Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

May 12, 2026

Metric

by David M Willis on October 20, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 01 – Bring Me to Life Drawing
└ Tags: carla, jennifer, leslie, ruth

Discussion (199) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    October 20, 2022 at 12:01 am | #

    Comic Book Time means everyone already knows about the Bechdel test now, even the 18yos, so Leslie needs some new schtick

    • Sporky
      Sporky
      October 20, 2022 at 12:03 am | #

      When she brings it up, someone can say “We know already! What is this, [the year original comic was published]?”

      • Sporky
        Sporky
        October 20, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

        it was 2011 btw https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/thehangover/

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          October 20, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

          Better 2011 than the 22BC I threw out at someone the other day. 🤦🏼‍♂️

        • drs
          drs
          October 20, 2022 at 12:33 am | #

          Art shock.

        • Stifyn Baker
          Stifyn Baker
          October 20, 2022 at 3:26 am | #

          I just followed that link, and skimmed through the comments.

          Oh, how I miss those naive, innocent days, when gender politics was all, “[Movie] is sexist,” not, “Which f*****g bathroom are people using?”

          • Lena
            Lena
            October 20, 2022 at 8:41 am | #

            I’m pretty sure that was a thing people were angry about in 2011 too. It was just less mainstream

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              October 20, 2022 at 11:27 am | #

              I sure some were, but back then we were focused on marriage rights.

              • Lena
                Lena
                October 21, 2022 at 8:36 am | #

                People can be focused on more than one issue at a time (and also be angrily prejudiced about more than one thing at a time). Kind of a weird perspective to say people were too busy thinking about gay marriage to be prejudiced against trans people.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  October 21, 2022 at 8:59 am | #

                  And yet true. People were obviously still prejudiced against trans people – probably more so on a broad level, but they were also just less aware of them.
                  We lacked the organized campaigns demonizing them for political advantage. That was still focused on gay marriage. When that finally happened and seemed to have broad support, the same people looked around for another target in the culture wars and found trans people.

    • Huehuetotl
      Huehuetotl
      October 20, 2022 at 12:42 am | #

      Because of comic book time, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” came out since Leslie assigned them to rewatch a favorite movie, “last week”.

      • brionl
        brionl
        October 20, 2022 at 1:14 am | #

        Theatrical release AND to video/BluRay.

        • ValdVin
          ValdVin
          October 20, 2022 at 7:39 am | #

          Will Willis have to have media vanish from old backgrounds made in 2011 because the format is obsoleted, like a reverse Back to the Future?

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            October 20, 2022 at 9:02 am | #

            DVD and Blu-Ray cases are roughly the same shape, and DoA isn’t old enough for the characters to have started with VHS collections, so it should be fine.

            Of course these days they’re more likely to not have any physical media at all, because the powers that be would prefer if we subscribe to everything for a “low” monthly fee (or ten) for the rest of our lives…

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              October 20, 2022 at 11:35 am | #

              For the vast majority of movies/shows, I vastly prefer the subscription model or even the old video rental model.
              There are only a handful of movies I’d want to watch often enough for buying to make more sense.

            • ValdVin
              ValdVin
              October 20, 2022 at 2:21 pm | #

              Willis giveth: There already was a DofA years ago about some “returning your stuff” drama and a video disc set, but the response was “I don’t care, it’s on Netflix anyway”. Maybe Amber and Ethan?

            • ValdVin
              ValdVin
              October 20, 2022 at 2:24 pm | #

              I’m waiting for one of the audiophiles, maybe in the music dept, to go old school.

              Not to vinyl, but Edison Amberol wax cylinders.

      • Reltzik
        Reltzik
        October 20, 2022 at 2:41 am | #

        Lots of people saw it more than once in theater. That counts as rewatching.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 20, 2022 at 8:08 am | #

      I mean, even without Comic Book Time, the original Bechdel Test comic came out in 1985. Is it really that much more well known now than a decade ago?

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        October 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm | #

        It’s much more prevalent, and more things are being made with it in mind now

    • Marisa Mockery
      Marisa Mockery
      October 20, 2022 at 11:10 am | #

      Tbf I still have no idea what it is lol

      • Clif
        Clif
        October 20, 2022 at 12:49 pm | #

        It’s where you rate a movie based on how many steps there are between you and Fred Bechdel.

      • Daibhid C
        Daibhid C
        October 20, 2022 at 1:02 pm | #

        Leslie explains it here.

        • Daibhid C
          Daibhid C
          October 20, 2022 at 1:04 pm | #

          Sorry, messed up the link somehow. Here:
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/indicator/

          • Clif
            Clif
            October 20, 2022 at 4:48 pm | #

            Leslie is a pretty good teacher but she never mentioned Fred Bechdel (formerly Frédéric Bechdel) at all.

  2. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    October 20, 2022 at 12:01 am | #

    did they have pre-assigned seats ? I forgot

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      October 20, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

      No? I don’t think. But after a couple of days (often just one), people usually ‘settle in’ to a spot and tend not to change their seat for a given class.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        October 20, 2022 at 8:09 am | #

        Unless there’s strong reason to, like sitting next to your ex.

        And why was she sitting there in the first place. They haven’t been on good terms since the semester started.

    • anon
      anon
      October 20, 2022 at 3:54 am | #

      most shouldn’t but it’d be a habit for ppl to sit in the same place. though it’d draw more attention to them if jennifer moved further away assuming there was no other free seats

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        October 20, 2022 at 8:57 am | #

        And from a Doylist perspective, it’s funnier if their seats are next to each other so they can share panels.

      • SeanR
        SeanR
        October 20, 2022 at 10:25 am | #

        Of course, Billie/Jennifer being the last into the room, she got the seat that was left. It’s no one else’s fault they picked the same seat they had last time.
        Although, I could see Carla choosing between two seats, and deliberately picking the one that would FORCE those two to sit together. I hvae no evidence that she did this, however.

  3. Proto_Eevee
    Proto_Eevee
    October 20, 2022 at 12:03 am | #

    Short circuit 1 is wau better

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      October 20, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

      Counterpoint: 2 has Bonnie Tyler. 1 has El DeBarge.

