Home Cartoonist Viral ‘Fire Island’ tweet claims it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test

Viral ‘Fire Island’ tweet claims it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test

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Hulu / Walt Disney Studios Movies / YouTube

Fire Islandthe gay romantic comedy starring Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang about a group of friends who embark on a week-long vacation to the infamous gay village hotspot, was released on Hulu for the start of pride last friday to rave reviews. But despite the fact that the film, which seems to be almost universally beloved, doesn’t mean it’s immune to controversy.

As such, Fire Island became the subject of a viral tweet by author Hanna Rosin, who accused the film of failing the Bechdel test.

The Bechdel test, for the uninitiated, assesses the representation of women in fiction. Originated by cartoonist Alison Bechdel 1985 comic, Dykes to watchthe criteria boil down to three rules: that a work includes at least two women, that these women talk to each other and that they must talk about something other than a man.

“So [Hulu’s Fire Island] gets an F- on the Bechdel test in a whole new way,” Rosin tweeted on Monday. “Are we just ignoring dull lesbian stereotypes [because of] cute gay asian boys? Is this revenge for all those years of gay best friend?

Aside from the obvious – that it’s hardly shocking that a movie expressly about gay people doesn’t pass the Bechdel test – Rosin enters problematic territory by accusing a rather groundbreaking queer comedy of being nothing. more than fodder for revenge. The film is literally described as “a pair of best friends who prepare for a legendary week-long summer vacation with the help of cheap rosé and an eclectic group of friends.”

That doesn’t sound much like revenge to us!

So it wasn’t long before Rosin’s tweet went ratio, which refers to the phenomenon where the likes a tweet receives are dwarfed by tweets and quote mentions.

“Hanna, this is annoying because this is not a bona fide application of the Bechdel test, or rather, [Fire Island] rather intentionally fails,” actor and producer Emerson Collins explained. “You know that, so I feel like it’s mostly for reaction, because surely you know gay Asian men are rarely/never centered that way.”

The Twitter account of Las Culturistas (a podcast hosted by Yang and Matt Rogers, who also plays a role in the film) pointed out that there are many films that fail the Bechdel test, wondering why Rosin chose this film in particular.

Comedian Doug Benson pointed out what should be obvious, which is that when a film focuses on a group of marginalized people, it should be exempt from the Bechdel test.

Another user pointed out that, again, the test itself was a scrap of a comic and not meant for critical thinking.

And then there were the spicier takes. NPR’s Aisha Harris marveled that she managed to enjoy the film, even if it wasn’t for or about her, and failed the test. “Crazy, I know,” she joked.

Eater’s Bettina Makalintal equated the tweet with the experience of going to a women’s college in 2010.

Another user jokingly compared the tweet to “New York’s hottest club”.

Others imagined other things that would suspiciously fail a Bechdel test, like a woman who appears to be gay cruising and wrestling in the yard.

“Explaining to my wife and her boyfriend that our household doesn’t pass the Bechdel test,” podcaster Sam Adler-Bell joked.

Representation obviously matters when it comes to TV and film, but cutting off the nose to upset the face is rarely a good trick.

Perhaps the LGTBQ+ community should come up with a similar type of test, but instead a job should have at least two queer characters who should talk about something other than straight track issues. There you go, solved for you!