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Summary
- Good Energy launched a Climate Bechdel Test, finding that only a small percentage of films mention or acknowledge climate change.
- Films that passed the test mentioned terms like “climate change” or “global warming,” but very few went beyond a passing mention.
- The study aims to raise awareness and encourage more representation of climate change in popular films to reflect the reality of the climate crisis.
- Read more: Bechdel Test
Last month, non-profit group Good Energy launched what it called a Bechdel Test for Climate Change, a simple set of criteria designed to determine if it was clear climate change was present in a film. The real Allison Bechdel even endorsed it.
Good Energy, in launching its “Climate Reality Check,” said just three movies nominated for Oscars this year passed the test’s two simple rules: “Climate change exists” and “a character knows it.” Now in a more extensive study, the group analyzed 250 of the top grossing movies between 2013 and 2022.
Global warming has been with us for a while now, but only 12.8 percent — 32 of the 250 films studied in that time span — even passed the first criteria saying that climate change exists. Only 24 films, or 9.6 percent, passed both criteria of the test.
[…]
Good Energy back in 2022 released a playbook for screenwriters about how they can more seamlessly introduce such concepts into their writing. As part of the recommendations for this study, Good Energy says writers should include climate warnings in films of all genres, with more mentions, more aware and engaged characters, and more diversity. Movies should also “model positive climate action,” so depicting people choosing to ride bikes or public transportation instead of flying if it makes sense for the story.
Read the full post at Google News.
