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Chicks On Anime - Best Friends Forever

4. So many NANA discussions, so little mention of Jun, Hachi's 1st bestfriend. She's Nana K.'s rock! She and her boyfriend have the most stable relationship in...NANA-dom! Minor character, sure, but a great addition to the bonus pages in the tankobons!

You're missing the point of the Bechdel Test. It's best described in the linked article, but I'll quote it to save time:

Quote:

I had to understand that the audience only wanted white, straight, male leads. I was assured that as long as I made the white, straight men in my scripts prominent, I could still offer groundbreaking characters of other descriptions (fascinating, significant women, men of color, etc.) - as long as they didn’t distract the audience from the white men they really paid their money to see.

The problem with films that don't pass the Bechdel Test is that it makes it seem as though women have only one focus in their life: men. Because if the guy they're obsessed with isn't around, women will need to talk about him to other women a.) show just how obsessed they are with him and b.) to focus the audience back on the male character and not on other potentially interesting side characters.

I think, to be fair, the "male version" would have to be a little more like this:

1) There are two or more males, 2) they have a conversation, 3) that's not about women or sports.

No, I'm very aware of the etymology of the term - my involvement with anime predates its common usage. I was merely engaging in a bit of wordplay using the earlier comment about today's average anime fan. Though I will say that when Dirty Pair was making the rounds of convention video rooms it was rather amusing to see how many people held that exact misconception.

Of course Kei and Yuri probably flunk the Bechdel Test because they do discuss men quite a bit. But those men are hardly at the center of their lives, and back in that particular day their behavior was viewed as pretty outlandish for female anime characters.

Cait wrote:

I think, to be fair, the "male version" would have to be a little more like this: 1) There are two or more males, 2) they have a conversation, 3) that's not about women or sports.

If we eliminate the general task, the common goal, and the unifier that could bring us men into a team, a group, and a unit, then we won't have anything to related ourselves with one another. For since the dawn of time, we men were task seekers, hunters who will band together to form a hunting party in order to hunt down our preys for greater efficiency and a higher chance of survival. It is also why we men tend to rely on our reptilian brains and react on instincts, and we're more likely to be the aggressors. In another word, we men are in general too dumb to even pay attention to ourselves, and good luck on seeking help from each others in that regard.

But I'm surprised Sailor Moon never got a mention! Like, come on, 5+ girls, kicking butt, BFF, etc, and guys having lesser, weaker roles where they do next to nil? Ok, I admit, I have sentimental opinion with it, but still... it's a big one.

Sports, if anything, are an extension of the male competitive spirit, the one that determines, often, reproductive success. While it is true that there is an instinctive correlation between males who are athletic (the ability to hunt effectively) and successful, let's call it "mating," the problem isn't there, but in the preoccupation with the very act of athletics, not its rewards. It is counter-productive for men to always be talking about sports, therefore, if the ultimate goal is to land a woman, because, seriously, women in general have no interest in the sports themselves, only generally in what they represent (of course, there are serious exceptions to this rule and I am not suggesting that women can't appreciate athletics themselves).

In order to be fair, for the Bechdel rule to apply to men, the threads of conversation that men have with other men should reflect an actual, productive social interaction and not the distraction that things like sports afford, to resist discussing the things that could actually help them understand both genders (not just their own). Therefore, I would even amend my joke to, "3) that is not about sports or sex," because if men want to understand women, maybe they should start by talking about them (and not about their breasts or willingness to "give it up").

I have to finally ask....what does ANY of this have to do with the actual article?

I'm sure abunai or Zac will give me an earful for this but whatever.

Psycho 101 wrote:

I'm sure abunai or Zac will give me an earful for this but whatever.

Why in the world would we do that?

...uh? OK, this is OT, but with the way the last two CoA article discussions have been derailed, sidetracked, and descended into PURE INSANITY, is this going to be a continued trend, and are people going to continue pulling out their soapboxes to share their wonderful life experiences, etc. with us all? I mean geez, it's about female best friends in anime, not "Well, it's a lot like how this time when I..."

Well, anyway...that's my two cents.