      The winner is clear.

  4. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    October 20, 2022 at 12:04 am | #

    Huh, I actually like all of those movies. Some good taste in that class.

    • Mark
      Mark
      October 20, 2022 at 6:48 am | #

      Wow, I thought I was the only person who ever saw Birds of Prey.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        October 20, 2022 at 8:47 am | #

        You aren’t alone.

      • 80-watt Hamster
        80-watt Hamster
        October 20, 2022 at 5:09 pm | #

        Saw and liked. In large part because of Black Canary.

  5. Kravis
    Kravis
    October 20, 2022 at 12:04 am | #

    The Whitest Movie Ever, La La Land!

  6. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    October 20, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    Short Circuit 2 is Carla, right?

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      October 20, 2022 at 12:15 am | #

      Right. I don’t think we know whose any of the other choices are, at least not for sure, but that one’s well-established. Presumably none of the others listed here are Becky’s, since she isn’t tagged, and we already know Jennifer’s is Attack of the Clones entirely because it has “54 seconds featuring Kit Fisto.” (I’m also assuming none of the ones listed are Ruth’s, entirely because she and Jennifer both seem to be avoiding making any kind of noise here.)

    • Blackdrazon
      Blackdrazon
      October 20, 2022 at 12:33 am | #

      It’s Willis, answering the question from beyond the fourth wall.

    • Wraithy2773
      Wraithy2773
      October 20, 2022 at 12:47 am | #

      I’d hope so, because that film has not aged well.

      Like, I get that we need to consider films in the context of their era, to avoid demonizing a film based on modern sensibilities and concepts…

      …but on the other, no, fuck a film that puts a white guy in brownface and gives him a cartoonish Indian accent. I think we knew that shit was wrong in the late 80’s!

      • Daibhid C
        Daibhid C
        October 20, 2022 at 1:17 pm | #

        Okay, here’s my Embarassing Confession for the day.

        I was 12 when Short Circuit 2 came out. I had seen the original on TV, but beyond that I had literally no idea who Fisher Stevens was. (I still don’t, really. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen him in anything else.)

        I spent literally years thinking how cool it was that a subcontinent actor was the main non-robot character.

        • Laura
          Laura
          October 20, 2022 at 11:37 pm | #

          I’ve read that before — apparently it was a common reaction.

  7. thakoru
    thakoru
    October 20, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of those movies that everyone keeps telling me is really really good and that I should see but I just can’t bring myself to get around to.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      October 20, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

      If/when you do eventually see it, go in as blind as possible. It’s a unique one.

      • thakoru
        thakoru
        October 20, 2022 at 12:48 am | #

        Oh hey, I can mark that response of my “I haven’t gotten around to it” bingo card! All I need is “trust me, it gets good after…” and I win a copy of Elden Ring! (Not a free one; I’d still have to buy it, but I’ve looking for a reason to play it.)

        • thakoru
          thakoru
          October 20, 2022 at 1:04 am | #

          *Off my, *I’ve been

          I am sloppy today.

      • Azhrei Vep
        Azhrei Vep
        October 20, 2022 at 9:30 am | #

        If/when you do, enjoy! And don’t worry about spoilers or other such nonsense, it’s just as fun whether or not you know what’s coming.

        Just like everything else.

        • Clif
          Clif
          October 20, 2022 at 12:46 pm | #

          I’ve always found “Everything ends. Entropy always wins in the end” to be a huge spoiler.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            October 20, 2022 at 8:49 pm | #

            If entropy always wins, how come Final Fantasy 14 didn’t shut down instead of releasing Patch 6.1? Checkmate, Meteion.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      October 20, 2022 at 1:41 am | #

      I’ll commit heresy here and say that while it is a good movie, it didn’t work well for me because it was stuck in an uncanny valley of plausibility. It had too much weird and silly stuff apparently for the sake of being weird and silly, but also a lot of semi-sorta-hard alternate timeline stuff, and they didn’t mix well IMO.

  8. Alex Boston
    Alex Boston
    October 20, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    I liked Rogue One too.

    • Dara
      Dara
      October 20, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

      I liked Rogue One three.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        October 20, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

        Red Five checking in.

      • SeanR
        SeanR
        October 20, 2022 at 10:29 am | #

        Man. Disney just can’t stay away from milking the Star Wars cow, can it. Already up to thirteen movies, on a spin-off?

        • zee
          zee
          October 20, 2022 at 12:21 pm | #

          I really only care about getting more animated and clone centric content. Bad batch season 2 let’s goooo

    • Wraithy2773
      Wraithy2773
      October 20, 2022 at 12:41 am | #

      I like Rogue One, but it’s a real mess of a film. The characters are great, and the third act is legitimately one of the best third acts in all of Star Wars, right up there with A New Hope even.

      But the message and themes are just muddled as hell. Its just a real struggle to work through for the first two thirds of the film, because it feels like the movie has no idea what its really wanting to be about until then, and its just bouncing around between ideas.

      • butting
        butting
        October 20, 2022 at 1:12 am | #

        It’s extremely Tony Gilroy. Andor has been underlining his fascination with the ways power can be expressed within political machinery; re-watching Rogue One just recently, I couldn’t shake the thought that I was watching Bourne action over the top of power structures that would be right at home in Michael Clayton.

      • Arkayjiya
        Arkayjiya
        October 20, 2022 at 7:19 am | #

        Funny to me the characters are the weakest part. Their motivation switches seemed nonsensical, one guy just decide to die for no reason… It reminded me of Prometheus in that way.

        Add to that a few other reasons why the movie wasn’t enjoyable (action scenes in the first half, missed opportunity with the Vader scene, the dad joke…) and I really couldn’t get into it. At the time of release it was my second least favourite SW movie after Episode II.

        I have to admit that there are great stuff in the third act though but not enough for me. I was quite baffled by the popularity of this movie but eh, people like what they like.

  9. BBCC
    BBCC
    October 20, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    Hey, she’s the teacher. She can be as arbitrary (or not) as she so chooses.

