deadcatwithaflamethrower:

A movie passes the original Bechdel Test if two or more women have a conversation with each other that is not about a man. They do not have to be alone to have this conversation; they can be in a crowded room. It can even be a group conversation involving other genders. They can be related to each other. The only two points that matter are that the women have to speak directly to each other, and it has to not be about the male protagonist.

A movie passes the Vitto Russo Test if there are one or more characters who are identifiably LGBT(QAI), not solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity, and are tied into the plot in such a way that their removal has significant effect on the story.  You can even infer on this one; just because a movie does not outright have two people not-hetero sucking face does not mean they’re cis-het. Sometimes in film you’ve gotta really watch for the subtext, alas. Better when you don’t! But still a thing because Hollywood is stupid. I’m not talking about “I wish these two pretty people would knock boots!” desires. I’m talking about subtext you can highlight in a film and back up with evidence based upon the film itself or pre-existing rules of thought.

A movie passes the Ellen Degeneres POC Test if two people who are not white have a conversation that is not about the white (usually male) protagonist. They pass the Nikesh Shukla Variant if they’re having this conversation without mentioning their own races, which is often a Hollywood bit of bullshit of producers trying to scream about how inclusive they are.

A movie passes a Basic POC/Gender Equality Test when there is actual mixed representation of all groups among the characters, named and unnamed, with dialogue fairly and/or plot-wise fairly distributed among everyone.

A movie passes the Sphinx Test if women feature prominantly in the action, if they are proactive rather than purely reactive, and if they’re not portrayed stereotypically.

A movie passes the Mako Mori test if a significant or primary female character has a narrative arc that isn’t about supporting the male protagonist’s story. Their narratives can interact, but her narrative should never become his.