguards to find him.

Whether the film passes the Bechdel Test is disputed. There are many named female characters who have conversations, but rarely do they not involve or surround men.

The film has almost exclusively Russian characters, and therefore does not pass the DuVernay Test. Additionally, there are no LGBTQ+ characters that matter to the plot, so the Vito Russo Test is failed as well.

The discussion of representation in film was quite interesting and informative, and I’m hopeful that the event will be done again next year!