  10. Taffy
    Taffy
    October 20, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    I’ve only seen Rogue One and Captain Marvel, out of all of those. That probably has deep moral implications.

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      October 20, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

      I’ve seen Rogue One and Hidden Figures, though Everything Everywhere All At Once is high up on my to-watch list. I didn’t get around to it while it was in theaters because I was in my final semester of college and shit was hectic.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        October 20, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

        Damn, that means you just graduated yeah? That’s awesome! Congratulations!

    • not someone else
      not someone else
      October 20, 2022 at 1:00 am | #

      I’ve only seen Rogue One and Alien.

      I doubt any of the characters we know are likely to have even seen my favorite movie, though: The Taking of Deborah Logan.

      • Username Taken
        Username Taken
        October 20, 2022 at 1:12 pm | #

        Ooh, good creepy pick with The Taking of Deborah Logan!

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      October 20, 2022 at 1:18 am | #

      I’ve seen those two movies, and Alien. I wasn’t aware that watching some sci-fi and superhero movies had any moral implications.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        October 20, 2022 at 1:34 am | #

        Neither was I, until I made the grievous mistake if saying I hadn’t watched some of them in front of the wrong people. Apparently people get really intense about their favorite fiction.

        • wwwhhattt
          wwwhhattt
          October 20, 2022 at 2:13 am | #

          I haven’t seen any of them. Am very glad my friends have finally got used to the amount of films I just don’t watch

    • Johan
      Johan
      October 20, 2022 at 1:20 am | #

      Got to see a free showing of bird of prey because they sponsored a roller derby bout for my league. It was a lot of fun.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      October 20, 2022 at 1:22 pm | #

      I’ve seen those two and, as noted about, Short Circuit 2. I don’t know why I’ve never got round to BoP, and the rest hold between little and zero interest. (The more people tell me how much I have to see All Kinds of Everything, the less appealing they make it sound.)

  11. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    October 20, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    Great, now I have no idea who won the breakup!

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      October 20, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      We did. We won the breakup. It was us

      • Kravis
        Kravis
        October 20, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

        The breakup were the friends we made along the way!

    • Stephen Bierce
      Stephen Bierce
      October 20, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      I expect a re-match. (Double entendre? You decide.)

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      October 20, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

      Asher and Jason.

    • Rabid Rabbit
      Rabid Rabbit
      October 20, 2022 at 12:45 am | #

      Hmm. Well, Jennifer appears to have cut her hair to almost-but-not-quite match Ruth’s, judging by panel 3, so I’m going for Ruth because Jennifer ends up looking like she’s trying too hard and making it very clear she’s not influenced by Ruth at all.

      (This comment is intentional nonsense.)

  12. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    October 20, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

    I didn’t care for Birds of Prey actually. I feel like Cassandra Cain was totally misrepresented!

    • The Oracle
      The Oracle
      October 20, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

      Is she the one who can’t talk good because her brain is full of kill, or the one who was Robin for a few minutes? I’d look it up but wikis have a tendency to beat around the bush on these things.

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        October 20, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

        Yeah, she had murder instead of language skills. It’s like the kids who were raised on Barney instead of Sesame Street.

        She was Batgirl for a time, not Robin. Unless I missed a Robin, there’s like 20 of those now.

        • Regalli
          Regalli
          October 20, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

          Stephanie Brown’s the Batgirl who was briefly a Robin.

          • Clif
            Clif
            October 20, 2022 at 3:31 am | #

            There have been too many Robin’s. We need a reboot.

            What?

            • Regalli
              Regalli
              October 20, 2022 at 1:24 pm | #

              The Robins were the one thing they DIDN’T reboot, which will always be the most depressing part to me. (I mean, they also left the Green Lanterns and stuff because Geoff Johns, but the Robins made the least sense by far. At least the Lantern stuff was just generally minimizing the reboot.)

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        October 20, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

        The first. Brain isn’t even full of kill, brain is full of martial arts training but learning body language also meant she got a dose of hyperempathy so she REAAAALLY does not want to kill after her evil assassin dad made her do it once. This is also why she’s one of the staunchest believers in and inheritors to The Bat As Symbol.

        I get that there are a lot of really iffy tropes in play in that and how it interacts with her race specifically, which is why I don’t begrudge reboots keeping her language disability as dyslexia if anything and canon downplaying the speech aspects of it (her ongoing had someone retool her brain so she could learn speech relatively early in the run as well,) but man does it sting extra to have a Cass without ANY Cass traits at all in a film titled “Birds of Prey”, you know, the team FOUNDED by another disabled Batgirl who was nowhere in sight there. Just makes Oracle’s absence all the harsher.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      October 20, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      On the other hand, being totally misrepresented by writers who don’t get the character is actually PERFECT representation for her when you think about it.

    • C.T. Phipps
      C.T. Phipps
      October 20, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

      Cassandra Cain is in the movie. It’s just the socially awkward adorable girl martial arts master trained from birth is named Helena for some reason.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      October 20, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

      I liked a lot of stuff about Birds of Prey and didn’t like other stuff. As a whole I enjoyed it but yeah it played a little too fast and loose with some characters. Honestly Shocked that I liked Harley in it, though. I feel like she’s a hard character to get right.

      • Jamie
        Jamie
        October 20, 2022 at 12:44 am | #

        That first sentence describes how I feel about it. On the whole, it was fantastic, and that’s good enough for me.

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        October 20, 2022 at 12:48 am | #

        It was really a Harley Quinn movie. I feel like they just took a bunch of female characters and just threw them in there without really researching them to be supporting cast for Harley.

        • Yotomoe
          Yotomoe
          October 20, 2022 at 2:45 am | #

          Yeah, like the worst thing about the movie is how many characters they shoehorned in. It’s not a birds of prey movie, it’s a Harley movie and it worked best when it was being a Harley movie.

    • Wraithy2773
      Wraithy2773
      October 20, 2022 at 12:39 am | #

      I really enjoyed the film, but yeah, that character has nothing to do with the comic version of Cassandra Cain. It wouldn’t shock me if she was named something entirely different at one point, and the name got shoehorned in there because she’s a major character and they wanted some sort of Bat-family-adjacent character in there beyond Harley. And Huntress. And Montoya.

