The Becky-del Test Cont.

So I thought about it

And honestly

The whole reason the Bechdel test

Became part of the dialogue

Is because the condition was

Specific to movies, and had

Only one, simple requirement—

Two women have a conversation

That doesn’t center around a man.

So to be fair

To be eloquent

My test would have to be

Similarly structured.

—

The Becky-del Test

A movie or television show

That has fat-bodied actors

Whose fatness is not

Hidden, or treated as

A sign of bad character.

Fat bodies

Need to be seen.

(No fat suits allowed)

Extras—

One-offs with no lines

Don’t count—

Random fat secretaries or tow-truck guy extras with no lines

Are not representation—

Fat bodies

Who are not villains,

Who are not victims

Who have sexual relationships

And who get to

Take up space, on the screen

Without having their bodies

Mostly edited out of frame—

I’m trying to think

Of an example, but

I’m drawing a blank.

“Shrill”

Comes really, really close to fitting this bill.

But as an example of what not to be—

The L Word Generation Q’s

Appropriation of Roxanne Gay’s ideology

And identity

And the hiding of her body

Is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen

On a screen.

The fat bodies

Need to be seen.