    • Mark
      Mark
      October 20, 2022 at 6:53 am | #

      Wait, apparently we’re not talking about the film with David Janssen as a trucker hauling secret cargo, being pursued by sinister helicopters.

      • Azhrei Vep
        Azhrei Vep
        October 20, 2022 at 9:34 am | #

        Wait, are we not talking about the 2002 series starring Ashley Scott as Huntress? With Harley Quinn and vague Joker references as the main villain? Well, color me confused.

      • Mark
        Mark
        October 20, 2022 at 10:12 pm | #

        sigh Research, then post! There is a movie by that name with David Janssen and a helicopter, but it isn’t the story I was thinking of. Sorry.

  13. Sporky
    Sporky
    October 20, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    I just realized Carla is 100% the one who said Short Circuit 2

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      October 20, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      Oh, indisputably.

    • C.T. Phipps
      C.T. Phipps
      October 20, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

      I think its irresponsible for Leslie to let those two sit together.

      • Sporky
        Sporky
        October 20, 2022 at 12:30 am | #

        “Those two”? Do you mean Carla and Johnny Five?

        • Clif
          Clif
          October 20, 2022 at 3:34 am | #

          Who else would they mean?

    • Nono
      Nono
      October 20, 2022 at 12:40 am | #

      She is tagged, yeah.

  14. Derek
    Derek
    October 20, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    I’m the person who shouted “Alien“

  15. Suet
    Suet
    October 20, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

    Hol’up

    Bridesmaids?

    “Who said Rogue One?” I’ll take Jennifer for 500, Bob.

    • Bicycle Bill
      Bicycle Bill
      October 20, 2022 at 12:40 am | #

      Is that the one mostly hidden underneath the word balloon that says “Short Circuit 2”?

      And my response would have been “The Princess Bride”.
      As to why:  True love, long pursued but never forgotten.  Good guys, bad guys, sword-fights, eminently quotable dialogue – and, of course, the hokeyness of the ROUS.  What’s *NOT* to like?

  16. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    October 20, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    Of course, the first Patlabor movie.

  17. newlland(Henryvolt)
    newlland(Henryvolt)
    October 20, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

    I was going to save this topic for a different tirade further down the line bit this actually feels like a good time

    It’s astonishing how far story telling and fiction has come. Back in the day people could look at fiction and fandom as nothing more as escapism and for a lot people it still is that. But with a little nuance a number of fictional properties can also be a gateway into talking bigger meaningful conversations.

    For example how people see animated stories as nothing more than a child’s medium for entertainment but there are a number of animated stories that do a better job at addressing more mature themes. Like the classic movie “The Iron Giant” and how it depicted war related issues like “The red scare” and the dangers technological advancements being focused only for war instead of something better. Best explained example here: https://www.tiktok.com/@_leeputman/video/7129587025996516614?_r=1&u_code=dc14fa7d746m38&preview_pb=0&language=en&_d=dj724mk30d2k3g&share_item_id=7129587025996516614&source=h5_m&timestamp=1666239471&user_id=6816594540365366277&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAZEKfdYBu8j1g8MzN6jS30CpUVZ6iGSyhykpKloRAOFaIYYxQ5tPf8kO-ss9JzLVc&utm_source=copy&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=android&share_iid=7154713779292604203&share_link_id=eb7a1de1-5f69-4a81-a1c5-4d70f485651a&share_app_id=1233&ugbiz_name=Main&ug_btm=b8727

    Or as another example there’s also writers who go as far as to world build and creat an entirely different world separate from real life but would then make that world mirror real life forms of government and use their world as opinion pieces on how they would go about addressing issues in certain political structures, like in this video comparing the story telling of Rick Riordan and J.K Rolling: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRH9F3fv/

    Or my personal opinion on how Jedi council in the Star Wars prequel had strayed far from being in anyway a Virtuous group and contributed to making Anikan Skywalker into Darth Vader more than Palpatine did. Like he should be an example on why child soldiers and military indoctrination is a bad idea. How do you take a kid teach him to suppress his emotions, expect him to fight and kill in war for years be surprised he turns into killing machine.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      October 20, 2022 at 12:48 am | #

      Yeah. Remember when novels were exclusively “for women” because they were frivolous pursuits for unserious people?

      Fiction has been a “gateway” since the Epic of Gilgamesh, friend. That’s what parables are.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      October 20, 2022 at 12:49 am | #

      Honestly, it’s not so much how far fiction and storytelling have come – humans have always used stories to send messages and any narrative more involved than Spot the Dog is going to say a little about our biases as an author and the society we come from. (If only in who we’re choosing to depict and how. I mean, note that Spot’s a dog and not a hawk or something, because we didn’t domesticate hawks, we domesticated dogs.) It’s more about critical analysis of fiction and the rise of “pop culture” as a thing and analyzing THAT, I’d guess more.

      I mean, hell, I’ve seen a blog that reviewed every movie that was on Mystery Science Theater 3000 up through Season Eleven and a bunch of movies that were terrible enough to have been on it, and one of the blogger’s central things was to analyze what kind of themes they could get out of these awful movies. (Ranging from “absolutely the intent, there is no question” like Rocket Attack U.S.A. or I Accuse My Parents to “absolutely NOT the intent but goddamn if this doesn’t work even when it’s not 2 AM and severely caffeinated” in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die as a piece about feminism and objectification, or the family dynamics of Manos The Hands of Fate.) You can get meaning out of ANYTHING if you try hard enough, and you’d be surprised how much holds up – not always because it was the writer’s intention, but it’s not hard to see how 50s B-movies about alien invaders secretly infiltrating society might be reflecting attitudes about the Red Scare, for example.

      Everything sends a message. Fiction’s evolved over time, but in plenty of different ways and it’s not just a linear “simpler stories -> deeper ones”, even in terms of popular fiction. Remember, Shakespeare was writing at least as much to everyday working class people of London as he was to occasionally flatter the monarch in charge about how their dynasty is TOTALLY the one that had the proper right to the throne in that dispute. Macbeth and Henry V still have plenty of dick jokes. It’s the passage of time that makes popular culture “classics”.

      • newlland(Henryvolt)
        newlland(Henryvolt)
        October 20, 2022 at 1:30 am | #

        Or like how “Taming of the Shrew” is a twisted power fantasy about how one dude is mentally and emotionally breaking a girl down till she agree’s to be his subservient wife?

        Yeah I can see the point of how some works of fiction aren’t getting more profound with their stories and critical analysis and debate is just getting more refined, maybe because it’s not so hard to ask around about opinions about specific things with the internet theses days. Not to mention there are plenty of works of fiction that seem to drive conversation the more time goes by, I’ve seen so many analysis over movie like Fight Club I could right my own essay about I think about the movie and the various different opinions.

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          October 20, 2022 at 5:14 am | #

          For what it’s worth, I’ve only ever seen directors have the Shrew say her domesticated lines sarcastically, or with a twinkle of self-aware humor in her eye, or while taking actions that clarify that, no, she is being funny, or tricking them, or anything except actually being tragically tamed.

          Not sure if that’s how Shakespeare intended it or anything, but he’s a pretty funny guy, and it’s possible to fix that more obvious on-paper ending with a strong choice or two.

          • Regalli
            Regalli
            October 20, 2022 at 1:22 pm | #

            It’s a subject of longstanding debate and director/critical interpretation as to just how seriously Shakespeare was intending that one to be taken, yeah. And unlike some (*cough Merchant of Venice cough*) it lends itself to reinterpretation like that well enough that it can be performed with at least minimal baggage. But also, yeah, cultural biases. That plot was perfectly acceptable. Shakespeare’s not the only one who wrote off that template at the time and some of them definitely DID mean it in all seriousness. These days most performances do a lot of tweaking in the portrayal and stage directions while keeping the script unchanged, because you can do a lot of that in theater.

      • Autogatos
        Autogatos
        October 22, 2022 at 2:16 am | #

        Yeah I think also it’s hard for us (unless any of us here are cultural historians, I’m definitely not) to fully appreciate the subtle messages in fiction from earlier times because we don’t have the lived cultural context.

        For example, I just read the other night that Beauty and the Beast was written in the context of a culture where arranged marriages were commonplace and women’s rights in France/Europe were not what they are today. That adds a whole extra layer of super relevant cultural context that totally changes how it would be interpreted by audiences of that time period vs. now.

        I notice this phenomenon a lot as a parent, when my kid is watching stuff from my youth, and I’m realizing how much cultural context assists a person in interpreting subtler messages of a lot of fiction. So I don’t necessarily think modern media has become more complex, it’s just a lot of that complexity is lost for newer audiences as the context in which it is viewed changes.

      • Autogatos
        Autogatos
        October 22, 2022 at 2:23 am | #

        And also yeah I think critical analysis is more common and accessible now thanks to the internet. For example: Disney theory YouTube. Which I am convinced spawned as a result of parents watching the same movies 746363658592 times with their kids (since kids like to watch their faves over and over). Parents also possibly spend more time watching stuff with their kids now vs. just letting them watch independently.

        But anyway, I have noticed after watching something over and over, you start over-analyzing it just to stave off the boredom of repetition. Like I have ranted to my husband about massive complicated theories about government corruption in Adventure Bay in *paw patrol* of all things just because I got stuck watching it way too often when my kid was obsessed. You come up with wacky interpretations to entertain yourself. And then, thanks to the internet, those parents can now share all that stuff with the world.

  18. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    October 20, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

    I get that Leslie’s a long time Starwars fangirl but if you’re choosing Rogue one, with a MILD amount of Leia at BEST over Alien, with OODLES of Ripley I’m gonna have to call this a bad system.

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      October 20, 2022 at 12:26 am | #

      Seconded.

    • newlland(Henryvolt)
      newlland(Henryvolt)
      October 20, 2022 at 12:31 am | #

      Rogue One to me was just that one Star Wars movie that made me fall in love with a random one off star wars character only for her to die at the end…and then didn’t give me time to process it because it had that one Vader Scene at the end right aftet

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      October 20, 2022 at 12:51 am | #

      By the way this whole list fails the yoto scale of approval cuz not a single one of these films is animated.

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        October 20, 2022 at 1:21 am | #

        They didn’t mention even Ghibli or Disney movie which is like the lowest hanging fruit of animation. Kids these days are gosh dang punks!

        • zee
          zee
          October 20, 2022 at 12:23 pm | #

          No one said Spiderverse? Throw the whole class away

      • newlland(Henryvolt)
        newlland(Henryvolt)
        October 20, 2022 at 1:31 am | #

        Yeah like what is this the Oscar’s?

      • foamy
        foamy
        October 20, 2022 at 11:18 pm | #

        Preach. All this and no Mononoke?

  19. RedCat
    RedCat
    October 20, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

    I wonder what Leslie thinks about horror movies. I kinda judge people by how they judge horror.

  20. UrsulaDavina
    UrsulaDavina
    October 20, 2022 at 12:30 am | #

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb it does not pass the Bechdel test but I think it’s a good gender studies movie as it illustrates how toxic masculinity will destroy us all. Also the lack of women in the film except for one who is clearly sexualized it kind reinforces the point that toxic masculinity will kill us all and how men only view women as sex objects and theor only contribution in a post nuclear society is to be attractive and bear children and are treated as trophys. Also how male sexual inadequacy leads to amergedon.

    I show my international conflict class this movie every semester it’s scary how close it was to reality (not that a rouge general who felt sexually inadequecy but the truth that individual generals were given command over nuclear weapons) which lstrates the doctrine of MAD isn’t always assured hence traditional deterence theory may not always work and that there is a chance for accidents.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      October 20, 2022 at 12:54 am | #

      I don’t know you well enough to know if you understand the point of the Bechdel Test, but since there’s always someone who doesn’t, I’m going to use this as an opportunity to say the thing:

      The Bechdel Test does not exist to be passed. The point of the Bechdel Test is that it’s an extremely low bar that most movies nevertheless fail to pass. Using it to analyze a single movie is always incorrect, because the entire point Bechdel was making was how many movies failed to pass it. The point is to make you think, “Hold on. Are there really so few?” and to consider how we might change that, not to judge existing movies for failing it.

      • UrsulaDavina
        UrsulaDavina
        October 20, 2022 at 2:39 am | #

        I know what the Bechdel test is qnd yes many movies fail to pass it. Given the comic that coined the test the last movie the characters saw that passed the test was Aliens an action movie, which is supposed to a macho masculine type of movie. Hence why the joke lands so well.

        I Also if I just said Dr.Strangelove was a good movie for gender studies class to analyze. I posted that it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test in case someone said it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test or asked if it passed the Bechdel test beacuse previously in the comic Leslie use this lesson to talk about the test.

      • Laura
        Laura
        October 21, 2022 at 12:01 am | #

        I kind of prefer the Mako Mori test.

        When I was a kiddo, “Gorillas in the Mist” was my favorite movie.
        Now I have many favorites. I love “Totoro”. “Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control” is also AMAZING, even though it prioritizes men’s stories.
        Even though it is DEEPLY problematic, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” will always be very special to me. …I miss going down to the corner video library and taking home a rented movie. 🙁

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      October 20, 2022 at 8:52 am | #

      That’s a sharp analysis. Thank you for sharing it.

  21. Wraithy2773
    Wraithy2773
    October 20, 2022 at 12:43 am | #

    Everything Everywhere All At Once is the correct film, and shame on Leslie for ignoring it in order to fawn over a deep-fake cameo that makes a good portion of the audience cringe in the uncanny valley.

    Shaaaaaame.

    Also, Ke Huy Quan is adorable and amazing and I want to punch Hollywood for hurting him so badly!

    • brionl
      brionl
      October 20, 2022 at 1:11 am | #

      Nobody said “Return of the Jedi” so obviously she had to start with Rogue One.

      But EEAAOO is pretty darn good.

    • Alex
      Alex
      October 20, 2022 at 2:25 pm | #

      I had to google this and it looks quite good.

  22. Jamie
    Jamie
    October 20, 2022 at 12:58 am | #

    While I love EEAOO to bits (and I’d consider it a serious contender for best movie of the past decade), I want to shout out Hidden Figures as an underrated gem in that list. Excellent movie and more people should watch it.

  23. CallynD
    CallynD
    October 20, 2022 at 1:22 am | #

    Rogue One is so bad. Alien was called out, it’s a movie with strong women doing important things. Everything, Everywhere All At Once is probably the best movie called out, but Alien is comparably good and nostalgic.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 20, 2022 at 8:35 am | #

      Alien was also the movie in the original Bechdel Test comic, so it’s a callback to that.

  24. Rotunda
    Rotunda
    October 20, 2022 at 1:24 am | #

    Two strips in one. I like the quiet, tense one on the left where Ruth and Jennifer do or don’t interact. The one on the right shows us that the class goes on without being hijacked by drama (yet), and Leslie is leading it comfortably.

  25. bagge
    bagge
    October 20, 2022 at 1:24 am | #

    Doesn’t need to be arbritary if you’re objectively right.

  26. Keulen
    Keulen
    October 20, 2022 at 1:25 am | #

    I kinda hate being asked what my favorite movie (or book, genre of music, or whatever else) is. I like a lot of stuff, and I find it hard to narrow them down to a single favorite movie or whatever. I’m not sure if that’s an autistic thing or just a weird me thing.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      October 20, 2022 at 1:31 am | #

      I often have this problem too, and if I say “X” and later recall that “Y” was even better I feel guilty for lying to people. They won’t care, nor will they call me on it when I list a different favorite at a later time.

      More recently I am trying to relax and just say the first good candidate that pops into my head, and not worry about precise rankings.

      (Howl’s Moving Castle)

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        October 28, 2022 at 8:53 am | #

        Calcifer for best supporting cast.

    • anon
      anon
      October 20, 2022 at 3:52 am | #

      i dont’ think i watched enough movies to really prefer any, i only just finished a few ‘classics’ some years ago and some were nice and others didn’t age well, but i can see something ‘relatable’ being used as a metaphor/sample to study/analyze and implement into a lesson.

      Tho be interesting if leslie can use it as an excuse for a ‘tax writeoff’/doing some ‘research’ every few years of the current movies or so to stay relevant

    • Mark
      Mark
      October 20, 2022 at 7:03 am | #

      You are not alone in this. I like things, and I dislike other things, but I tend not to have favorites. If asked to name one, I find it is hard work.

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        October 20, 2022 at 7:55 am | #

        I usually ask about genre or period. I can’t answer “M” to everything!

        Then again, it does go in a lot of genres

    • Alex
      Alex
      October 20, 2022 at 2:23 pm | #

      I struggle with this as well. How can you have one favorite?

    • Autogatos
      Autogatos
      October 22, 2022 at 1:58 am | #

      Yeah I can pick 1 fave movie (though I have many overall top movies) just because one was literally responsible for a large portion of my professional and personal identity (the lion king made me want to become an artist) but I can never settle on a fave tv show (maaaaybe top 2 or 3) or band or song. Even book is hard (tho if I had to pick 1, it would be Jurassic Park).

  27. Slartibeast Button, BIA
    Slartibeast Button, BIA
    October 20, 2022 at 1:27 am | #

    [clueless_old_guy]
    What is the “***** Maids” movie hidden behind the other bubbles?

    I’ve seen five of the eight, and recognize the other two.

    [/clueless_old_guy]

    • I Know Why the Mowed Lawn Screams
      I Know Why the Mowed Lawn Screams
      October 20, 2022 at 2:15 am | #

      My guess is probably Bridesmaids

      • Zaxares
        Zaxares
        October 20, 2022 at 4:44 am | #

        Yep, I had to think about it for a bit, but yeah, I believe it’s likely to be Bridesmaids.

        • Clif
          Clif
          October 20, 2022 at 3:28 pm | #

          That’s very disappointing. I was hoping for Ride of the Motermaids: Chicks and Machines.

          • Slartibeast Button, BIA
            Slartibeast Button, BIA
            October 20, 2022 at 11:11 pm | #

            I’d go for Mermaids, the 1990 movie with Cher and Winona Ryder, but there were too many letters.

            • Geneseepaws
              Geneseepaws
              October 28, 2022 at 8:56 am | #

              Clearly a reference to the 1960s movie, “The Maids.”

  28. Francoinblanco
    Francoinblanco
    October 20, 2022 at 1:59 am | #

    Does Rouge One pass bechdel test? if I remember correctly the only dialogue between the two women in this movie was about killing a man who is a bad daddy

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      October 20, 2022 at 1:33 pm | #

      I hate to snark about someone else’s spelling errors, so don’t take this as criticism, but I have to say that the “Rouge One” spelling always makes me think of the elaborate nicknames given to the eponymous ship in Red Dwarf.

      Which definitely doesn’t pass the Bedchel test, since I’m pretty sure the only time it even has more than one named women in the same episode is the one where the gag is Rimmer has a sexual magnetism virus.

      • Laura
        Laura
        October 21, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

        Well, no, there’s the episode where they meet their female counterparts in the alternate universe and are grossed out by their own behavior. Where Lister gets pregnant.

  29. Meagan
    Meagan
    October 20, 2022 at 2:41 am | #

    That’s such a classic thing to ask people a question and tell them to justify it and they don’t, just giving their opinion. Or you ask a question and people give the opposite answer. (Like, “What are some positive things about X?” and then everyone only says negative things.) Teaching can be frustrating.

  30. hazel
    hazel
    October 20, 2022 at 2:51 am | #

    This’ll be a nice time capsule in DoA.

  31. GreyICE
    GreyICE
    October 20, 2022 at 3:45 am | #

    I appreciate all opinions as valid, but whoever said Birds of Prey is objectively wrong.

  32. Mr.Morningstar
    Mr.Morningstar
    October 20, 2022 at 3:45 am | #

    Oh nice, I love Rogue One.

  33. Eldritchy
    Eldritchy
    October 20, 2022 at 4:15 am | #

    Dracula: Dead and Loving It… that or Spaceballs

  34. Zaxares
    Zaxares
    October 20, 2022 at 4:44 am | #

    Ugh, I don’t think I can pick a SINGLE favourite movie. 🙁 Can I pick 1 per genre?

    • PB
      PB
      October 20, 2022 at 11:09 am | #

      See this is what I think should be the standard. My current metric for favorite movie is any movie I could picture myself watching if I was stranded on a desert island and only had one form of entertainment for the rest of my life. Hence, my primary pick being Aladdin.

  35. Rogue 7
    Rogue 7
    October 20, 2022 at 6:07 am | #

    Guy with a username referencing Rogue Squadron has Rogue One as one of his favorite Star Wars movies. In other news, water is wet.

    I think Rogue One passes, if I recall Jyn and Mon Mothma discussing the rebellion correctly.

  36. Yumi
    Yumi
    October 20, 2022 at 6:18 am | #

    Love Everything Everywhere All At Once. I often struggle with watching movies, especially ones that aren’t part of a franchise I know, but I went to see that one twice.

    My dad, on the other hand, thought it was way too weird and fell asleep during part of it. Ah well, can’t please everyone.

  37. MegaBee
    MegaBee
    October 20, 2022 at 6:57 am | #

    Speed Racer is the perfect movie.

  38. Taffy
    Taffy
    October 20, 2022 at 6:57 am | #

    And once again, I feel like I’ve missed something that everyone else automatically knows about. Where’s all the Bechdel discussion coming from? Leslie didn’t bring it up, it’s not in the alt text, and even looking through her recent tagged appearances, I can’t find a single in-comic mention of it since she first brought it up way back when.

    • Rogue 7
      Rogue 7
      October 20, 2022 at 7:52 am | #

      It’s the same lesson she used last semester, so the assumption is that it’s going to go the same way.

    • JBento
      JBento
      October 20, 2022 at 11:47 am | #

      I’m honestly more confused that a(n apparently) semestral class has the same course in both semesters of a year. Is this a thing that commonly happens in America, or is it just an artifact of narrative convenience?

      • Sol
        Sol
        October 20, 2022 at 12:10 pm | #

        Some classes – especially first-year ones that fulfill degree obligations – will often be able to be taken in both semesters. Gives more people the opportunity to get into it.

        • Mark
          Mark
          October 20, 2022 at 10:32 pm | #

          Yes, if they expect everyone to take it, they need enough sections that everyone can get in. IU Bloomington has around 35,000 undergraduate students, so, maybe 9,000 freshmen. I don’t think anybody ever built a lecture hall that big.

      • egg egg
        egg egg
        October 20, 2022 at 1:23 pm | #

        It’s very inefficient to make important classes only available in spring OR fall. Imagine if you had to take an intro class for your degree but you started in the spring semester and your class isn’t available until the fall semester.

        • Clif
          Clif
          October 20, 2022 at 4:30 pm | #

          Or they may have started in Fall but tested out of the intro semester. Lots of intro courses have many sections in the Fall but one or two in the Spring, with the followup course reversed. It works better that way.

          Now later on they’ll find that the last course they need to graduate is only offered every two years and was offered just last semester, but such is life.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            October 20, 2022 at 8:19 pm | #

            Or it’s just a class that’s popular enough to offer twice a year.

  39. thumb
    thumb
    October 20, 2022 at 7:00 am | #

    Yep, make sure you add movies that just came out. It might not even go out of date by the time the comic is finished in 15 years.

  40. wakeangel2001
    wakeangel2001
    October 20, 2022 at 7:41 am | #

    heh, I love seeing Short Circuit 2 on that list, since it is my choice

  41. Dot
    Dot
    October 20, 2022 at 8:08 am | #

    Teenagers in 20XX love short circuit 2

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      October 20, 2022 at 8:55 am | #

      That’s got to be Carla’s answer.

  42. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    October 20, 2022 at 8:45 am | #

    Is that really Jennifer or is Billie? I’m afraid this class could end very bad. Or just be very, extremely awkward for her and Becky.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 20, 2022 at 11:11 am | #

      They’re the same person.

      • Rabisch
        Rabisch
        October 20, 2022 at 12:51 pm | #

        That’s what they want you to believe!!!

        • Clif
          Clif
          October 20, 2022 at 4:31 pm | #

          Jennifer is Mike.

  43. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    October 20, 2022 at 8:54 am | #

    “Imma head out.”

    – The strings that used to be on Ruth’s shirt

    • asmodai27
      asmodai27
      October 20, 2022 at 10:51 am | #

      Good catch, though they were already gone in yesterday’s strip.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        October 20, 2022 at 12:46 pm | #

        In panel 2, but not panel 5.

  44. PB
    PB
    October 20, 2022 at 10:58 am | #

    With no disrespect meant to the late Miss Fisher, the best part of Rogue One was the Vader hallway scene. (And the decades-late plothole-filling about the exhaust port.) But it is objectively the best recent Star Wars movie, so good job, rando.

    • PB
      PB
      October 20, 2022 at 10:59 am | #

      Also my favorite movie is Aladdin (the original animated one). Do with that what you will.

      • The Oracle
        The Oracle
        October 20, 2022 at 8:42 pm | #

        That’s a good movie. Too bad the sequels sucked so hard.

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        October 28, 2022 at 9:18 am | #

        There’s always “If…” and “Fantastic Planet,” oooh,… and “Wizards,” “Harold and Maude,” “Close Encounters,”…

  45. Florence
    Florence
    October 20, 2022 at 12:01 pm | #

    *stares at box labeled “complicated feelings on Leia in the last Jedi””*
    Hmmmmm
    *shakes head and chuckles*
    No, not today

  46. smolgrlboi
    smolgrlboi
    October 20, 2022 at 12:31 pm | #

    absolutely nothing against the movies the students called out specifically, but kind of baffled only a couple of them are picking anything older than like 15 years. just expected like one “Wizard of Oz” or “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” sort of shout out. Alien RULES tho so whoever said that is now my favorite character.

    • Rabisch
      Rabisch
      October 20, 2022 at 1:01 pm | #

      It’s not so weird. They are all young and no one seems to be a history of Movies major. It’s also normal (even if very, very sad) that no one seems to consider movies made outside America.

    • anon
      anon
      October 20, 2022 at 7:11 pm | #

      they’re probably all in film/theatre class (if this uni has one)

    • Joy
      Joy
      October 20, 2022 at 11:36 pm | #

      Breakfast at tiffany’s? I haven’t heard of it. (I’m older than Carla and younger than leslie)

  47. Username Taken
    Username Taken
    October 20, 2022 at 1:13 pm | #

    I would have been the person answering Alien. Or maybe The Lion King. Or maybe…

    Shoot, don’t make me pick just one!

  48. AlaninDC
    AlaninDC
    October 20, 2022 at 1:32 pm | #

    These are the times I wish Leslie was a real person. I think she and I would be good friends and colleagues.

  49. Daibhid C
    Daibhid C
    October 20, 2022 at 1:49 pm | #

    The Muppets Take Manhattan.

    (Which I thinkjust barely scrapes a pass on the Bedchel test on a technicality, since Miss Piggy’s conversation with Eileen (Joan Rivers) moves beyond being about Kermit. I’d be happier about claiming a pass if the same could be said about her conversations with only-other-major-female-character Jenny, but there you go.)

  50. The Oracle
    The Oracle
    October 20, 2022 at 4:14 pm | #

    So, I guess Billie was just slightly late to class, rather than completely dropping it and never showing up again. She was briefly stopped by Dorothy earlier, so are we gonna add “ruining other people’s entire academic careers” to the ever-growing list of Dorothy’s bizarrely far reaching sins?

    On a more serious note, if the topic of favorite movies is on the table, I gotta throw Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within out there.

    • Clif
      Clif
      October 20, 2022 at 4:39 pm | #

      Sure, we can add it, but it pales besides first toying, off and on again, with Walky’s emotions and then setting him up in a relationship that can’t possibly end badly for anyone.

      • The Oracle
        The Oracle
        October 20, 2022 at 8:40 pm | #

        As long as we’re only adding things that didn’t happen, yeah. Y’know, for the bit.

    • anon
      anon
      October 20, 2022 at 7:09 pm | #

      maybe she found it tedious/hard to drop a class in college versus changing your schedule in elementary school (then again considering most ppl pay i suppose hopefully they’d make it faster if it’s like “i’m cancelling the check for X class” or so)

      i don’t think she’ll get involved more than necessary from what she told dorothy but maybe she’ll get becky to ease up on joyce. or accidentally tell her she might be autistic

      • The Oracle
        The Oracle
        October 20, 2022 at 8:39 pm | #

        Was this meant for someone else? I was being hyperbolic about Dorothy, not making an actual judgement. Sorry, I thought the whole “ruining” part would have conveyed that better.

  51. anonymsly
    anonymsly
    October 20, 2022 at 10:15 pm | #

    The Great Race! Which does pass Bechdel pretty early on though it really feels like it shouldn’t.

  52. Autogatos
    Autogatos
    October 22, 2022 at 1:53 am | #

    Suddenly realizing just how behind I am on movies because I have literally only seen one of those (Alien). Slightly ashamed I haven’t even seen Rogue One yet, just super behind on the new SW movies despite being a massive SW fan.

    Anyway, my fave movie is The Lion King and I’m trying to think but I don’t think it passes the Bechdel test? Nala’s question to her mom about going to the waterhole is about going somewhere with a boy, and Sarafina and Sarabi’s subsequent brief exchange is about both Nala and Simba.

    Lion King 2, however, does barely pass! Vitani and Nala have a brief threatening exchange about Kiara (“where’s your pretty daughter Nala?”) but it is kind of disappointing that the TLK film in which the main character is female still barely passes.

    The Lion Guard (the shockingly good but short lived show) does much much better. More examples than I can list/recall.

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May 3, 2025 - FCBD @ Laughing Ogre Comics in Columbus, Ohio

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